Slavik motioned toward the couch and chairs in his living room.
“Spasiba, spasiba.”
My mind went blank. Spasiba was one of the 5 Russian words I knew, but a 13 hour flight, a race through the Paris airport to catch our connecting flight, and the experience of going through customs had me completely numb.
Our team stood in the middle of the room, smiling and nodding like a collection of bobble heads.
Thankfully, Alyona came in the room and said “Please, sit down.”
The next morning I tried to tell Slavik’s mother Good Morning, but my version of “Dobroe utro” was, no doubt, too Southern. She just waved her hand impatiently and pointed toward the kitchen as if to say “Don’t bother, just go get breakfast.”
Traveling to another culture is so humbling.
I needed help turning on the shower. Which knob is for hot water and which one is cold? I needed help plugging in my hair dryer.
And I certainly couldn’t read the gas pumps. 
One afternoon our team sat on the floor of the Slavik and Alyona’s home office wrapping Christmas presents to take to the orphanage that we would be visiting the next day. Suddenly 3 clowns walked down the stairs.
Thankfully, they weren’t the creepy kind of clowns. They were colorful, cheerful, and in full costume from head to toe.
They nodded at us, and we nodded back, bobble head style, as they walked out the door.
I never knew what to expect from moment to moment.
Ukraine had delicious pizza, huge grocery stores, beautiful landscapes, cold weather unlike anything I’d ever experienced. And beautiful, hospitable people who welcomed us into their homes.
There was also brokenness and pain. I spent time with the children in the orphanages and heard their stories. I saw fear beneath their tough exterior. These children were placed there by the decisions of others and are helpless to change their situation. Being helpless can take us to some pretty dark places. And here, in the middle of darkness, Heritage Ukraine is a ray of light. A sliver of hope that things don’t have to stay dark.
The ministry of Heritage Ukraine involves children in one of these settings:
Orphanage ministry: Teams visit the children in the orphanage each month doing a variety of different activities including sharing Bible stories, playing games, doing crafts, teaching life skills lessons, and establishing mentor relationships.
JAM (Jesus and Me) Day Center: ministers to children from troubled homes and their families. Children in troubled homes often end up in orphanages. This center is a way to help prevent that from happening.
Joy Center: ministers to children with special needs and their families.
Camp Lela: Summer camps run from the beginning of June through the end of August. Each week of camp focuses on one specific set of children. The first week this year was for children from the Jesus and Me Day Center, the second was for children with hearing disabilities, the third for children from the Eastern Ukraine Conflict Zone. There are camps for the children from specific orphanages with special needs, camps for children from other orphanages and a family camp in the mix.
Three things I love about Heritage Ukraine: :
- Slavik and Alonya are a great team. The Lord has given them the ability to dream big and communicate their vision to others in a way that generates momentum.
- They give practical ways for others to become involved in stretching out a hand of relief to those in need. It’s easy to see a need, it’ s hard to know where to step in to help.
- Everything they do is consistent with their purpose statement: Heritage Ukraine exists to shine God’s light in dark places for orphans, troubled children, children with special needs, and refugees.
Ways You Can Get involved:
Find out more about Slavik, Alonya and Heritage Ukraine on their website, http://www.heritageua.org/
Subscribe to their monthly newsletters to get an idea of what is going on that month and what they need.
Check out their Heritage Ukraine YouTube Channel to feel the energy, especially in the camp videos!
Like their Facebook page to get updates on Facebook.
Sign up to be on their prayer team.
Give financially.
Travel to Ukraine and volunteer with Heritage Ukraine on a short-term mission trip.
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This post is part of the Fighting for Those Who Can’t page at erinulerich.com
Fighting For Those Who Can’t is a resource to share the stories of people who are reaching out to the brokenhearted, the forgotten, and the helpless and to give practical ways others can reach out right where they are.