When the Walkers hosted more than 150 people in their home, Lisa made them dill pickle soup by the gallon.

On February 24th, 2022, James and Lisa Walker woke to find Central Europe bracing for war. In their town, just an hour from the border with Ukraine, gas stations and ATMs were soon overrun, and fighter jets roared overhead at alarmingly frequent intervals. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees—who would grow to millions in the coming weeks—streamed across the border in the Walkers’ direction.

During the first months of the war in Ukraine, the Walkers hosted more than 150 people and Lisa Walker made them dill pickle soup by the gallon.

The Walkers’ story is one of several told in our new book, Items May Have Shifted: When Missionaries Get Rerouted. Like many rerouted missionaries, James and Lisa saw God use them to serve other people who had been rerouted—in this case, refugees. And sometimes that meant serving them soup.

Dill Pickle Soup?

While pickles and soup may sound like an odd combination to American ears, this is a beloved comfort food across much of Central Europe. Even if pickles aren’t your favorite, we encourage you to give the tangy, creamy hug-in-a-bowl a try. There are as many variations of this soup as there are Central European cooks, so feel free to experiment while using this basic version as a starting point.

Most importantly, don’t eat pickle soup alone! This recipe serves eight, so invite some adventuresome friends to join you. When you’ve sopped up the last of the broth, spend some time in prayer together.

Ways to Pray for Displaced Missionaries and Those They Serve

Here are some ideas of things to pray for to get you started:

• Hope, safety and gospel access for the millions of people who have been driven from their homes due to war, famine and persecution.
• Comfort, courage and wisdom for missionaries who have been displaced from their countries of service.
• Creativity and perseverance for displaced missionaries resettling in new locations overseas or back in their home countries. Many are learning new languages and adapting to new cultures and ministry contexts.
• Wisdom for parents helping children through transitions and new friends for the whole family.
• For the global Church to demonstrate a flexible and responsive faith as the world changes rapidly around us.
• For God to show you, and your local church, how you might more effectively serve missionaries and refugees in light of recent world events. What opportunities might He be revealing? What challenges will you have to overcome?