From political solutions to humanitarian aid...Ambassador Daniel Speckhard represented the U.S. to Belarus, a country that borders Russia and Ukraine. He also has served as U.S. Ambassador to Greece. Since 2014, he has been the president and CEO of the international humanitarian aid agency, Lutheran World Relief. From emergency aid to Ukrainian refugees, to breaking the cycle of long-term poverty around the globe, Daniel shares what is being done and how we can help. Pastor John Cain hosts.

The following program is sponsored by evangelical life ministries.

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And welcome to another edition of engaging truth. I'm your host pastor John Kane today with us on the program, we have very, uh, interesting person. Um, who's involved with an international relief agency, Lutheran world relief. He is ambassador Daniel Beckard. Daniel is the president and CEO of Lutheran world relief, and he is a past United States ambassador, not only to Greece, but also to a place that's been in the news recently, uh, be Russ which shares borders with Russia and Ukraine. Welcome to the program ambassador.

Thank you so much, John. It's a privilege to be here with you and your audience.

Well, as I mentioned, you've had, uh, a wide variety of experiences working on political solutions as the United States ambassador, and now also relief solutions. So with your experience in this area, that's in the news so much, um, your backgrounds in, you know, politics and humanitarian aid. What insights do you wanna give our listeners straight out of the gate? What, what can you tell us?

Well, I think the most important thing I can share right now, as, as you do know, I, I have had a long experience in this part of the world. I was a deputy ambassador at large for the Russia Ukraine and be Russ and the former Soviet union that I became ambassador to be Russ. And I went to NATO where we were working on issues related to this. So had a lot of time to think about this. And I think most important thing right up front for your listeners to understand is this is a huge struggle going on in the world right now, a struggle for values, right, as to what the values are that the world needs to follow in terms of freedom, independence, human rights, protection of still and populations, um, respect for, um, um, international norms, uh, and peace, right? Uh, and we are reverting back to a struggle that some of the older folks I'm gonna put you in that category with me, John, if you don't mind can remember that when we had a cold war, a lot of your risk S don't even remember that, but this struggle that they grew up in that we thought we were leaving behind, all of a sudden is right here in front of us.

And this is a critical moment in history for the United States, for Europe and all the other freedom and peace loving people out there that believe people have a right to self-determination right. Uh, and this notion of, uh, domination by external forces, uh, to direct your future, uh, is one that is being tested right now. Right? And the question is, what does the world care? I've been excited to see that a lot of Americans do care and the outpouring of support they've had for Ukraine right now. Uh, it's really, it's really, uh, warm my heart.

So you let's segue a little bit from the politics and the, you know, the, the big, uh, governmental actions or army actions, let's bring that down to the individual level. What can you tell us about some of the needs of people, the citizens, um, people on the scene and on the ground?

Yeah, well, I'm sure your listeners have seen a lot of this in the news as well, but, you know, to bring some of these numbers to life, there's roughly four and a half million people that have been displaced in Ukraine. Uh, many of those refugees that are now outta the border, but a lot inside Ukraine as well, uh, one and three children in Ukraine right now is displaced to give you a sense of how this is impacting the young people. Most of the refugees that we're seeing and dealing with are the women and children. Um, cause the men are staying behind to fight. Uh, so this dislocation of families, all of these people on the move, uh, and you know, it's still really cold there, although some of I'm sure in Houston, it's not, but, uh, uh, in that part of the world, it can get down to freezing at night.

So this has really been hard on these families. Of course, you've also seen some of 'em stuck in the middle of the conflict zones themselves, where they're getting bombarded living in basements for days and weeks at a time, the medical and health system is broken because the Russians are actually targeting hospitals, uh, to try to terrorize the populations they're targeting infrastructure to make sure the electricity and water doesn't work. So even just getting water, uh, to drink in some of these places is difficult, dangerous, and hard. Um, so this is really a catastrophic crisis for, uh, Ukrainians at this point in time. And it, it is requiring a huge response, which I'd be happy to share more about how people are responding. That I think that's useful jobs.

Well, you're talking about some of the needs. What, what is Lutheran world relief doing then to address the needs as we find out about them?

