Previet (Hello in Russian) friends and family! Apologies for the lack of updates… internet access was not as freely accessible as last month, but I promise to give you a full recap of the month! So grab a cup of coffee and read on… It all started in our last week in Romania, when we were notified that there was an error in communication with our original Ukraine ministry contact and they could not host our team for the month. This was a bit worrisome as it didn’t seem that there were very many options available to us… Fortunately the team I am on has a great attitude about the unexpected and getting the occasional “curve ball” in life; we prayed about it pretty hard and were even jokingly excited about possibly going to another country in Europe that wasn’t on the original itinerary. But God knew all along where he wanted us, and that was at a Camp ground ministry for kids called Jeremiah’s Hope! (JH as I’ll call it).
JH is great ministry that runs 6-8 Christian summer camps for orphaned youth and socially/economically underprivileged kids. The site is located about an hour outside of Kiev and about 20 miles to the Chernobyl Zone (I was told the radiation is limited here, haha). For those that don’t know, Chernobyl is where the largest nuclear spill in history took place. JH ministry was started and run by a young Christian couple from the US, who both started their own orphanage in Ukraine, ended up meeting, got married and now run the ministry together (condensed version). When my team arrived to JH, they were in the middle of a week long camp for kids who were identified by social services as having some of the worst possible family situations known to them. Because of that, the camp director said that this group of kids would be the most difficult all summer. But when I first saw and interacted with them, not knowing their backgrounds (most from the ages of 7-13), they seemed much like any other kid wanting to play, have fun and seeking attention and affection. But soon I realized these kids were desperate for these things in the worst way. They don’t get to have fun back home or play games like any kid should. They don’t get love and affection from parents or guardians. Many of them are lucky to get 1 meal a day or a warm bed to sleep in. They are beautiful kids both inside and out, who mostly live in villages, but some sleep in barns (thru frost bitten winters), are abused by drunken parents, molested by fathers or other family members. It was said that for most of them, their best case scenario would to be taken away by social services and placed in an orphanage where they’d have consistent food, a warm bed and an education. At the end of camp, many of them said it was the Best Week of their Life! I feel blessed to have been a part of that.
Many of these kids had a very hard time leaving camp… not so much because they were having such a good time, but because they knew what they’d be returning home to… the beatings, the drunken parents, the many abuses, and cold lonely nights. To me, this was a tough pill to swallow. Its frustrating to feel so helpless and powerless to stop the awful injustices happening to these amazing kids. After much reflection (as we had the next few days to clean up and prepare for the next camp to start), heres what I took solace in. First, many of these kids have never had others love on them and care for them in the way all the camp counselors did that week. I hope that the message was clearly conveyed that each of them are precious and worthy of love. Also, many of these kids had never heard the gospel message and that there is a God that loves them more than they can imagine. The camp also sent them home with a kid’s Bible that had great illustrations and easy to understand Bible stories. I can only hope that these kids will cling to these stories of hope during their darkest times. And lastly, one of the most touching gifts the kids were given was a plush teddy bear with a button sewn in a unique spot on each bear. These bears symbolized that every body is a person, no better or less than the next, as each bear looked the same. But at the same time, each of us are unique and precious in God’s eyes and we each have unique qualities that make us special as symbolized by the button sewn on each bear. It was amazing to see the kids cling to their new bears… which only made me wonder when was the last time they received a gift from anyone? My time with them was brief, but I felt extremely blessed to have been a part of their lives.
The following week we hosted a camp for teens and young adults (ages 15 – 23) from 2 different orphanages that were started by the couple that now operate Jeremiah’s Hope. About half of the kids were Christian so it’s was good to have interactions between the two. We’d have Bible and life discussion small groups which was a safe forum for the teens to talk about their past hurts and future plans, and how God fits in to both. This turned out to be a good time where the non-Christian kids could hear stories of how God worked in the lives of other orphans and how that could give them hope. Because of the smaller age gap, even some of these kids were studying in local universities, I became more of a friend than a counselor to many of them. A handful of them spoke English well enough to have a decent conversation with. One girl was even able to tell me her life story through her broken English… A memory I will never forget. I felt good that many of these kids are on the right path in life and are walking with the Lord. And those that are not, they have a good opportunity to learn about God in their orphanages and gain an education or life skill to help them later in life. Overall, I felt a deep connection with the kids and teens of Ukraine.
Though I was challenged in my faith in believing that God would rescue some of them who are in the most desperate of circumstances, but I am reminded of Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”. I’m learning that to have peace and hope about many of the situations I encounter throughout the world, I have to know and believe that God really can do IMMEASURABLY MORE than I can ask or even imagine. God has proven Himself faithful so many times in my life, and so many times to our team during this trip…why would He do the same to the orphaned, abandoned and oppressed in the world! On to Ireland… more updates to come soon. Cheers!
