The Orphans of Ukraine
About 2 weeks ago our English school teamed up with the church that many of us attend here, and we went to an orphanage. The orphanage is in Chinediyevo, which is a little over an hour away from Uzhhorod. When we arrived, the church youth group did a program for the kids involving games and songs, and the message that each of them was precious in God’s sight. After the program the kids led us around the orphanage and showed us where they slept and ate and studied. We just spent time with them, loving on them and giving them a little extra attention. I know that many hearts were touched, both in students and in the church youth group. The church wants to return there soon.
I think that what most struck me was the difference between this orphanage and the orphanage in Chaslovtsy that the C.O.I. missionaries visit every week. The orphanage that we visited with the church and students was clean and warm. The kids were clean, dressed decently, and obviously cared for by the teachers that we saw there. I have heard before that the orphanage that we visit regularly is one of the worst, but I’d never seen another orphanage with the same age kids to compare it to. Our orphanage, the one in Chaslovtsy, is sparse and in the winter very cold. The kids are usually dirty, are never supervised when we come, and run about pretty much doing whatever they want. Even at 14 or 15 years old, the kids have a hard time with simple reading and very basic math skills. Most of these kids were labled at age 3 or 4 as mentally retarded or as having behavioural problems, and that is how they’ve always been talked about and treated. It’s like those who are supposed to care for them have given up on them. Some of them are clearly very bright, but growing up in this atmosphere, how could anyone flourish?
Please, please pray for the kids at Chaslovtsy. They are so precious and so seldom treated that way. Pray that we would continue to do all that we can to make a difference in their lives, and that God’s grace would somehow become tangible to them in the midst of their hard surroundings. We see results of our years of ministry there; we have success stories. There are quite a few kids who’ve “graduated” from the orphanage who continue to show up at church and who have given their hearts to the Lord. And yet, for each child that grows up and makes it as an adult, there are many who don’t. There aren’t many options for teenagers with no education and very few social skills – the fact that many of them are gypsy and face racial discrimination only adds to their difficulty. Most of them have no good options once they get out of the orphanage. Please pray for them.
While you’re praying for the kids at the orphanage and the kids who are finishing up their time there, please also pray for a special ministry called “Pavloho House.” Supported by private donors and a local church, this is a sort of halfway house for girls when they finish at the orphanage. It’s still small and can only accommodate a few girls at a time, but while they live there the girls learn things like how to manage a house, how to behave like ladies, and skills like cooking and sewing that can help them get a decent job later. All of this is taught from a Christian perspective, and the girls see Christian examples of what women should be modeled out before them in the lives of their teachers there. It’s a great ministry, and it would be wonderful to see more such homes started. Please pray for those at Pavloho, both for the girls and for their teachers.
"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." James 1:27 (NKJV)