Yeah, there are about three or four ways. We're looking at this. One of the things that Lutheran where leave, and I'm sure some of the other nonprofits that your organizations work with were very grassroot centered, right? You try to get to the local, uh, level to make sure you're talking to the people on the ground that you're partnering with local partners. And so that's what we're very much involved with. So for instance, on, um, in the Poland side where it, many of these refugees have come, we partnered with a church there. That's creating an opening up its space, turn into a host for Ukrainian refugees, providing milk food, hygiene, uh, cots to sleep in and relief operations. But of course these little churches, right? They weren't big. They aren't like maybe some years down there in Houston. And so the infrastructure that they need, they need nonprofits like Lutheran world relief and supporters that support us with their donations to be able to make that happen.

Um, inside Ukraine, we're working with local organizations there to try to address the medical challenges and the health needs, right? Getting medical supplies in and health needs back into places which are oftentimes not even the hospitals, but they're turning into, uh, makeshift, um, medical, uh, facilities. Uh, for instance, one of the places we're, uh, been, uh, working with this week are these, uh, summer camped kind of places where many of the Ukrainians are finding their ways to, but they're only set up for summertime. They don't have big infrastructures, they don't have resources. And so we're trying to create kind of centers around Ukraine where we can help provide both the support to the families who run our money and resources as well as health, uh, services. Um, something I'd mentioned, John, that people probably don't realize is one of the best ways you can help, uh, refugees is through cash, right?

Uh, and I don't mean just donations to us, but I mean, when we look at these people, the first thing we've tried to figure out is what is the best and most efficient way to help them. And I know some of your listeners might say, Hmm, giving somebody money isn't that, you know, can't, they spend it on bad things. We have studied this for many, many years, worked with many, many refugees. When you get into these critical, critical situations and you give it to a mother, she knows how to spend that, uh, $30, right, right. To take care of her family. And it's oftentimes much more efficient than big trucks loaded with stuff on the back because the system, when it's still there can help reinforce that. So in addition to all those other support mechanisms, we also are using our technology to help deliver, uh, CA small little amounts of cash to displace families and refugees to help these mothers who are taking care of their children, who left their husbands, fathers, and others behind, uh, in that kind of dynamic.

And last, I would just say there's a lot of churches out there in the United States that are supporting us because they put together, uh, baby kits, hygiene kits, personal hygiene kits, school supply kits, and, uh, quilts. Uh, and we use those things to send those in to those areas, cuz refugees have nothing essentially. Uh, and, uh, that also makes a big difference. And it's a message of love from people here in the United States to those. So those are a bunch of different ways that we've been heavily involved supporting Ukrainians, uh, and the displaced populations there.

So just, uh, covering that, uh, we know a little bit about, uh, supply chain difficulties and transferring and shipping and things like that. Quilts or emergency supplies there, there's probably a time delay in getting things to people. So I just wanted to, uh, touch on that a little bit versus near instantaneous transfers of, of money.

Right? Exactly. I mean, that is the challenge. Somebody starts over here and we have to procure its supply and get it over there. So if you can procure things locally, that's also very powerful and you have to put these two things together, right? It's not gonna work for people just to pull together a drive of, uh, locally here and say, let's send some stuff to Ukraine because by the time it gets there, uh, some of those needs are already, uh, uh, well passed, needing to be met.

I'd like to circle back your, uh, first comment talking about a church in Poland that you're working with, you use the word hostile, and that might be a word that, uh, some of our listeners might misunderstand, not everybody speaks with a Southern accent like we do and say hostile. describe what that's like. Uh, in terms of caring for people in that local, uh, place in, in PO

Host, I use is kinda a European word, I guess, more where you kind of, it's not a hotel, it's kind of a group place where you can go find a co right, where you're actually sleeping in a group, uh, a group area, uh, and there's some group, uh, food and other kinds of things. So just imagine, and I know you've had these challenges in Houston area, you know, and the churches open their doors because they're flooding or other kind of crises down there. And you take that open area and every year, uh, spot and you put cots down, you use the kitchen in the church to start a food, uh, a meal, a supply system. And essentially it's a communal living space where you get a hundred, 200 or 300 people, all kind of temporarily parking in, in, in these places until they can figure out where to go next.

