This past Christmas, we gave out photo albums of all the kids in the orphanage in Komarivka. It took a lot of time to sort through photos for 100 kids, but we did it, and a bunch of the albums had 25 pictures (that was the max). A lot of people we told us that this was a really good gift, because most of these kids never get any pictures of themselves.
Sasha, Zhenya and Alina right after they got their photo albums.
But something happened with the pictures that we didn’t expect.
A couple of weeks ago, Janna had the kids help her make a “We miss you” card for Andre. Andre used to visit the orphanage with us every week, but now he is working with a different ministry north of Kiev. A few of the kids really miss him. While we were working on the card, Artyom brought us a picture of himself that we had given him for Christmas, so that we could give it to Andre. And he asked us if Andre could send him a picture in return.
Vita showing me the closet that 9 guys in this room share. They really don’t have anything.
Later that day, I was being dragged around by Vita, because … well … she loves me, and I am defenseless against her charms. I saw her photo album and thumbed through it. She still had several of the pictures we gave her, but most of her album was full of pictures of other kids.
The kids have all been giving away pictures of themselves as presents.
Me and Denis.
They always like to give things. Without fail, some kid in the orphanage will give me a piece of candy. Regularly, someone will sneak a part of their lunch out of the cafeteria to give me. (The super dry bread is my least favorite, but I try to act like I enjoy it). When we do a craft with one of the classes, about half of the crafts end up being given to our team who brought the crafts in the first place.
We love to give. We love to find something that is just right for this kid and make him feel special.
They love to give too. It makes you feel good to give something that you think will be appreciated by someone else. The kids want that just like everyone else. It’s a God-given desire.
Sasha just graduated. He kept reminding me that he really wanted this picture of him and his little brother Vadeem before he left the orphanage.
So when we gave them photo albums we gave them that they can keep and treasure as well as something that they can give to the special people in their lives.
The kids have been asking when we’ll give them more photos. We tell them next Christmas. You’d think from their response that Christmas only happened once every four years. It make us really happy that we can give them something that they value, and we have every intention of continuing.
Oh, dear. This is precious. I try to keep up with you guys, but I fall behind. Then I come back and my heart yearns for Ukraine again! Knowing that you guys are back at Chernigiv makes me miss it! God bless you guys! Miss you! Thank you for the opportunity you gave my mom and me. We will never forget it.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Kristian