Update Ukraine

Happy New Year! I hope you all had an amazing holiday season. The children in Ukraine sent their greetings and thanks to you through e-mail along with pictures of them with the packages and letters sent.
“Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! From all children of our centre. Thanks for parcels.”







As you can imagine, with 17 children living under one roof, the supply of shampoo and other hygiene items disappears quickly. Over time this can be costly. This past fall, the children’s center ran completely out of shampoo. On the same day nine packages arrived filled with shampoo, other hygiene items, toys, and a little food. These packages were from Living Hope. The children’s center now has shampoo and other items it needs for a long time to come. This was not just an outpouring of stuff but of love. Thank you so much for your donations, prayers, and love for the children of Vapnyarka, Ukraine.

24 KIDS / 45 COMMITMENTS
I am very excited to announce, that all 24 children have at least one sponsor, committed to giving, praying, and building a relation whip with them! This is an amazing accomplishment, which many of you have been a part of. There have been a total of 45 commitments made. Thank you for your willingness to follow God’s call on your hearts to be a part of a child’s life. If you are interested in committing to sponsor a child from the orphanage in Vapnyarka Ukraine, there is information available in the Living Hope lobby. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at tiffinua@yahoo.com.

LETTER WRITING
Letter writing is a way for you to connect with the child you have sponsored. Many of you have had questions about writing letters to the children. I have tried to respond to these as they have been asked but I would like to take the time to outline the process.
•Write your letter. You can use the guidelines provided for you on the back of the child profile portion of the commitment card. Feel free to get kids involved by having them write or draw pictures.
•If you want to include pictures, stickers, or anything else small and flat you may.
•Be sure the child’s name is clearly marked on the document or envelope.
•As a safety precaution, all letters are screened for content before being given to the children. For this reason, it is not necessary to seal your letter in an envelope, unless something is in danger of falling out.
•Please do not include financial contributions in the same envelope as letters.
•We send mail using a USPS Flat Rate Envelope. This is the most cost effective way to send mail. This does mean that we send mail in a bundle and can only send it when we have enough to fill up an envelope.
•The Flat Rate Envelope is 9 ½” X 12”. Anything we send over needs to be within these dimensions.
•Keep in mind that due to the fact that we can only send mail when we have enough to fill the envelope and the length of time it takes for mail to travel from Ohio to Ukraine it could take anywhere from 6-8 weeks for mail to reach the kids.
•Please write at least four times a year.
•Letters can be sent into Living Hope Church, placed in the offering basket, dropped in the box on the Ukraine display, or put in the Ukraine Mission mail box in the copy room.

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Thank you to all those who have committed to help the children by giving financially through sponsorship or by making a onetime donation. To make giving easier, it is available online at www.elivinghope.com and clicking on the “Giving” link at the top of the page.
If you prefer, you can still make your contribution through the weekly offering, the box on the Ukraine display or mailing it in to the church. If paying by check please be sure “Ukraine Sponsorship” is included in the memo line. If you are paying with cash please be sure it is in an envelope and mark either on the envelope or on a paper inside the envelope “Ukraine Sponsorship” as well as your name or the name of the groups so that you are credited for it. Tithe envelopes are available on the tiered table in the Living Hope Foyer.

Writing Letters

Guidelines for Letter Writing
We ask that as part of child sponsorship, you write at least four times during the course of a year. For your convenience letters can be given to Tiffany, sent to the Living Hope Community Church, or dropped in the LH offering plate or in the box on the Ukraine display. Letters will then be sent collectively at the end of every month or sooner if there are several. Please remember letters will be translated from English to Russian. The simpler the language, the easier it is to translate. Please clearly write the child’s name including initial for last name, if listed on card.

Due to cost and the fact that we do not want some kids to receive gifts while others do not you cannot send packages. If you would like to include stickers, bookmarks, and other small things that can be placed in a card or letter that is acceptable. We will notify you if we are sending packages collectively or collecting specific items for each child to be sent over a couple times a year.