And that's partly what we're doing this immediate care need before the refugee services, the international organizations and others figure out how to find placements for these people in some homes, amazing stories, again of, uh, Polish, uh, German, European, others opening up their doors and taking in families and doubling the size of their houses overnight. That's the hidden story of love here, John. I mean, you know, sometimes in these crises, we have to look at what God's blessings are. And in this one, it's sad that this is happening, but I felt our world, especially with COVID and the political fallout of the last, you know, decade or so globally and everywhere else, people have just lost that sense of community. That sense of love that sense of not looking at who you are, what your beliefs are. You're just have a need and I'm opening up my heart, uh, and gonna help take care of you. And, you know, that's the story of the good Samaritan.

So you mentioned, uh, welcoming refugees into homes in some of the other countries. How else is this affecting other countries?

Well, you know, I'm glad you asked that John, because it's not just, uh, uh, the countries that have to help support, uh, taking in these refugees, there's a much bigger impact happening that has us really concerned at Luther world relief. And that's the impact on the other poor countries in the world, the ones that are really less developed already kind of at the margins, uh, in terms of being able to provide for their, uh, populations. Um, so you, the reality here is that Russia and Ukraine together supply nearly a third of the world's global wheat mm-hmm and wheat goes into that bread. That's speeding many of these impoverished communities around the world. Uh, they also supply a lot of the, well, 10%, I think, alone Ukraine supplies of that wheat. And then in corn and barley, it's the same kind of thing. 80% of vegetable oil is produced by Russia and Ukraine.

So when the system breaks down and those things can't get into the global markets, you see prices shoot up and you see even with, even if you have the money shortages, start to show up, uh, in Lebanon, for instance, which is really struggling right now, some of your listeners may remember when they were hit by that huge explosion last year, and the right trouble they're having is a country. Uh, a gallon of cooking oil equals the minimum monthly wage, you know, just the cooking oil. Wow. And if you're at the bottom end of this thing, trying to make minimum wage, you can't feed your fam anymore. Other countries like Yemen, which were already in near famine conditions for literally 160,000 people near starvation, there are gonna be affected by these shortages that are happening around the world, in our food supplies in Syria, nearly a 15 million people are dependent on assistance, right?

And so what's, you're gonna see happen here is because of these spikes in prices and shortages. The price of wheat, I think has risen nearly 80% in the last 10 months or so this is going to have a knock on effect. And so when we're talking about these four and a half million people here in Ukraine that are displaced, it's gonna push people in these other countries to move, become refugees, looking for food, moving to the cities, trying just to find any way to help their families survive. And the other challenges. And we've already seen this in places like Iraq, uh, and Sudan is when these shortages happen and people can't even feed their families. They come to the streets and it creates political upheaval. And it also creates things like, uh, terrorism and extremism in these countries when countries can no longer provide from it.

All of those things are global in nature in the sense that the thing that I think our listeners kind of understand now, John, is that what happens when you sneeze somewhere else in the world, we get a cold, right? And so it may sound like these are just humanitarian issues, but they're also issues for the American interests as well. A world bubbling with trouble and starvation and conflict is a world where eventually washes up and affects us on our shores. So thank you for your listeners that they understand this, that they are trying to do something about it. And they're supporting organizations like ours and trying to get some responses. So what I just would say, John, there is, after they do something for Ukraine, I ask them to kind of look beyond Ukraine, right? Where else are gods people, our neighbors, our brothers and sisters really suffering, um, because the spotlight isn't there, the journalists aren't there. Uh, and I'd ask them just to do a little digging themselves on their Google and Google Yemen or Google South Sudan, you know, Christian nation there. That is really always at the edge,

Right? Why don't you point us to some of those ways that our, our listeners can plug in and help to be, um, part of the solution?

