Monday, July 31, 2006

Moms of the kids at the MTU Camp in July


I just realized that I had not posted this blog about the moms at the MTU camp in July. So I wanted to share a little of their stories with you. Athletic, fun, stressed, committed, overworked, loving, dedicated, frustrated, supportive, beautiful—these are just a few words that I would use to describe them. This camp provided them with a little break from the daily stresses and cares associated with having a disabled child.

In Ukraine there is a stigma attached to a family with a disabled child. These mothers shared that they were often told by family members, friends and even medical doctors and nurses that their child was a result of some sin in their lives. Every one of them said this had happened repeatedly. People often said terrible things to them and most of them had encountered pressure from others to put their children in an institution. A good number of the father’s had divorced their wives and wanted nothing to do with the child. Several had been told by physicians that they were too busy to take time for the disabled child and the mothers would just have to deal with any physical problems themselves.

The camp situation provided them with a support group of peers who had also been through many of the same things. It was probably the first time that a number of them had the opportunity of sharing their challenges with other mothers. Also, Cindy, an American who has helped with these camps for several years, presented worship talks and encouraged the ladies to share with each other. I was privileged to give a talks on a couple of the days and to listen to their heart-breaking stories. It opened my eyes to a whole other world.

There were enough staff and volunteers to care for each of the children in wheelchairs and to fairly well provide a lot of one-on-one time with all the children. The mothers were called only when their child needed to have a potty break or if some other small problem arose.

On the last day, we had a Special Olympics for the kids. There were more than enough people to help so Richard and I went around taking pictures and watching the different groups. The last station had a kind of relay area where the participant hit a shuttlecock with a badminton racket, tossed a basketball back and forth three times, threw some rings onto a stand, went backwards about ten yards, threw a Frisbee and tied and untied knots in a jump rope. If the child could not do it, their caregivers helped them or did it for them. After the last group of kids left, several of the mothers tried out the relay course. They were laughing and Richard commented, “Their faces were smiling and radiant, making them look like young, happy girls again.”

A few of the moms had been at camp before and four or five of them had become Christians as a result of those past camps. At least two women gave their hearts to Christ during this camp and the other Christian moms were right there to mentor and support them. It was beautiful. I know God is preparing a special place for these kids and their parents in His Kingdom. I want to be there to see the smiles and watch these mothers running and playing with their children.

Richard's Reflections on Camp


Richard’s thoughts: At first there seemed to be no reason to be there, and no blessings, only horrible saggy beds and hordes of mosquitoes. And even though we knew the kids were “handicapped,” it was hard at first to relate to them. But this is how it goes with us if we just listen and obey. First we get “stretched,” then we receive the blessings God gives when we do something in His name. We seem to think that we might bless others, but we are the ones who get blessed. We ended up falling in love with the kids, especially some of the weakest ones. Little Nastya was my favorite; Vladik was Vicki’s. We could make them smile, hardly a world-shaking development, but of great importance to us, and hopefully to them too. And who knows, maybe in God’s eyes their smiles are of greater value than the majority of all my previous accomplishments. For I am continually reminded that what I can see and quantify is only the physical and obvious, not the eternal. Ya just never know.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Our Week at Camp for Disabled Chlidren

MISSION TO UKRAINE CAMP FOR DISABLED CHILDREN--ZHYTOMER REGION


We returned yesterday from the Zhytomer area where we helped at a camp for disabled children. I’ve been going over my pictures and I miss the kids and moms already. How can I adequately write the words which will describe this experience and the feelings associated with it? I don’t believe that’s possible. Yet I long to share with each of you the wonder and joy we experienced. I want you to get to know these terrific children and their dedicated, loving moms. I want you to glimpse a world far removed from life in America and even our life in Kyiv. Yet I have barely glimpsed their struggles and trials so how can I share them with you?

I wish each of you could join us next year at one of the camps. I definitely want to go back. The accommodations were far from five star but they were adequate. There was a choice with the beds—either saggy, hammock-like springs or a very, hard board under the springs. A plethora of hungry mosquitoes roamed the grounds and buildings looking for unprotected areas of the body to feast on. Hot water for showers was provided every other day in a communal bath house. Yet the food was plentiful and filling—three meals and two snacks each day. The staff was amazing, helpful and caring. And there was no need for a social director to keep us entertained. We were busy from 7:30 AM when we started the day with staff worship until usually about 10:00 PM after the evening meeting and bedtime snack.

Today I will talk about the children and tomorrow about the moms and staff. There were about 51 kids with 22 of them in wheelchairs and strollers—whatever could be obtained for them. They were from five years to late teens in age (one sibling was two.) They ranged from mildly to severely disabled with muscular dystrophy, hydrocephalus, multiple sclerosis, Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, retardation, birth defects, and/or other abnormalities. A few siblings without any medical problems were also included.

