Hungarians never really got along with their Ukrainian neighbors until the February invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, Pastor Nick Cady said last week.
Hungary witnessed the brazen and naked aggression of the invasion and realized they were suddenly brothers-in-arms with the Ukrainian people, Cady said.
“You had people offering their homes to the Ukrainian refugees. Hungarian grandmas were going to the eastern border, offering up soup and pasta to feed the Ukrainians. There were so many grandmas there, that international aid groups could not get through the crowds to get aid to Ukraine,” Cady said.
“But the Russains are just bullies, and that is what happens when you fight back,” Cady said. “You fight back with every weapon you have. Sometimes it's soup and pasta.”
The 38-year-old Cady and fellow Pastor Michael Payne of Longmont’s White Fields Community Church went to help church members and others ensnared in the invasion in late February. Cady went into Hungary while Payne went to Ukraine.
Cady recently returned to Longmont to head up relief efforts while Payne has remained. He hopes to return soon, Cady said.
Cady is the lead pastor of White Fields Community Church and spent 10 years as a missionary, pastor and church planter in Hungary. He travels there frequently and this time he helped get housing to fleeing Ukrainians and he and Payne also purchased vans to hustle medical supplies and food.
He said the vans were packed with medications to fight cancer, diabetes and other ailments that need immediate treatment. “We were trying to enable people on the ground, getting them what they need,” Cady said.
It is currently election season in Hungary and some citizens have hung posters declaring their support for Russian-friendly candidates, Cady said.
But the invasion quickly put the people of Hungary in another frame of mind, he said.
“People saw this as a huge injustice, an invasion for no reason,” Cady said. Many Hungarians showed uncommon bravery to get help to Ukraine residents under siege by the Russian army.
“One man with a van rushed supplies to the border, and his van was shot to pieces by Russian soldiers,” Cady said. “He survived and he immediately got another van, loaded it up again and returned on the same route. Incredible bravery.”
Cady is married with a wife and four kids. He said he often takes his family with him on his trips to Hungary and Ukraine.
This time, however, his trip was different. “My daughter, who is 6, asked my wife ‘Does dad have a gun.’” Cady said. “That was hard to hear.”
