The Voices of Ukrainians

May 31st was graduation, and our whole team plus some decided to go! That included me (Janna), Daniel, Meisha, Lexi, Oksana (our translator), Doug, Suzie, Benjamin, Megan, Katya (Megan's friend), Geoff (friend of Doug), and Dima (friend of Doug), plus four tires and 19 graduation gifts. The ceremony was quite interesting, but of course it was in Ukrainian, so we didn't understand most of it. The director called out each student's name and gave them their certificates, some of the graduates performed a waltz, one graduate sang a song, and then there were some other parts of the ceremony that I'm not sure what was happening. Maybe they were plotting to take over Moldova. I think not, though, because who wants Moldova? What struck me most was that on stage, none of the graduates were smiling, and it seemed like a few didn't care or just weren't interested. Even some of the parents seemed bored, busy talking on their cell phones or hollering at a mom to keep her b...

When I was a music minister I prayed in front of the congregation every Sunday.  Almost every time I started with an awkward silence.  Sunday morning was full of running around, making sure everything was ready, running over songs, making sure I knew the right announcements to make, etc.  So my brain was always racing.  But when it came time to pray, I wanted to talk to God, and I didn’t want my mind wandering all over the place.  So, I paused and reminded myself that I about to speak to the King of Glory.  It’s time to pay attention.  My goal in praying is to try to remember one thing above all others: God is real, talk to him like it. This means that often my prayers are awkward. After all I am talking to the Creator of all things, the King of the universe, The only One who knows all of my secrets, and so on.  Don’t worry, I know Jesus has called me friend and I can talk to him like that too. We recently learned the Lord’s prayer in Russian....

Usually when I have something to write about here, I try to find a little story that helps me show my point.  For example, when I wanted to write about our fight to keep these kids from becoming statistics, I wrote about the day I had 2 hours to make a three hour trip so that Petro could keep his job .  Or when I wanted to show that one of our biggest challenges will be teaching the kids motivation, I told about Anya choosing to do as little exercise as she could while she was in rehab.  I’m always looking for that little snapshot that helps us understand the larger, more complicated picture a little better.  So, since January, I’ve been trying to put together a piece about Bogdon. I’ve been looking for a little story that gives the perfect glimpse of all that Bogdon is.  He and his wife Anya have been running Safe Haven (the transition home we are modeling Smile House after) for over 10 years.  He is such a huge part of how this whole thing works, and I w...

I recently read a book called A People’s Tragedy , by Orlando Figes.  It was a very good, but long and depressing book about the Russian Revolution from 1891-1924.  There was a story throughout the book of a Russian farmer named Semenov who, when he was young, went off to see the world.  As he traveled from country to country he learned about different methods of farming.  When he returned to his village he was determined to implement what he had learned and try to educate his neighbors.  Villages at that time would divide the land in the village up amongst the peasants in long narrow strips of land that a family would work to provide their food for the year.  Semenov fought to be allowed to have a larger square of land where he implemented crop rotation, used modern machinery and applied various other techniques.  Semenov’s new ideas faced very staunch opposition from many of the village leaders.  Over the years, however, while most peasants str...

We have some exciting news to share: we have house parents! Meet Slavik and Tanya, the couple that has agreed to work with us! They are a wonderful couple and we feel they are the perfect fit. After many months of searching (and much prayer), we are relieved that the search is over. They are already doing foster care, and have 2 kids that they have taken in, plus they just had a baby. They are visiting Smile House now to plan and work out some details (for example, where their kids will go to school, etc) and they plan to start talking to the girls from Komarivka soon. Please pray for this couple and their ministry. They have a lot of things to work out, many decisions to make, and lots of problems to solve, plus moving is always stressful. Thanks!

Anya was checked into the hospital a few weeks ago on Monday to have her cast removed and start physical therapy.  The first time we saw her after that was Friday. We had tried to see her on Wednesday but it was a holiday and the visiting hours were earlier, so an angry nurse chased us out the door. Who knew? As soon as we saw her, I wanted to know how much progress she had made in working the stiffness out of her leg. So, I asked her to show me how far she could bend her knee. She wouldn’t show me.  It’s not like I asked once and let it go.  I was a broken record,  I demonstrated with my own knee.  I elaborated.  I started the whole process over again. We were there for and hour and a half;  I bet I asked 30 times minimum.  She just shrugged and said, “Potom.”  Which means, later. We did convince her to hop off the bed and we helped her walk into the hall where we played Uno, but the whole night she didn’t try to bend her knee.  ...

What is Smile House again? Let me refresh your memory! Smile House is a transition home in the making. It has 3 floors, plus a full size basement. The top floor is divided into two separate apartments. Our director Doug lives in one of those apartments with his wife and two kids and two cats. One of his cats likes to eat olives. I think that is strange for a cat. The 2nd apartment on the 3rd floor is just a small, one room studio where Daniel and I are temporarily living while we finish the rest of Smile House. We have no cats. I like to eat olives, though. The 2nd floor will be the transition home part. We are working hard to finish it by fall. Our goal is to invite kids from Komrivka, the orphanage we have a relationship with, to come live at Smile House this fall. We have lots to do before then! Here are some pictures of the 2nd floor and the progress we have made. The is the view coming in from the stairwell. We kind of need a door, and a doorknocker.  Look at the...