His Ukrainian neighbors laughed at Parker native Todd Gallagher when he suggested he and his family should leave their missionary post in Vinnytsia for the safety of Romania as Russian President Vladimir Putin amassed his war machine on the border of the two countries.

Gallagher said the Ukrainians thought Putin was once again blowing hot air and would not act on his threats of invasion and rolled their eyes as he talked of gathering food and generator gasoline to last 1.5 months.

“They chalked it up as an American mindset,” Gallagher said. “They were 100% confident it wasn’t going to happen.”

Gallagher and his Ukrainian wife, Veronika, and the couple’s three children had been living in Vinnytsia, which is two hours from the border of Moldovia and three hours from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, for four years as they pursued their Christian missionary work.

Then, a few weeks before the invasion, the family decided to take some vacation time at a ski resort in Brasov, Romania, where all five would have some fun together learning to ski.

The vacation, Gallagher said, would also serve as a trial run if the family had to flee Ukraine in the event that Putin would make good on his promise of invasion.

But on the way to the ski slope, a car smashed into the Gallaghers’ Jeep.

No one was injured, but the vehicle had to be fixed, which would take several days.

“So we were kind of stuck,” Gallagher said.

He got in touch with a church in Brasov and explained that he needed more economical accommodations while his car was repaired.

The church obliged and found the family a place to stay.

“Meanwhile, things (at the Russian border) were escalating,” Gallagher said. “Putin attacked, and we got our car back two days after that, but we could not go home.”

At first, the couple thought about flying back to the United States as the invasion played out.

“Then we saw the mass exodus the next day of people fleeing to whatever country was closest to them,” Gallagher said. “My wife said, ‘There might be something we can do here to help these people.’”

First, the Gallaghers contacted local church organizations to ask how they could help the fleeing Ukrainians with accommodations and food.

“These people 100% stepped up and opened their homes and businesses,” Gallagher said. “They knew people who owned hotels or apartment complexes, and they found places to house these people.”

The couple coordinated buses to drive refugees the five hours from the Romanian/Ukrainian border to Brasov, which required time and financing.

So, Gallagher contacted the Heights Baptist Church in Virginia, which had been his home church in the U.S. before he left for Ukraine four years before.

When Gallagher’s mission to help those fleeing the attack on Ukraine hit social media and spread by word of mouth, the donations began pouring in.

“We brought over about $32,000 in food, medical supplies, diapers, toiletries and other essentials into Ukraine,” he said.

He and his wife obtained humanitarian aid permits in Romania in two days and began trucking supplies to the people of Vinnytsia and other areas of Ukraine via back roads, where there is no fighting.

“It was clear sailing,” Gallagher said. “We didn’t see any sign of any Russian anything, but we unloaded the trucks quickly and sped away.”

The Gallaghers are thrilled the supplies will benefit those in small villages in the Vinnytsia area, as most humanitarian aid is distributed in larger cities.

He said $18,000 of the funds raised went to helping outfit a hospital in Vinnytsia that was set up to care for Ukrainians wounded while defending their country from Putin’s forces.

“The connections in Romania are amazing,” Gallagher said. “One lady works at a medical supply company and we got things at cost.”

Gallagher believes the string of miracles that put them in Romania and connected them to those who could help with relief is nothing less than an action of God.

He said while he is involved in trucking supplies into Ukraine, Veronika is coordinating buses to bring refugees to Romania and accommodations for the refugees.

He said at this point, eight to 10 families arrive in Brasov each day.

Some have nowhere else to go and need longer-term lodging, while others need help traveling to the homes of relatives in Europe, he said.

“Not a single person has had to pay for accommodations or food,” Gallagher said.

Because Dracula’s castle is in Brasov and brings in tourists, many refugees are set up in the bed-and-breakfasts in view of the castle that were donated for the effort by their owners.

Gallagher said his wife is too busy to really stop and think about her family members facing invading troops in Ukraine.

Veronika’s parents, like most Ukrainians, did not leave Vinnytsia or prepare for the conditions forced on them by Putin’s invasion.

“A couple of times she broke down, then the phone rings and somebody else needs help,“ Gallagher said.

He said her family has placed sandbags over their small basement windows and gather there when the air raid sirens sound.

While there have been few tanks and soldiers in Vinnytsia, the military base and commercial airport have been bombed.

Gallagher said he doubts Putin will give up and face the humiliation of being vanquished.

He thinks the dictator will continue using more air power than ground forces as the war rages on.

“He’s going to keep bombing because he has an endless supply (of air power),” Gallagher said. “And, of course, he keeps the nuclear comment in the conversation to keep the West at bay.”

Gallagher said his family will remain where they are for as long as they are needed.

“God is good,” he said. “I’m just so glad we didn’t knee-jerk and decide to go back to the U.S. We would have missed the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Jim Callender, a retired pastor at Gallagher’s boyhood church, First Church of God in Parker, knew Gallagher as an athletic and outdoorsy youth riding the streets and trails of the town on his bicycle.

Callender called Gallagher’s life-saving work in Ukraine and Romania “amazing.“

“To think anything that good could come from Parker,” Callender said. “I’m proud that he’s representing our little church, where we all gave our heart to the Lord.”

Judy Gallagher, Todd’s mother, could not be more proud of her son and his young family, who, she said, are working together to help the people of Ukraine in their time of need.

“They’ve given up everything for a good cause, and of course I am concerned about their welfare, but I know this is what the world is all about: people helping each other,” the elder Gallagher said.

“We’d love to have him home, but he and his family are devoting their lives to helping others.”

She said her local church, Park Hill First Church of God in Parker, as well as the Presbyterian church in the town, financially support her son’s efforts in Ukraine and Romania.

“People from Parker to many other states have been so supportive,” Gallagher said.

While Gallagher knows her only son is carrying out his Christian mission in an unjust war, she looks forward to the day when the family can return home safely and visit Parker.

“I’m very proud of him, but I will be glad when things are over and they can return,” Gallagher said.

Todd Gallagher’s childhood friend, Jamey LeVier of Huntsville, Ala., had been texting back-and-forth with Gallagher as the threat from Russia escalated.

The two discussed the possibility of Gallagher gathering his family and heading to Parker to wait out the impending war.

“He could have come here and been safe, but he chose to stay there,” LeVier said. “It didn’t surprise me that he would do this because he’s that type of person.”

The two grew up together in Parker, riding bikes and playing youth baseball and football.

“He’s always been a solid individual,” LeVier said. “He always does what he says he’s going to do.”

LeVier remembered a rainy trip home from the movies when the pair was about 16 years old.

Frogs were enjoying the precipitation on the road, and Gallagher insisted they save the creatures from a certain death by vehicle.

So, they placed numerous wet frogs in the car, and released them when they arrived home at Gallagher’s.

“But we missed a few, and Todd’s mom was greeted by croaking frogs when she got in the car the next morning to go to work,” LeVier recalled with a chuckle. “She was a teacher at A-C Valley.”

With such a long history as friends, LeVier can’t suppress the sense of concern he feels for Gallagher as he carries out his work in Ukraine and Romania.

“I worry about him every day,” LeVier said. “As this situation escalates, I worry about him more and more.”

But he knows Gallagher will continue helping the Ukrainian people for as long as he physically can.

“He’s devoted, he’s committed, and his actions show that,” LeVier said.