Dear Family & Friends,
It is Tuesday evening and we are in Vinnytsya at Ruslan and Archna’s home. Ruslan, however, is not here as he is out ministering with a team from the U.S. until January 8th. Ruslan’s brother, Roma, picked us up in Tulchyn and drove us here to Vinnytsya. We were so happy to stop at the McDonald’s here in town—good ole greasy American food never tasted so good! We have had a very relaxing evening chatting w/Archna.
We have had a very busy couple of days since we last wrote. On New Year’s Day we got up like normal and visited w/Roma—wonderful, as usual! J He greeted us with such a smile and was ready to play. After about an hour or so we asked if a little girl named Natasha, who is very friendly with Roma, could join us for just a little while to play. This was the first time that we’ve invited any of the children to participate in our time w/Roma—we were curious to see how he would play with us and another child in the room. At first, he was not too happy about i
t, but he warmed right up. However, after only a few minutes a second girl managed to sneak into the room with us. Jim was unsuccessful in communicating to her that she hadn’t been given permission to be in the room with us and she was unwilling to leave. So, we let her stay and play with us, Roma and Natasha. After a bit, however, it was time for the two young ladies to go as we wanted to spend the last bit of time just with Roma, and I had gotten poked in the eye by one of them! HA…HA…HA…
After leaving the orphanage, we met a young pastor (Sasha) from a neighboring town, Lidizjian, whom Ruslan had arranged to pick us up and take us to an outreach event hosted by his church and then travel to the orphanage we wrote about in our last upda
te. He spoke a little English and we enjoyed learning a little about his life and ministry during our ride. We met up w/Ruslan, his children and a team from the U.S. at Sasha’s church, where we enjoyed a puppet show that told the Christmas Story, a time of fellowship and some singing. There were about 50-60 people in attendance from the town, mostly parents with small children. We were surprised at the end of the program when they called us up front to have us share who we were, where we were from and why we were in Ukraine and to present us with a beautiful picture done by an artist in the church—we were really touched by such thoughtfulness.
We left the event and headed to the orphanage…it is IMPOSSIBLE for us to convey to you the things that we saw at this orphanage as we are still processing everything ourselves. Neither Jim nor I have ever been in a place such as this. The orphanage was at the end of a very long deserted road in the middle of nowhere! It is “home” to 150 children/young adults/adults who have mental and physical handicaps and is considered a “level 4” orphanage in Ukrain
e, meaning that this orphanage takes Ukraine’s most needy children. As we walked through the doors we could hear screams and noises coming from every direction and the smells were overwhelming. We were greeted by several young boys/men—some in wheelchairs, some walking, some crawling and barking, some clothed, some completely nude. It didn’t seem real…the conditions that these sickly children live in is unimaginable! The people working there, however, seemed to really care for the kids and they were doing their best, the facility is very understaffed and very outdated. There are only 2 doctors to care for all 150 kids—one of the docs is Pastor Sasha’s mother (a very strong and loving woman who prays over each of her patients). As we went from room to room we saw children with disorders and syndromes that we have never even heard of—in one room there was an 11 year old boy who had many syndromes and lived in a crib and was no bigger than a 2 year old! There were many Down Syndrome children and kids with Cerebral Palsy and Arthrogryposis…the sad thing was to hear how many of these children’s lives would have been different had their been sufficient m
edical care at birth or soon thereafter in the orphanage. We were deeply saddened by the fact that some of these children have sound minds and the only reason they were sent there was b/c they could not walk or were considered not to be developing at the proper rate. Jim and I were moved to tears as we visited with these forgotten ones…I couldn’t help but think that each one was created by God and made in His image! These children live with little dignity as most of them live naked, in a metal crib and with little attention. The hospital affords only 1 worker for every 17 children—mind boggling! We were encouraged to learn that Pastor Sasha, his wife & daughter and members of his church visit there every month and play with the children and love them! Ruslan also makes regular visits to this orphanage, providing important supplies and additional care. We are not sure why God led us to this place, but we pray that we w
ill not forget all that we saw and experienced.
Last night we returned to Tulchyn very tired and overwhelmed.
Today was probably the fastest day yet since our arrival in Ukraine. We got up and headed over to see Roma immediately. We had a wonderful time playing and laughing and singing. He was so cute today—even though the ladies had him dressed like a court jester! J Our time seemed to fly by and we had a ball playing with trucks and blocks and singing songs! We returned later in the day for a very brief visit before traveling to Vinnytsya. Leaving Roma today was so hard…I tried not to cry but I just couldn’t hold back the tears. He knew something was “up” when he saw my tears…he looked at me with those big brown eyes and just smiled. However, when we actually went to leave and turned to the doors he got very upset and tried to leave
with us! One of the workers had to come and get him and hold him back…it broke my heart, but I am so happy to know that it will be less than 2 weeks and we will all be together!
Well, it is late here and time for us to rest. We love you and miss you.