Below are guidelines to help you with your writing.

What to write about…
•Introduce yourself and your family. (your name, spouse, children, pets, occupation, age or grades in school, sports, hobbies or activities)
•Tell about where you live. (City, State, weather, seasons, terrain, describe it)
•Share Pictures. (Feel free to share pictures of you or your family. If your children like to draw, it would also be great for them to send their own artwork)
•Prayer Requests. (The children are praying for you, feel free to share what you need prayer for.)
•Ask Questions. (Ask about school, weather, prayer request, sports, activities, or hobbies. This will encourage the children to write back and help them write)

Do not write about…
•In your pictures and writings do not share about money or costly processions.
•Do not send money.
•Do not ask a child about their past or their parents or why they were on the streets or in a children’s home. (Try to focus on the future)
•Do not make promises to the child.


To send correspondance or donations for the Ukraine Sponsorship program, please address it as follows:
Living Hope Church
Child Sponsorship
1150 West Spring Valley Pike
Centerville, OH 45458

New Opportunity

Much has happened since the last time I wrote. God has opened up many doors to continue working with the orphans in Ukraine. Hygiene items were collected and sent, a couple committed to sponsorship of the street children, a child sponsorship program was created for the children in the children’s home in Vapnyarka, and plans have begun for mission trips in 2011!

Sponsorship
I would like to share some exciting news about continued work with the orphanage in Vapnyarka Ukraine. With the help of Living Hope Church in Centerville, we were able to launch a child sponsorship program to build relationships with children through letter writing and prayers and to help meet the needs for food, shelter, clothing, and education through financial monthly financial contributions. It has been exciting to see individuals, families, and small groups choose a child to invest in. Please pray for the sponsorship program, the persons involved, and of course the children.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child for $20.00 a month, please contact me to receive a sponsorship commitment card or pick one up in the Living Hope foyer.

Thank you for your continuous love, encouragement, and support of me and the orphans of the world.
God Bless, Tiffany Wientge

March

The month of March has been the most difficult month for me to write about. I have concluded that it is because it feels so final. Writing about final events, saying goodbye, and reentry into the U.S. was like closing and locking a door. However it would be wrong not to share with those of you have been on this journey with me, those experiences. I have also decided, that just because I am entering an new phase of my life, I am not leaving Ukraine, my experiences there, the people I loved, or the passion that God has awakened in me in my past- it is now a part of who I am. As the thought provoking film set in Ukraine, Everything is Illuminated, illustrates, we do not leave our past behind us. Our past is a part of who we are and it affects the way we see the world around us.

It is this same principle of carrying our past around with us, which causes many people to carry burdens they don’t need to. When I think about the seventeen kids in the children’s center, I have an image in my head of each one them carrying a book bag on their back filled with bricks. Bricks of physical abuse, of verbal cruelty, the heaviness of being neglected or abandoned weighing down on them, the voices of their society constantly instilling lies by telling them they are guilty of the sins of their parents, that they are less valuable because they are orphans or because they have HIV, their family trees are infiltrated with prostitution, crime, and drug use. They carry these bricks which they are shackled to with chains of fear, low self-esteem, hopelessness, and a desire to fill the void in their lives with whatever they can find. My heart breaks, knowing that 10% of children in government orphanages commit suicide before the age of eighteen. As disturbing as this thought is, it is a reality that can only be broken by the power of God. This makes me ever more faithful that at least a handful of the thousand of orphans around the world are taking part in programs developed by Christian organizations that offer them not only food and shelter but hope and love.

If we think that we are safe from carrying our own bag of bricks just because we live in America, we are wrong. Each one of us carries are own bag of the past. There comes a point in each person’s life when they are given the choice to blame it on everyone who put a brick in their bag or tightened the chains that bind them and live with the weight and pain or we can take responsibility for the healing process. By putting down our bags and removing our chains we are free to live the life God truly wants for us. Letting go of our baggage is much harder than it sounds because we have to ask God and often others for help. My prayer for these kids, for you, and for me as that we will be able to put down our baggage and live free.

