The Voices of Ukrainians

A week ago, most of the kids from Komarivka came to Kiev on an excursion.  They were doing a concert and then having a tour at the Lavra, one of the oldest monasteries in Ukraine.  We got to watch the show and hang out with the kids the whole day which was great.  So I just wanted to share with you videos of their performance and some pictures of the kids on their tour.  For many of the kids, this was their first time in Kiev. The show started with a song and then the younger girls did a dance, which was pretty much the cutest things we had ever seen. After that, the older girls did a more traditional Ukrainian dance. They didn't get to use the stage, not sure why, but the dance had been choreographed for a much larger area.  The week before, the staff at the orphanage had asked us if we could buy some traditional socks for this dance. So the socks the girls were wearing are a gift from us, thanks to our awesome supporters. The show ended with a group...

I was thinking back and I realized that for the most part I write two types of stories.  I write stories about the kids in the orphanages.  I write about how they touch my heart.  The struggles they face.  The special moments with them and the heartbreaking moments with them.  I try and help people understand how much I love the kids in the orphanage and hate the orphanages.  I write about how much I wish I could change the life they live.  I try as hard as I can to convey how heartbreaking it can be to work with the kids, not because I’m trying to play on peoples emotions but because it is really heartbreaking.  I always feel like these stories are depressing, because, well, it depresses me. And then I write stories about what I see God doing through his people in Ukraine.  I write stories about thkids from Safe Haven and how they help us.  The joy and the growth I see in them.  I write about how what we see Anya and Bogdon doing...

Safe Haven has been working with the orphanage in Khanev for over 10 years.  Every Spring and Fall break they put on a camp for the kids who don’t spend the break with family.  So last week, Janna and I got to go with them and a group of American who came to help put on the camp.  We aren’t allowed into the orphanage in Komarivka, so we thought this would be a great opportunity to see what Safe Haven does and try to learn from them.  Anya and Bogdon, house parents at Safe Haven, have told us that camp is when they develop relationships with the kids that eventually come and live at Safe Haven when they finish school.  So I expected Anya and Bogdon to be in the middle of everything all week long.  But they weren’t.  Bogdon emceed during the talent show, and Anya said something to the group the very first day and the very last day.  Other than that, they stayed out of the spotlight.  (Except when Anya played the beautiful girl in a skit with 5...

(I’m going to write more on our experience at camp, but this is just about my relationship with kids who were in my room. ) Vlad was sitting on my left.  His head resting on my chest.  “You’re my new uncle.  You’re a good uncle.”  Man, that made me feel great. Valerie who was sitting on my right, head also on my chest, said, “You’re my new papa. You’re a good papa.”  That brought up more complicated feelings for me.  I felt great because it was only the second night of camp and Valerie already trusted me, but I felt terrible because I knew the only reason Valerie was saying that was because he wanted and needed someone to be his papa.  I squeezed both of the boys as I held back tears.  I hate what these kids have to live through. Me with Vlad and Valerie ******** This past week, Janna and I were at camp with Safe Haven.  We were told we couldn’t visit the orphanage in Komarivka so we took advantage of the opportunity to see how Safe H...

Here are some pictures from our trip to Budapest. We went last month to reset our visas and had a pretty good time. Unfortunately we were both under the weather, and so we didn't get to do as much as we wanted. More reason to go back! It's truly a beautiful city, perfect for walking around, and so we enjoyed exploring the streets, shopping, and eating at different restaurants. Hungarian food is really good, at least all the stuff we tried! Some memorable dishes were sampled included chicken in paprika sauce (Hungary is is really famous for its paprika), Hungarian beef with noodles, garlic soup, some sort of chicken with some sort of sauce,  and pork with peppers. We also found a few American style restaurants, and had burritos, sweet and sour chicken, pasta, and pizza. For me, food is definitely a highlight of traveling. That and finding interesting things like this: It's really a pink phone! I love it! This is a synagogue called The Budapest Great Synag...

When I was a kid, every summer we traveled the eight hours to Memaw and Pepaw’s house and spent a week.  We would hang out with all of our cousins.  We would stay up late, go hiking in the woods, go play putt-putt, go to the lake or the zoo and eat Memaw’s candy.  We did all the great things you do when you visit Memaw and the cousins.  Next door to Memaw and Pepaw, our second cousins, two brothers,  were usually visiting their grandma at the same time we were visiting ours.  They were younger than all of my first cousins, so naturally they wanted to hang out with us all the time.  We were older.  We were always doing something, and we could go lots of places they couldn't go … unless they went with us.  They were always knocking at the door, “Um… can Daniel, … or Shae … or Brandon come out and play.”  It started to get out of hand.  So eventually, their grandma told them that they weren't allowed to knock on Me...

Свидетельство Жанны Я родилась в христианской семье. Мои родители брали меня с собой в церковь по воскресеньям. Когда мне было 7 лет, мы проходили в церкви причастие, но я не понимала, зачем мы делали это. Моя мама обЪяснила мне, зачем и потом я помолилась и попросила Иисуса Христа войти в моё сердце. После этого  Я учила библейские истории в Воскресной школе. Но я следовала правилам просто потому, что я не хотела попасть в беду, а не потому, что я любила Бога. Когда Я была подростком, я не курила, не пила, и не встречалась с парнями. У меня были хорошие друзья (все христиане) и мы ходили в молодежную группу каждую неделю. Я продолжала расти в моей вере. Когда я училась в университете, я думала, что я хороший человек. Я знала что я грешна, но это не беспокоило меня. Другие люди были хуже, чем я. Однако мне нравилось служить, и Я служила в разных местах. Я всегда хотела помогать детям, которые живут в интернатах в России или в Восточной Европе . Но сначала Я боялась ис...