I watched a couple of the younger children whom I worked with part of the time go from unresponsive to quite responsive during this week. Dima is six, the youngest of eleven children, and has Down’s syndrome and other complications. He is small and his little arms and legs are very thin. When I first saw him, he just laid still, unmoving except when he cried. I was assigned to his group and by the second day I was helping to care for him. It really stretched me. I sat and held him and sang songs to him while the others were playing. I worked on getting a smile from him and when coloring time came he actually grasped the marker and we colored. I later helped with the Mother’s group and spent less time with the small children’s group but toward the end of the week, I saw Dima lifting his arms and smiling when talked to.
One mother told our mother’s group that her daughter had smiled for the first time in her entire life while at camp.
Anya is sixteen and finishing school this year. She is extremely bright but is confined to a wheelchair and has problems with her bones breaking. Sasha, a young man in his early twenties, who had been physically healthy until he was sixteen, active in his church and in working for others, came to camp on crutches entirely too short for him. He fell a couple times the first two days and then the staff were able to fit him with longer crutches that fit around his arms. Three days later I saw him actually walking without his crutches (it is difficult since his feet turn in so his gait is uneven) and soon after that he was running everywhere. He told us as we left that he was working on his English so he can interpret for us next year.

Richard’s favorite was ten year old Nastya who is about the size of a five year old. She is very weak and has trouble holding her head up but she can move very slowly. She has a very sharp mind and he could play games with her that didn’t require much movement on her part. He could make her laugh and he spent much of his time doing so. Another one that was special to him was Nadia. She is able to move her upper body and makes lovely bracelets. Maxim, a young boy in a wheelchair, was happiest when he was around Nadia. When they played ball, they would just hold the ball for a long time so Richard would sneak in and bat it out of their hands. They’d laugh and laugh at his antics.

Vladyk and his mother, Oksana, were very special to me. At first, I didn’t know how to approach him. Most of the young children were nervous around me and I think it was because they didn’t understand my language. By the end of camp, they seemed to accept me and my weird language. Vladyk is blind. He is five years old and a very large child for his age. His mom is very athletic, fortunately, because he is over half her size. Oksana and her husband had dreamed of having a child for three years. Vladyk was born healthy but contracted meningitis and a bacterial infection while in the hospital. He is hydrocephalic, blind, diabetic and there may be other complications. Early on his parents brought him to Kyiv to see if a shunt could be inserted and they were told it would do no good. The father was devastated and has divorced Oksana. She is twenty-seven. She wants to work but there is not enough money to hire someone to take care of Vladyk during the day. She told me that she dreams that he will be able to walk and talk and become an active member of society some day. His walking skills increased during the time at camp—although he can’t do so without holding on to someone. I tried to teach him numbers with my fingers. I got him to laugh and he knows my voice now. The nurse was wonderful with him and he will hug and kiss her. When he hugs me, he grabs my hair and holds on tight so I have to be careful. He loves music and liked to play with the building blocks used during play time on a couple of days. There must be things that can be done to help him and his mom.

Oksana and I have become friends. She told me that she used to try to pray but gave up a long time ago. We spent one morning after class talking about God and that evening she went forward to become a Christian. I went up to hold her hand and support her. Then Yvet asked me to pray with her and she wanted to ask God’s forgiveness and to say the sinner’s pray. She asked Jesus into her life and I praise God that He allowed me to be there and be able to have this experience with her. I have prayed for years to see someone come to the Father and it was beautiful. We are going to keep in touch and I hope that we can find some help for Vladyk and for her as well. Please keep these children and families in your prayers.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Please View the Smile House Blog

We have moved the Smile House information to it's own blog. Go to links at the side of this webpage and you will see the one for the Smile House Blog site. Thanks for looking at it.

What I learned from riding the Metro, Buses and Trams


I discovered this week that God is teaching me some very valuable lessons while we settle into our new lives in Ukraine. I was sharing about this with a friend and as I re-read what I had written to her, I suddenly realized how much God has been stretching me. We talked a lot with our summer team to Zhytomer about how all of us were being stretched. Since we first started to come to Ukriane, we have talked about being flexible. God put these two words together in my head this past week as I was stretching before attempting to jog around the track by our apartment house (it gets harder to exercise with each passing year.) Wow! The thought came that we cannot become more flexible unless we stretch first and that is just what God is doing for us. He is making us more flexible so he can use us more and more.