Pivotal Moments
I would like to share some of the events that took place my last few weeks in Ukraine.

Family
When I returned to Vapnyarka the last time, I got off the train in the middle of the night. When I got home, everyone was sleeping soundly. I awoke the next morning as usual. Nina, the lady I lived with was excited to see me. She poured us some tea and sat with me while I ate my bread and butter breakfast. After getting caught up on where I had been the subject turned to something more serious. Knowing I would be leaving soon, she asked me to ask my church to pray for her daughter, Yana, who I also lived with. As she begin to explain, tears began streaming down her face. Since the age of nine, Yana had severe headaches. The doctors were unable to figure out the cause. All they could do was give her medicine to help the pain. Ten years later, at the age of nineteen, Yana’s head still aches frequently. She continues to take medicine but there is still no knowledge of what is causing the pain.

Here I was, a year after I had arrived, listening to a woman pour her heart out, doing her best to explain her burden in the simplest Russian possible, so that I would understand. To Nina I was not a foreigner, but a sister in Christ and my church, although thousands of miles away, family. Her faith was inspirational. It didn’t matter to Nina what language was being used to pray because her God is bigger.

Yana was added to the prayer list at my church but I ask that as my fellow believer that you also pray for her condition. Also pray for her mother and family.

Fresh Off the Street
From Vapnyarka, I traveled to Odessa for about a week to spend time working with Natalya before going to Kiev. I said my goodbyes and shed some tears, knowing that I would not see the kids before I left. Thankfully God granted me peace and I was able to leave. The emotions and thoughts I was having were normal and expected. What I did not expect was what I would find in Odessa- a boy, who for writing we will name Sergei.

Sergei grew up on the streets. When he was only one and a half years old his mother, a drug user, was forced to live on the streets and took him with her. As Sergei, now fourteen, recalls his mother, he tells stories about how she used to care for not only him but all of the street boys. She did whatever she had to including theft, so that they would have food. Before she would always make sure the food was divided up between the kids before feeding herself. She often went without, so that the kids could eat. A couple of years ago Sergei’s mother died in his arms.

Over the last year Natalya has visited with street kids in Odessa, bringing them food and clothing. Some of you may remember Sasha, living with the kids on the street for a week to help gain their trust. Relationships were made and doors opened to the street kids.

Recently Sergei decided he wanted to try a new way of life, life off the streets. He was brought to Natalya’s home where he lived for two months prior to my arrival. As wonderful as home life may sound, it is a difficult transition for a kid used to living on the streets. There were lots of lessons to learn, like how to use a toilet and how to eat with silverware. There are rules, responsibilities, and expectations. In turn, he received a warm place to sleep and regular meals.

Sergei also decided to become a Christian. He has found a new hope. His church is in many ways his family.

For the first time in his life at the age of fourteen, he is learning to read. I had the honor to get to know Sergei better during my time in Odessa by playing games and helping him learn to read. I will never forget sitting across the breakfast table from him when he ate cereal for the first time ever.

Sergei is well on his way to a new life off the streets but the transition can be difficult. Please pray for the further development of this boy. He is now spending time in Vapnyarka. It is possible that he will live at the children’s center there. Pray that God protects and keeps him and also for the kids already in the children’s home as they adjust to a new kid.

Thank you for your continuous love, prayers, and encouragement as I return home. I hope to write more soon about the adjustments taking place. God Bless, Tiffany

NCM Magazine

If you are interested in reading my article about Aquila Ministries in Chernovtsy, Ukraine you can find it online at http://www.nazcompassion.org/magazine_center.aspx

Final Days

Traveler’s Note:
When washing your hands always turn on the water before putting soap on them or you may end up with a handful of soap with no way to rinse it off. (Be sure to keep some hand sanitizer on close by)

Quarantine

When I arrived in Vapnyarka on Wednesday the 25th of February the kids were in the middle of a week of no school. They were quarantine! The whole school was quarantine. Too many kids were sick, so they closed school for a whole week to keep it from spreading. Other than the three boys in Odessa, the kids were all at home, enjoying life without homework.

