The week we said goodbye to our Ukrainian home. I walked into this country totally unknown to me and one month later I did not want to leave. Goodbyes are hard when you fall so quickly in love with a place and it’s people. One of my favorite parts of the entire month was getting to play with the foster kids that live on the camp ground.
From the very first day I remember watching these adorable Ukrainian kids run wild through the building. Going over to play with them was initially very awkward. They spoke no English and I didn’t know what to do. For my first interaction with them, I took a stick and started drawing in the sand and next thing I know, I was drawing in the sand with about 5 other Ukrainian kids. That was just the beginning!
After that I would try to go over every day and play with them. Slowly I started getting to know each one of them. It’s amazing to me how a language barrier is not a relationship barrier at all. I got to know and love these kids and I never had a single conversation in English or Ukrainian with them. I laughed and smiled and played with these kids and rarely even thought about the fact that we didn’t speak the same language.
There are eight kids at the foster house, and then a few more kids that live with foster parents in surrounding houses. These kids are all amazing. I was able to spend some time at the foster house so I got to know the kids pretty well.
I love these kids a whole bunch and would love to share a little bit about them with you. (I am probably spelling all of their names wrong, sorry!)
Slavic is 13 and the oldest. He cares so well for the little kids. It’s funny how getting to know him was almost easier with a language barrier because I don’t know what to say to a 13 year old boy, but in this case we didn’t need to talk, we could just laugh and basically play a never ending game of charades! Whenever I babysat he was the biggest help, I would sign things to him that he would then communicate to the little tiny kids who were not quite as good at charades. This kids amazed me though. You don’t often see a 13 year old boy serving so well. He cared for the kids so well, and was a huge help to the foster moms. One night my teammate and I were at the foster house and trying to get them ready for bed, could not have done It without Slavic. At 8 he read a bible story to the kids, he helped me make sure they had all showered, he put toothpaste on their toothbrushes, and helped me get them in bed on time. The way I got to know him was he started a war with me where we sent this foam rocket flying at each other. He’s a goofball and I’m so glad I got to know him.
Valira… what a boy! He is one of the funniest kids, he can easily make me laugh. Whenever I told him no, he would hug me super tight and say “please please please!” One night at dinner he ate his food so fast and kept asking for more. By the end of dinner he looked at me, smiled, and counted 1,2,3,4,5 on his fingers and pointed to his plate! Yup, he ate five helping of Mac and cheese and hot dog! When he puts his mind to something, it can be hard to change it. He’s unpredictable, one moment he’s boxing, the next he’s calmly playing with blocks or dressing dolls. He is clever, fun, and determined.
Sonya was a wild child who was hard to figure out, I loved her. She had the greatest laugh, it never failed to brighten my day. She was always teaching me new games, and funny faces and weird sounds. One of our favorite games to play was who could make the weirdest noise. It went something like this: we would go back and forth making weird sounds and then we would laugh at each other! Another one that was very popular among the kids was where they would say a Russian or Ukrainian word and then blow raspberries into my ear. As funny as it was to see them laugh so hard, that wasn’t my favorite game. Hence we only played It once. Anyways, Sonya was a little firecracker and her light shines bright. She was always bringing explosions of light and joy into my days. This is her below:
Vika is the queen of silly faces and trouble, mixed together with a whole lot of cute and sweetness. She was quick to make the weirdest face if you ever pulled out a camera. Once while she was sweetly brushing my hair (lice?) she wrapped my hair around the comb. Luckily my teammate came to the rescue and saved my hair. She was also quite the storyteller. Even though I never caught a single word of her stories, she was so emotive I felt like I was following.
Vika (older) she had a kind and gentle heart but would pull a little bit of crazy out of nowhere! She would always help the little ones when they needed help, she would comfort them when they cried, and was always helpful to the foster moms with meals and chores. But then I could be sitting next to her in the couch just chilling and out of nowhere she would attack me with a tickle fight! She’s a beautiful girl inside and out.
Milana: she’s a CUITE! I mean look at her sweet smile! At first she may seem shy, but as soon as she’s comfortable you will know, because she will come running at you and jump in your lap. Our time together usually consists of swinging and playing chase, with the occasional tickle fight thrown in there too. She is full of sugar and spice and everything nice, and one of the sweetest faces you will see.
Andri: My favorite moments with Andri are when we play games! At first he seemed shy, but quickly warmed up when we got in a tickle war (as you can tell tickling I’m figuring out is a universal love language around children) hide and seek, chase, and playing on the play ground were some other favorites. This is a video of him on the swing. Below that is a super cute photo of him that my friend captured! Andri usually covered his eyes when a camera came out, so we were really excited about this photo.
Mashca: she has the biggest personality and she is only 3! He facial expressions alone could make you pee yourself from laughing. She has a signature “stank face” we often try to mimic her, but no one does It like she can. She also has the biggest belly laugh. Anytime you do anything she laughs so hard It practically shakes the house. She also is an aspiring hair stylist. One night she found scissors and the next morning when we came over she had given herself a very nice mullet/haircut. Short on the sides, long in the back! She is so fun and can always make me laugh. What a sweetie!
Sonya and Timafey I only got to know for about a week since they went home. Sonya was my first friend out of all the kids. She quickly attached to me. She would follow me around and always want to play or be near me. From the very first week I was ready to take this girl home with me. I didn’t get a good picture of her, but she is the sweet girl in the pink coat to the right of me in this photo.
Timofey, her brother, was the cutest little child you ever did see. He has the biggest cheek. The first few days we were there we just referred to him as the boy with big cheeks and everyone knew who we were talking about. He took a while to warm up to us, but once he did, his smile and laugh was so bright and filled with joy.
Please pray for Sonya and Timofey as they are now at home.
Spending time with these kids taught me a lot about how loving others is not about us. I always imagined the cute pictures of missionaries holding cute kids from around the world and seen that as what is it to care for the kids well. If you love them well, the kids will love you and hug you. It’s not about the hugs or the cute pictures with kids. Loving these kids was not about their reactions or what I got out of it. Getting to know them was awkward, and uncomfortable and sometimes weird, but it was also the greatest thing ever and I love these kids so much. Not because they were perfect, but because they were themselves. They inspired me. They walked through the darkest days but carried so much light.
Sometimes you have to go through the awkward moments to get to the best moments.
A few weeks ago I asked Xander (the guy from my last blog) about the family situations of these kids. My heart broke at the responses I heard. These kids have had to experience more violence, selfishness, and pain than anyone should ever have to.
Please keep these kids in your prayers. I love these kids so much and care about them a whole lot and I would so appreciate prayers for them. Even though they walk through so much pain, I see so much light in their eyes.
Please keep the foster parents in your prays too as they give so much of their lives to taking care of and loving these kids. Their job can be so hard, but it is so important and impactful to the kids.
This week I was going back and forth with God about why this happened, why these kids who were so amazing, had to walk through such awful situations.
“I find peace when I’m confused.” -Switchfoot
I find peace when I’m confused because I have faith in a God that sees the whole picture of situations.
I have peace when I’m confused because I have faith in a God of redemption.
I have peace when I’m confused because I have faith in Jesus who died for these kids and overcame the grave and all the sin in this world.
The present sorrows are not worth comparing to the joys of one day with Jesus.
He is in control of the chaos
He is near to the brokenhearted
Walk by faith, you blind one
P.S. Jon Foreman has an EP called darkness. How lyrics articulate the heartbreak of this world alongside the glory and hope of Christ so well.
Some of my favorite quotes from his songs are below:
“You alone can heal my soul”
“You were made for the dance, not the fight”
