In the Ukraine, through our affiliated Ministry Abundance Life Church located in the city of Kiev, one hundred people came to know Christ; of these, 83 were children from the Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children in Kozelets. The majority of these children have undergone complicated surgeries, such as heart and tumor removal. Others have Down syndrome or mental illnesses.
To our great joy, we have established warm and trusting relationships with the staff of the Center (they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and started reading the Bible). The Abundance Life Church visits the center weekly.
We play with the children, learn songs about Jesus and put on Christian puppet plays.
The children always eagerly participate in the activities and if you ask them, “Who is your best friend?” They answer “Jesus!” Whenever we ask them how they are doing, they answer, “Praise God!” One of the lessons the church taught the children was called “The Animal World That God Created”. In order to reinforce the material studied, the church decided to take the students on an excursion to the Kyiv Zoo by comfortable buses. The children also had an opportunity to visit McDonalds and an amusement park. They had a wonderful time.
The next theme of the children’s lesson is going to be “The Underwater World that God Created.” So we pray God makes it possible for us to go to the Kyiv Dolphinarium.
We wish to reach more underprivileged children and make our God known to them.
The church is planning to start one more project with the children from Borzyansky orphanage and in Chernihiv region. Borzyansky orphanage has 110 children, aged 5-17 years old; and the other, even poorer orphanage in Komarovka village just 10 km (6.21 miles) away, is a home to 75 children, aged 5-14 years old.
- Some of the children were found in dungeons breathing glue fumes, with plastic bags on their heads; they did this in an attempt to run away from the cruel realities.
- Some children were picked up from deserted houses and barns, because their parents had abandoned them.
- Some of the children had resorted to stealing and begging for food. Even though right now these children live in the orphanage where the government is supposed to take care of them, the state funds allocated for them is scarce. There aren’t extra funds for “extra” necessities, such as vitamins, clothes, or gifts for holidays. The church brought them gifts for the New Year Eve (sweets, clothes, stuffed toys etc.), but now it is in the churches heart to visit the children regularly and study the Bible with them.
Your help will enable us to care for and teach 268 children and witness to the orphanages’ personnel. Our prayer is for God to open the hearts of the children and workers from these two orphanages in Chernihiv region and that through Him funding would be provided for this new project.
To find out more about the mission ministry in Ukraine, go to Journey with Grace International Ministry‘s Facebook page. We covet your prayers of support.