Great. Well, I would love, uh, for them to come see our website, uh, lwr.org, that's for Lutheran world relief.org/a Ukraine, or you just go to our website lwr.org, and you will find Ukraine, uh, webpages there. They will tell you the kinds of things that are happening. They will tell you ways you or your churches can get involved. I have to be honest with you. It's not just individuals who just had this outpouring, but congregations, I haven't seen this literally in 10 years, right. That congregations who in many of these places, uh, are struggling, right? But small congregations are rising up to this challenge and it's causing I think, community to come back together in the church itself, as they realize there's something important for them to be doing in service to their neighbor, uh, with, in, in recognition of the love for their God. And what better time as we head into Easter weekend here, uh, to be thinking about this, and when you go on there, there's ways you can get involved.

And some of those quilts and kits and other kinds of things, you wanna be active in that sense, but donations just, you can, uh, send us checks on there online, uh, and, and you can either do it by paper or you can do online. Um, all of that stuff will immediately go to start helping people who are suffering both in Ukraine, but if you're open enough to say anywhere it's needed, we're going to make sure some of these people in places like Yemen, South Sudan, uh, and, uh, democratic Republic of Congo, which are stories, which I'd encourage them to go look at as well are also not forgotten, uh, as God's children as well during this time.

So you've touched a little bit about, uh, poverty around the globe. Uh, how, how do we make a difference and try and break the cycle? Is that possible?

It is. And I guess, um, that's a wonderful question, John. One of the key things there is to try to think about where you're S priv providing support and the organizations you're providing support to how much emphasis do they give on empowering the communities they serve with and working locally to really create solutions that are lasting and sustainable, right? It is the, I know people heard this, but it is the teach to fish rather than give a fish. But the reality is most of us are still giving a fish, right? It's just much easier dump our clothes off at that big bin, you know, send some food in a big truck. But the reality is for most of these other places, when it's a catastrophe like Ukraine, best thing you can do is get people fed, get shelter over the head. But when it's a chronic poverty problem, like we're having in Africa, best thing you can do there is work with the communities to create lasting solutions.

So what that means is it's technical assistance on how to develop, use what they have to create organic fertilizers to manage the little plots, the land that they have to keep the soil from eroding to serve their water, uh, to plant the right kinds of seeds that are more resilient to drought, our more resilience to drought, and to help help them understand these concepts, be able to learn how to use those tools and then teach, uh, others in their communities about that. We've had phenomenal success with this, where communities that have had nothing to eat are selling their export fruits and vegetables and other things on the local market that then in turn gets what sends their kids to school because without a little money, most of these places, kids can't go to school. Once the kids get some schooling, you're on a different dynamic for that next generation. And your, your support at beginning can have generational change. And that that's what gets me accepted.

Sure. You're giving them a future. And, and, you know, that is just so exciting for our listeners to be a part of recognizing that, uh, it's, it's, uh, putting our faith into action in a way that will help others. Yeah.

Another thing, uh, they can think about is like our organization has something called impact investing where you do essentially micro investments in, uh, small businesses, because it's not just the subsistence farmers who you're trying to help, but you need to create a whole economic systems around that. You probably know your listeners who live in some of the small Texan communities, right. They see what happens when there's not enough economic activity around the young people leave. They go to the big cities and the community shrinks. We gotta reverse that, right? Not only here in the United States, but we gotta reverse that, especially in these poor countries where, when these really poor people go to the cities, there's nothing there for them, right? So for us, we're investing in, uh, small businesses that creates economic opportunities and jobs for the children of some of these families. It allows us to push more of the value added back to the producers. It's really exciting, uh, as well. And what I love talking about this as well is, you know, business people out there, there's so many business people mm-hmm, who maybe don't see the connection of all of their understanding skills and support to actually, uh, humanitarian work, uh, changing poverty and doing these other things, but it's directly connected, right? Uh, they are equally important in, in God's world in terms of creating prosperous communities that are healthy, thriving, and supported.

We'll come back to ambassador specter in just a moment. I'd like to point our listeners to our own website, Elm houston.org, and they're on our website. You can find links to our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube accounts. You can also read about us and find ways to support us there. If you'd prefer to write us, you may write us at, uh, uh, PO box 5 68, Cypress, Texas 7 7 4 1. Oh. And we encourage you to take a moment to support what you hear on, uh, Christian radio. I'd also remind you that, uh, we have a, our, um, 5 0 1 [inaudible] three designation from the IRS. So this is a tax deductible donation when you send it in. And since our, on the air hosts are all volunteers, you know, that your donations go far to help us purchase airtime back to you. Daniel, I would like you to give our listeners once again, ways that they can plug in, uh, through your website.

