This month is Mary Poppins: it keeps pulling little bits of goodness out of nowhere and it�fs practically perfect in every way. Our contacts had pineapple upside down cake and roast waiting on us when we arrived from the airport, we sleep in real beds with sheets from Target, we have a washing machine AND a dryer, we have brewed coffee and food coming out of our ears, we live in the most picturesque little village where people still walk their cows and babushka wearing women shovel their hay with a pitchfork. There are giant stork nests atop power lines and country landscapes that will take your breath. The view from our kitchen window varies from a horse-drawn wagon filled with an assortment of fall squash or dainty wisps of smoke rising from the chimney of the quaint cottage across the street. In the words of Team .APEX, �gthis is not real life�h. But it is. This is the first country we�fve been in where the weather coincides appropriately with the seasons at home. And that�fs really convenient because Fall just happens to be my favorite season. Gorgeous leaves, the smell of fermenting apples, crisp air. I like all those words.
We�fre working with Jenny and Andrew Kelly, founders of an organization called Jeremiah�fs Hope. Jenny committed herself to the youth of Ukraine 15 years ago when she picked up her life and moved to Kiev. She was running a home when she met Andrew years later.
As a high school student, Andrew came over to Ukraine for short term missions and he just kept coming back. God bound his heart to this group of boys.
Children here only attend regular school until 9th grade, about 14 or 15 years old. At that point, they go off to trade school, almost like a junior college. Most children do fine with this because they have learned how to care for themselves, but the children coming out of a government orphanage have never been taught basic skills or had to be entirely responsible for themselves. Because of this, many drop out and end up on the streets.
By the time Andrew finished college, the boys he had met as sweet little first graders were approaching 9th grade. Not wishing that inevitable fate upon them, God enabled him to move over and set up a home for these older boys. They would have a place to live and transition into this independent lifestyle while also being mentored and discipled in Christ.
So, when Jenny and Andrew met- two people who had given their lives to seeing these children into the Kingdom, God brought their separate visions into a single, more complete one.
The property where they now live and where our team is staying this month is out in the country beyond Kiev, the last inhabited town before Chernobyl. This property houses several cabins and a main lodge where they host various camps and retreats throughout the year for local children. Many of the kids that come through this place have alcoholic parents and live in homes where violence, abuse and neglect are everyday demons.
When it�fs not camp season, their ministry continues in other ways. They maintain contact with the children and take care packages to their homes monthly. When we pulled up to one house yesterday, the children came running to the van. Not for the oil, pasta and buckwheat we were bringing�cthey came for the hugs and words of life that Jenny and Sergei bring to them with each visit. In the brief time they get to spend at each home, they are beacons of hope, providing the children with a flicker of a reality other than their own, a chance for a life better than they�fve known.
It�fs incredible to come alongside a ministry like this and be able to bless them in any way we can. Excited for what this month holds!
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