Following is a special guest post from my good friend and inspiration, Bruce Elliott:

UKRAINE CHILDREN’S WORK

Ezra International                                                                         November 2014

 

Anne and I have just returned from Ukraine. As you will know from the news, these are extremely difficult times for Ukraine with fighting in the east backed by Russia, the gas supply issue still not resolved with Russia and it is getting cold in Ukraine, and their economy is in shambles. On the positive side, while we were there an election was held for Deputies (comparable to MPs/Congressmen) and all communist party representatives got voted out. The government is now pro-west and also making moves to come against corruption.

Below is an update on the children’s work which, despite all the uncertainties of life in Ukraine, is going very well. A very big thank you to everyone who helps support this work!

Bruce Elliott

 

FATHER’S HOUSE

I am on the Board of Father’s House and was there for their tri-yearly Board meeting. Father’s House is full to the brim with currently 96 children living there, including many children who are refugees from the east.  An orphanage from Mariupol in the east with 36 children who had been rescued and brought to Father’s House has been relocated in Kiev.

This family is now living at Father’s House with 7 adopted children who are all HIV positive, the Isaeva family. They are refugees from the east but at one time were given an award by the Ukraine government for the work they do.

[ed. note:  For a stunning and moving video celebrating the Isaeva family not to be missed, please see:  http://vimeo.com/58372647]

Father’s House has had to reorganize and move away from the family group concept for the time being to accommodate all the incoming new children. They continue to give wonderful, loving care to the children.

 

CHILD RESCUE MOBILE UNIT

This unit began at the request of the Social Services Director of Kiev, a Christian man, and the only one of its kind in Ukraine. It is now well established and covers three regions of Kiev. We employ a team of professionals and someone is on call 24/7 to receive calls and make immediate visits to homes where children are in crisis situations.   With the backing of Police, children can be removed right away if in danger or our team makes regular home visits to see if the living situation/parenting can be changed to create an environment for children to be safely in. The team has around 60 families it follows up on.

We went on home visits with our team and, as usual, the living conditions were deplorable with very minimal parenting. The children in this photo are siblings living in one small, very damp room under the care of a grandmother who can’t walk and the mother is HIV and an alcoholic. Our team is in the process of arranging for these children to go to a sanitarium for their health as a first step.

Our goal is to be able to provide Christmas food packages and gifts for the crisis family children.

For these children in crisis families, 8 months ago a group working alongside us started an after school center (from 3:15 to 7pm and Saturday afternoons). So our mobile unit staff on home visits invite the school age children to the center. There is a schedule of all the classes they can take part in – English, crafts, dancing, music and football for the boys. They are fed a healthy light meal. The center name translates to English as “Achievement” – to give the children dreams and goals through acceptance and encouragement. It is full of life and activity and the kids never want to leave to go home. Parents are encouraged to come and receive help and it is such a comfortable environment many do come.

MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN IN PRISON

In Ukraine there are some prisons where women can have children with them till they turn 2. After that the children are taken away and put in government orphanages, which is very traumatic. The lack of record-keeping has meant mothers have great difficulty in finding their children when they are released. Lena, who is on staff with the Rescue Unit, is very called to this work and is now visiting two prisons monthly building relationships with the mothers, writing to them during the month and helping with records. We provide supplies for her to take. Lena said to date since her involvement 16 women have been released and reunited with their children and she helps them get re-established.

“NEW BEGINNINGS RANCH” (REHABILITATION VILLAGE)

This visit cold was beginning to set in. The Ranch is 60 kms from the Russian border and they will be snowed in all winter. The houses we purchased are very old and had been deserted. They have now been done up to be lived in but are very basic. One good thing is that the big Ukrainian concern over gas for the winter doesn’t touch them as each house has a hole in an inner wall where they burn firewood and this keeps them very warm and enables them to cook with the heat generated. Pastor Vladimir heads up the Ranch and his heart is huge – he takes anyone who needs a home and wants to be part of the little community there – mothers and their children who had been homeless and people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, whether they can work or whether they are crippled. All ages. They work hard during the summer to provide food for the winter and are almost self-sufficient.   Our plan is to continue to buy houses and do them up to be habitable so that more very needy families can be housed.

In the summer we were able to do a camp out there for children from the ranch and some of the children from the crisis families in Kiev we work with were brought out to it. This is our second year of doing a camp and it is the most wonderful experience for these children. Our goal is to have the funds to do one again next year.

If anyone has questions, please Email annejelliott@gmail.com.

Donations can be sent to –

Ezra International, P.O. Box 120926, Clermont, FL, 34712-0926

Harvest City Church, 7416 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, B.C. V5P 3Z3

Or by Paypal through our website www.ukrainestreetchildren.webs.com

All donations go 100% to the children’s work, with no overheads taken out!