Thank you. Uh, it's Luther where we leave you just Google that you'll find this, but the, uh, site is lwr.org, lwr.org. And man it's, uh, it would be good to hear from you and your listeners, uh, and love to help find ways to channel your love and compassion for the situation in the world right now, people who really need it. I would like to say as well, John, you know, it says Lutheran war relief. Uh, we were started 75 years ago, uh, because a bunch of Lutheran denominations, the United States were so, uh, upset by the tragedy unfolding in Europe. You know, we're kind of back to our roots now and really a huge number of displaced people and people almost on the edge of starvation at the end of world war II. Um, and here we are again, but what what's interesting now, 75 years later, my board is made up of all sorts of people from Christian denominations, right? Yeah. So, uh, our staff is all sorts of denominations. Uh, we are not, uh, specifically a part of the Lutheran church or any of the denominations. We're an independent, uh, 5 0 1 3 C organization as well. Uh, so think of us as a faith based organization doing, uh, good work. And I hope that many are listeners. Even if they're not Lutheran, don't have to worry about that. We're representing all Christians.

Thank you for that. Uh, quick question. We've been talking about, uh, Ukraine and that, uh, situation, how has COVID changed, uh, the way that you work, um, putting boots on the ground or, or getting aid to where it's needed,

You know, uh, wow. You have great questions, uh, because COVID has really done a number on the countries that we're working in and created all sorts of challenges, uh, for the communities that we're working with there. So initially for instance, we had a real hard time when COVID first broke out because we needed to support our, we do a lot of health work in these African countries. We could not get masks to our health workers, right. Because as you remember, there was a shortage of global masks in the world, right? Yeah. So we had to double down. And the first thing that we had to do was make sure our workers were safe in the field so that they didn't get sick and could no longer help people. So we have been able to make sure that the people on the front lines are supplied with the proper P PBE E but the challenges, of course, in many of the countries we're working in is they don't have these big infrastructures and systems there to help people when they get sick.

Right. So, uh, we're doing pretty good. You go to that hospital, you get all that special, extra care. We're talking about, you know, one rooms in most of these places with a few rudimentary things in there, and that's where you go when you get COVID. So what we're trying to do is work first and foremost on prevention because, uh, that's the front lines of this work, helping people understand how to, um, protect themselves, uh, from getting sick. And then once they do get sick, we try to assure that the, uh, the infrastructure that is there has as much as they can possibly have to treat people in these situations. COVID though has also been, is what we talked about in the Ukraine situation. It's just been a massive disruption to the global supply chains, right? So it's even less, I'm more worried, uh, for these people in DRC and Yemen and SU South Sudan and countries like this, I'm more worried about them struggling from malnutrition, uh, because they can't get their foods, uh, as struggling from just extreme poverty that they can't even survive and support their families. And so what we see happening is with the supply plant chain disruptions, what we talked about earlier that was already happening before Ukraine and Russia, that the global supply chain was just falling apart. Your listeners have seen it in their own grocery stores, right? But imagine us, we're one of the most economically prosperous country in the world. And they're seeing this happen, lets now go to some far corner of Africa. And when this supply chain falls apart, guess where the first places are where food stops being, uh, delivered to uh, small little stores, right?

Well it gives our listeners opportunities then to, uh, be the hands and feet of Christ or aid you, as you bring this blessing to people who've had, uh, crisis upon crisis upon crisis now, uh, to, uh, bring the witness of Christ's love to the world, to our listeners. We hope that you adjoin us real soon again for engaging truth. Goodbye.

Thank you for listening to this broadcast of engaging truth. Be sure to join us each week at this time to help support our ministry, contact evangelical life ministries, post office box 5 6 8, Cypress Texas 7 7 4 1 0. Or visit our website@elmhouston.org or find us on Facebook at evangelical life ministries. Thank you.