Today is your
Birthday…your turning 16! Today is a big day for you. A day that
will change the rest of your life…No, I’m not talking about your
typical sweet 16 birthday party that you would have in America, with
cars, money, clothes, toys, laptops, and anything else you could
imagine being possibly given as a gift. Instead let me share with you
what a Ukrainian Orphan goes through on there “Sweet 16″…They
Time Out!
Imagine a life where you
have no parents, no family, you eat the same gross food everyday,
your only escape is to run off into the bushes and smoke a cigarette
before your dorm parents find you, no one to encourage you to grow,
challenge you to exceed further, and a poor education.
Then, there is the day that
you turn 16…”Time Out” day. Instead of being showered with
gifts and love on this day. You are given a box to pack your things.
A small amount of cash, and a wish of “Good Luck” with the rest
of your life! No job is lined up, no place to stay, no education
given to go into the workplace, no life skills to make it from here.
You have simply “Timed Out”, no one has adopted you, and your now
no longer the governments “Problem”. You have “Timed Out!”
This happens everyday in
Ukraine, and this month we had the privilege with working with many
of these children in a summer camp. The stories they could tell you
about the struggles they have had in there life would more than many
of us in our adult years in America could ever imagine. They opened
up to us and shared the reality of there struggles, there fears, and
wishes. What do they want the most? To be adopted by an American
family. Why? I asked…and they respond “Then we have a chance”
Now I know that is not the cure all answer for the problem, but there
are these “chances” given to some of the children and they do
very well.
I met one such young man,
Dima. He is just about to “Time Out” and is in the process of
being adopted by a loving family in America. Dima is a smart, fun,
loving boy that has been blessed with an opportunity that others in
Ukraine will not be given. He can move to America, he will have a
clean house, with good food, clean clothes, hot showers, an
education, and attend a University, where his career choice is
limitless.
I was blessed to meet and
know Dima during our month in Ukraine. I was so excited to learn
after meeting him that someone was going to take him in from America.
I taught him some English prhases, like “My brother from another
mother”, “Hey man what’s up!?”, and then my favorite “Check
yourself, before you wreck yourself!” He taught me Russian all day,
and at night we would have long conversations through pointing and
trying to explain in a foreign language, but somehow, we understood
each other! The last night we were at the camp, Dima looked over at
me and said “Ryan, you are my brother!” and I replied “Dima,
You will always be my brother!”
Pray with me for my brother
Dima! That the adoption process would go through and be approved
without any problems. Pray for the family adopting him. And pray that
there would be more like them. People willing to love out side of
there home and show the love of Jesus to a stranger and accept them
as there son or daughter. Also, pray for the thousands of Orphans in
Ukraine, in fact for the Millions of Orphans all over the world. Pray
that they will be covered with the blood of Jesus, the Love of
Christ, and protection from God. I pray that we will all be Jesus to
whoever we meet, wherever we are!
God Bless
Love
Ryan Hughes