Love and blessings,
Karen and Jim
It is Tuesday evening and we are in Vinnytsya at Ruslan and Archna’s home. Ruslan, however, is not here as he is out ministering with a team from the U.S. until January 8th. Ruslan’s brother, Roma, picked us up in Tulchyn and drove us here to Vinnytsya. We were so happy to stop at the McDonald’s here in town—good ole greasy American food never tasted so good! We have had a very relaxing evening chatting w/Archna.
We have had a very busy couple of days since we last wrote. On New Year’s Day we got up like normal and visited w/Roma—wonderful, as usual! J He greeted us with such a smile and was ready to play. After about an hour or so we asked if a little girl named Natasha, who is very friendly with Roma, could join us for just a little while to play. This was the first time that we’ve invited any of the children to participate in our time w/Roma—we were curious to see how he would play with us and another child in the room. At first, he was not too happy about i
t, but he warmed right up. However, after only a few minutes a second girl managed to sneak into the room with us. Jim was unsuccessful in communicating to her that she hadn’t been given permission to be in the room with us and she was unwilling to leave. So, we let her stay and play with us, Roma and Natasha. After a bit, however, it was time for the two young ladies to go as we wanted to spend the last bit of time just with Roma, and I had gotten poked in the eye by one of them! HA…HA…HA…After leaving the orphanage, we met a young pastor (Sasha) from a neighboring town, Lidizjian, whom Ruslan had arranged to pick us up and take us to an outreach event hosted by his church and then travel to the orphanage we wrote about in our last upda
te. He spoke a little English and we enjoyed learning a little about his life and ministry during our ride. We met up w/Ruslan, his children and a team from the U.S. at Sasha’s church, where we enjoyed a puppet show that told the Christmas Story, a time of fellowship and some singing. There were about 50-60 people in attendance from the town, mostly parents with small children. We were surprised at the end of the program when they called us up front to have us share who we were, where we were from and why we were in Ukraine and to present us with a beautiful picture done by an artist in the church—we were really touched by such thoughtfulness.We left the event and headed to the orphanage…it is IMPOSSIBLE for us to convey to you the things that we saw at this orphanage as we are still processing everything ourselves. Neither Jim nor I have ever been in a place such as this. The orphanage was at the end of a very long deserted road in the middle of nowhere! It is “home” to 150 children/young adults/adults who have mental and physical handicaps and is considered a “level 4” orphanage in Ukrain
e, meaning that this orphanage takes Ukraine’s most needy children. As we walked through the doors we could hear screams and noises coming from every direction and the smells were overwhelming. We were greeted by several young boys/men—some in wheelchairs, some walking, some crawling and barking, some clothed, some completely nude. It didn’t seem real…the conditions that these sickly children live in is unimaginable! The people working there, however, seemed to really care for the kids and they were doing their best, the facility is very understaffed and very outdated. There are only 2 doctors to care for all 150 kids—one of the docs is Pastor Sasha’s mother (a very strong and loving woman who prays over each of her patients). As we went from room to room we saw children with disorders and syndromes that we have never even heard of—in one room there was an 11 year old boy who had many syndromes and lived in a crib and was no bigger than a 2 year old! There were many Down Syndrome children and kids with Cerebral Palsy and Arthrogryposis…the sad thing was to hear how many of these children’s lives would have been different had their been sufficient m
edical care at birth or soon thereafter in the orphanage. We were deeply saddened by the fact that some of these children have sound minds and the only reason they were sent there was b/c they could not walk or were considered not to be developing at the proper rate. Jim and I were moved to tears as we visited with these forgotten ones…I couldn’t help but think that each one was created by God and made in His image! These children live with little dignity as most of them live naked, in a metal crib and with little attention. The hospital affords only 1 worker for every 17 children—mind boggling! We were encouraged to learn that Pastor Sasha, his wife & daughter and members of his church visit there every month and play with the children and love them! Ruslan also makes regular visits to this orphanage, providing important supplies and additional care. We are not sure why God led us to this place, but we pray that we w
ill not forget all that we saw and experienced.Last night we returned to Tulchyn very tired and overwhelmed.
Today was probably the fastest day yet since our arrival in Ukraine. We got up and headed over to see Roma immediately. We had a wonderful time playing and laughing and singing. He was so cute today—even though the ladies had him dressed like a court jester! J Our time seemed to fly by and we had a ball playing with trucks and blocks and singing songs! We returned later in the day for a very brief visit before traveling to Vinnytsya. Leaving Roma today was so hard…I tried not to cry but I just couldn’t hold back the tears. He knew something was “up” when he saw my tears…he looked at me with those big brown eyes and just smiled. However, when we actually went to leave and turned to the doors he got very upset and tried to leave
with us! One of the workers had to come and get him and hold him back…it broke my heart, but I am so happy to know that it will be less than 2 weeks and we will all be together!Well, it is late here and time for us to rest. We love you and miss you.
Love and blessings,
Karen and Jim
1 comment:
amazing.
i want more details on your visit to this orphanage!!!
still praying for you guys and can't wait for your return with roma!
love,
luke & jess
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