This time off school was a blessing to me as well. I was able to spend more time with the kids. We played BINGO and UNO. We played a towering bunny game I found in the bottom of my suit case. We watched movies and played with dolls. On the few days the sun was shining we played in the snow and rollerbladed on the pavement. Other than Andrei having to go to the hospital for a week because his cough was so bad, it was a glorious time.

Reaching New Heights

In May, I put up a height chart in the children’s center. I measured all seventeen kids and myself. Ten months later, I measured them again. Incredible! They grew an average of two inches each. I on the other hand, had shrunk about an inch and was officially labeled “Babushka” or grandma.

I knew the kids had grown during my time with them but I didn’t realize how much till I saw it with my own eyes. As each child stood in front of the chart awaiting the results, a smirk of anticipation lit each face. At the sight of their new heights they became excited. A sense of pride filled their eyes. They eagerly shared their results. Measuring them did not only record their physical growth but allowed their self esteem to blossom.

Saying Goodbye

It is never easy to say goodbye to the ones you love. For me, leaving these young children in Vapnyarka was no different. Not knowing if or when I will see them again makes it even more difficult. I worry about them.

Will they know they are loved? Will they make better decisions than their parents? What does life have in store for them? Will they become part of the statistics? But somehow, through the hugs and the tears, I have found peace. Even though I love them dearly, these children do not belong to me; they never did. They are the Lord’s. It is in the Lord’s hands that I leave them.

It does not mean I don’t cry for them. It does not mean that my heart does not break for them when I think of the tragic past that haunts them. It does not mean I don’t cringe when I think of the battles that lie ahead of them. It means I realize that I am not God. It means I pray for them daily. I pray that their past is not their future. I pray for healing. I pray that they find hope. I pray that they know they are loved.

Common Ground

In some of the recent pictures you will see a gathering of the moms and a club meeting with guests from Germany; Adeena and Alenna. They stayed for one week.

Adeena’s family moved to Germany from Uzbekistan when she was a girl. Her father was a blind man and also a Christian. The Soviet Union wanted to imprison him, but to avoid an international incident over putting a blind man in prison merely for having faith; he was given three days to pack up his family and leave. It was not easy, but her family made their home in Germany.

Adeena is now the mother of two children herself, one of which is Alenna who accompanied her on this trip. In the picture of my final days of Chernovtsy, you can see a small part of what they did while they were here.

Having company over for tea, coffee, and sweets is a common practice in Ukraine. While our visitors from Germany were here, as when my family was here, we had the mothers over for tea, coffee, and sweets. And just as when my family was here the mothers shared their hearts through their prayer requests. Adeena shared her story and how God was at work in her life. There were many commonalities between this meeting and when my family was here. It does not matter where you are from- Uzbekistan, Germany, Ukraine, or The United States of America, a mother’s heart is the same. A mother’s prayer is for her family, for her children. There is a need for women all over the world to be able to share their needs. They need a place to come unmasked and unafraid; a place where they will be loved and encouraged. Just like the women meeting here, my mother and Adeena spoke of meeting in women’s Bible study groups in their own countries.

We were created to depend on each other. When Christ came and the church was created, part of its duty was to provide a safe place to be heard, to share, to be loved, to be encouraged, and to pray together with other believers. I have found that this is not just an idea but a reality. In my own life, this past year, I have been encouraged. I have been loved. I have been able to share and be heard. I have been prayed for and prayed with. It never ceases to amaze me, that as part of the church, I have family all over the world. Thank you for being a part of that family.