STREET MERCY: Mission without Borders’ volunteers hand out food to the hungry from its van in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Mission Without Borders has launched a new initiative called StreetMercy which distributes food to street people in Eastern Europe.

Already operating in the city of Craiova, Romania, and in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, the Mission’s mobile soup kitchens take hot soup and bread to meeting points to feed those who live on the streets.

“We work in six former Soviet countries in Eastern Europe and a group we’ve found we really need to do something about is the street people,” says Mission Without Borders New Zealand director Andrew Wilks. “They are just a group that really need help.”

Mr Wilks says a common factor within the group is that they’ve either lost connection with their family or have no family at all. “Many of the street people are not there by choice but have been forced onto the streets as casualties of the global financial crisis — unemployment; inadequate State assistance, loss of home — and many are from broken families.

“There is also a lot of migrant labour where the parents get so desperate for work one or both go overseas to Russia or Greece and even as far as Italy or Spain. It’s meant to be that they get a job and send the money back but that often doesn’t happen. There are a lot of children left alone or with family members who don’t care,” he says.

“Already we have encountered runaway children, teenage prostitutes, solo mothers, families, addicts and street gang members, and the older unemployed, not old enough to qualify for rest home assistance or pensions.”

StreetMercy aims to get amongst the street people by handing out soup and bread which is delivered in vans and distributed at certain meeting points. “We did a trial last year in Bucharest and the need was obvious. The decision was then made to kick-off in South-West Romania and in Sofia, Bulgaria. In fact the mayor of Sofia was so thrilled that someone was doing something to help these people that he actually announced StreetMercy two months early,” says Mr Wilks.

Mission Without Borders is looking for churches in Eastern Europe to partner with them. “If it’s rostered it’s a shared load. We select our partner churches carefully; we need people who will go the distance,” says Mr Wilks. “It’s an outreach, we’re a Christian mission. It’s an opportunity for people to hear and respond. We’ve had some early success of people wanting to go to church. People are more responsive because we’re going to them and meeting them at their point of need with food and shoes and warm clothing.

“Many of these people would never think of visiting a church, except in desperation to shelter from winter snow and cold. But on their own turf when shown genuine care, they are open to sharing their own story …”

Although mobile soup kitchens are not a new concept, Mr Wilks is aware that such work could not have been done under the Soviet Union. “It’s a real cutting edge thing for us. We’re trying to reach the most desperate of all,” he says.

See insert for more details.

By Gemma Margerison