So, I want to share the thought that I had sent to my friend: It's so hot and muggy here--I think it's a lot like the weather in Florida. I'm just not used to it. Last week the public transportation issue really got to both of us, especially me. I got into a mood where I just didn't want to travel on the trams, metro, or buses. Ï was tired of all the pushing & shoving to try to get a seat (I felt like I was starting to want to do that as well and I just didn't want to be like that), sweaty bodies against me, and waiting in the hot sun for a tram or bus. I was feeling very sorry for myself and I couldn't take my thoughts off of it. Then, one day as I was traveling, I suddenly pictured Jesus with crowds surrounding Him as He ministered to people's needs. It was hot and probably muggy and everyone wanted something from Him. I''m sure He was pushed and shoved and hot. A couple days later I read the account of where He was teaching, got into Peter's boat and taught from it. As I read, I realized that there were times when He needed to have a little space as well. I suddenly realized that at some point we will be able to buy a vehicle of some sort yet most of the people who use the public transportation system will never be able to. No wonder they push and shove and don't seem to care. There's no hope for something different. This week I have had no trouble riding, even in dense crowds. It's as though God wanted me to learn something very significant here--about myself and my selfishness, about the people I see every day and whom we will be working with, about His grace. The panic is no longer there and I have actually begun again to enjoy watching people and trying to get a smile from them."

Life is a learning experience. May we all keep learning from our failures and successes.

Friday, July 07, 2006

Richard's Reflections


Hi Everyone: I copied some of Richard's email to a friend in California because he tells things that I never think to write about. Enjoy!

Howdy! No, that's not Ukrainian, but a sincere greeting from us to dear friends, which would be YOU! It's been a while since we communicated, so here we go. Life here is both very amazing and very dull at the same time. Dull because we spend most of our time doing the basics; grocery shopping, washing the dishes, trying to stay cool (it's hot here, but that's a good thing), stuff like that. Amazing in that every so often we get to see God working; in the people we meet, how they are giving their all for God even they don't own a home, car or anything else we take for granted in the States. For example, we know Yura and Tanya, a young couple with two boys who have a family ministry associated with YWAM. They have been working with this ministry their entire married lives, about 13 years, and have never had enough money to buy a home, apartment, or even a car, but they are some of the most dedicated people, and the nicest people, we have ever met. Last week they had to move out of their rented apartment. They had been looking for one big enough for Yura's father to live with them, but so far haven't found one, so they stored their belongings and are living with relatives this summer. They have helped us many times, even helped us find our apartment, and we have never seen them complain about anything. Such devotion is truly an inspiration to us; we have nothing to complain about although we seem to, all too often.
And now for the news. Smile House is under renovation. We had talked a lot about getting it started ever since we got here, but it sat for a long time. Then last week as we were coming back to Kyiv from a two week mission trip (Loma Linda students and others) to Zhitomyr, we drove through the village the building is in, and the first thing we saw was the old roof was gone, and a team of builders had moved in (they do it that way here) and were starting the reconstruction. Needless to say, we were pretty excited to see that. At this point we have enough money to get some new walls up (we are enlarging the structure a little) and a new roof on. From there, it will be up to God. If more money comes in we will continue, and if not... please pray that God will work according to His will. We do not want this project to become more important to us than whatever plan God has, know what I mean? So we walk in faith, step by step.
Did we tell you we are living in the big city Kyiv? And getting kind of spoiled with city conveniences. We live in a nice apartment on the seventh floor, in a nice part of town, with a nice view and a jogging track next door. The only drawback is the public transportation, which is everywhere and very inexpensive. Which means everyone uses it, which means buses and subways packed with hot, sweaty people who have no reservations about pushing and shoving and crowding. So we have been looking into buying a car, but they are very expensive here, so we are still looking. I mean, can you imagine over $40,000 for a Hyundai? German and French cars are less expensive (this is, of course, Europe) but they still aren't known for their reliability. We're still looking.
We found a little Adventist church close by where English is spoken, and has a bunch of young people who are very friendly and enthusiastic, so we have been going there. But a lot of our new friends are of other denominations, and our closeness comes from their love and dedication to our Lord; they put us to shame sometimes by the way they love God and work for Him. And they inspire us to live and love more and more, and that's a good thing.

So that's Richard's comments. I want to add that we saw a hedgehog the other night when we were walking home from the subway. I have always liked hedgehogs so it was fun to see it. When it got over it's fear of us, it moved very, very quickly to get away from us. It was cute.

Also, another interesting fact is that there seem to be no driving laws in this country. You have to be very careful not to be hit while walking on the sidewalks. Last night we were coming home in a small bus and the traffic on the main street was stopped. We watched the large bus in front of us drive onto the nearby sidewalk and then our driver followed. Tree branches were hitting the top and a lady who was walking blissfully about fell over when the bus honked at her to get out of the way. After we were delivered right to the underground walkway, we looked back and there was a string of cars and buses using the sidewalk. This happens often. Last week we saw six guys trying to push a car off the tram tracks in front of an oncoming tram. The car had been driving on them to get past traffic but then got stuck. It's an amazing way to drive. That's the other reason we are still looking for a car--we aren't really sure how much we want to drive in Kyiv.