Our Shelter “kids” are now young adults, out of trade school, and working or job-hunting. Salaries in Zhytomyr are extremely low, and a one-room apartment costs a whole salary to rent. You can understand why it is hard to make ends meet. All our kids are stretching each hryvnya as far as it will go. Sometimes they don’t have enough to eat. For many, buying decent clothes isn’t even a possibility anymore. We are doing everything we can to help. Sometimes in dire situations we help kids make rent or get the electricity back on in their apartments. We are always grateful when our friends from America help with clothes, especially for the Shelter grandchildren!

Since these young people are trying to work hard, and are not always able to support themselves (through no fault of own), we want to continue to help them with food. In Ukraine most parents continue meeting their kids’ physical needs well into adulthood. The poor economy means that the only way to survive is if all family members help each other out. We want to help our kids in the way normal parents would.

The past two months we have been able to buy each child (many of whom have children of their own) about $3 of groceries twice a month ($6 per month per child). We would love to increase our $3 care packages to $5 care packages ($10 per month per child). Please consider donating $10 a month to Last Bell Ministries to provide extra food for one child. We have about 20 kids at Shelter every other week. If 20 people offer $10 a month, this entire program would be covered. Please consider helping! Thank you!

Your generosity has made it possible for us to “adopt” all of these young people into our Shelter family over the years and to continue caring for them as our own family. Here are pictures of four different kinds of care packages we can give, including many items that Shelter kids have already been receiving, thanks to you.

Sandwiches

Pasta, buckwheat, peas, and rice

Around the house

Tea time

Our heavenly Father always takes care of us. Many things confirm this: the Bible, the Holy Spirit alive in our hearts, our experiences as believers, and also the many testimonies of brothers and sisters in Christ. We are confident in our God, because He is the one who never leaves us or forsakes us.  He said it himself: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

The Lord has shown us how he relates to us; He shows that He is our Father. When you are a father yourself, you understand what a great responsibility it is caring for your children. God entrusted me with two children to take care of and raise; he gave me the role of father. Also he gave me a ministry with the responsibility of caring for many orphans. He teaches and trains us for this role with many tests and trials.

One of these tests was the surgery of my little son Daniel. He had to have a hernia operated on. He is only six years old, and it was hard to agree to the operation, but it couldn’t be avoided.  But Danik was very brave and wasn’t afraid of the pain (if that actually can happen in a child).

We prayed and asked our heavenly Father to bless Danik and to bless the hands of the doctors. The surgery was planned and we had to wait a week. Every night before going to sleep, Danik prayed with us and asked God: “Dear Lord, bless this surgery, please don’t let the doctors mess anything up.”

He asked me if it would hurt, if they would have to give him shots. He asked his mom and dad all his questions. He didn’t ask because he really wanted to understand the details, he just wanted help calming down so he would not be afraid. When a child needs it, a father comforts him, the same way our heavenly Father comforts us, if we entrust ourselves to him in faith.

Our heavenly Father blessed. The surgery was quick and successful. Danik slept an hour after the surgery while the anesthetic wore off. Later he woke up and asked his mom if it was over or if it hadn’t started yet. Mom told him it’s okay, it’s all over. Today is the third day after the surgery and Danik feels fine. In him I see an example of how trust and love for God changes everything, and how God blessed my son in answer to his prayers.

Shelter Holiday Baked Chicken

10 chicken legs and/or thighs
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix together all ingredients except chicken; then marinate chicken in the mix for at least an hour and up to half a day. Bake in a 9×13 pan for about 1 ½ hours at 375 degrees.

Ukrainian Potato Salad: “Olivye”

1 pound bologna
5 medium potatoes, unpeeled
3 medium carrots, unpeeled
1 can sweet peas
5 boiled eggs
5 medium pickles
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup to 1 cup mayo (to taste)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Boil potatoes and carrots for about 30 minutes, or until knife pierces them easily; don’t overcook. Remove from water so they can cool. Boil eggs as you normally would, in salted water; cover in cold water to cool. Dice pickles, onion and bologna. Drain sweet peas. Peel and dice carrots, potatoes and eggs. Diced pieces should be about ½ inch square. Mix together all ingredients.

Date: November 1 (Tuesday)
Time: 6:00 PM
Place: Mountain Springs Church
7345 Adventure Way, Colorado Springs, CO, 80923

RSVP with Glenn Grosh at (719) 650-2085.

Two quotes from an article in Christianity Today. The first includes an accurate portrayal of the hopelessness our kids experience after graduation:

Imagine, for a moment, the plight of an orphan somewhere out there. With every passing year, she will become less “cute,” thus less adoptable. In a few years, on her eighteenth birthday, she will be expelled from the system. She might join the military or find job training. Maybe she’ll stare at a tile on the ceiling above her as her body is violated—alone or before a camera crew of strangers—by a man who’s willing to pay enough for her to eat for one day. Maybe she’ll place a revolver in her mouth or tie a rope around her neck, knowing no one will notice except the ones who have to clean up afterward. This story could just as well describe a boy who is orphaned. Can you feel the desperation of what it means to be an orphan? Jesus can. Orphans are his little sisters and brothers. He hears them.

The second:

The universe around us is creepily silent—like an orphanage in which the children no longer believe they will be heard. But if we listen with Galilean ears, we can hear the quiet desperation of thumbs being sucked, of cribs being rocked. As we welcome orphans into our homes, we can show the orphaned universe what it means to belong to a God who welcomes the fatherless.

- (Our emphases.) From “Abba Changes Everything,” a powerful article about Christians’ responsibility to care for orphans, written by Russell D. Moore for Christianity Today.

Borscht Americanski

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs chicken or beef (optional; borscht is still good without it)
2-3 Tbs. olive oil
1-2 onions, diced
3+ garlic cloves, minced
dried parsley, thyme, cumin (if available)
7-8 cups beef, pork or poultry stock (or water)
5-7 carrots, cleaned and chopped into discs
5-7 red beets, peeled and diced
3-4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
half of a cabbage, shredded
salt & pepper to taste
sour cream
fresh dill, chopped  (dried dill is suitable)

If you don’t have any stock on hand, and you don’t want to make some from scratch, you can use water. Regardless, it’s good to begin the Borscht process with a sautee.

Start by cutting the meat into small chunks and sauteeing it in a large stockpot (8 qt or larger) with olive oil, onion and garlic. Throw in a little parsley, thyme and a pinch of cumin. Don’t overcook this!  Remove everything from the stockpot and set it aside.

Return the pot to the stove, and fill it with stock (or water).  Keep the heat high to quickly reach boiling. Begin filling it with the vegetables. Start with the ones that take the longest to cook: carrots, beets and potatoes.  (Some folks like to add other vegetables like chopped bell peppers, chopped celery, (previously cooked or drained, canned) beans, fresh or frozen green beans, corn.  Any extras are tasty, but not imperative.)

Allow the contents of the stockpot to reach a rolling boil, which continues for fifteen minutes or more. When the vegetables have softened, add the sauteed meat/onions/garlic and the cabbage.  It’s okay to add more water if the soup is getting too thick.  At this point, turn the heat to the lowest setting and let it simmer very lightly for at least 30 minutes.

You must serve your bowls of borscht with a generous dollop of sour cream and dill sprinkled on top. Many Ukrainians also toss some fresh parsley in with the dill, and some even nibble on raw garlic as they slurp up their delicious soup.  All Ukrainians prefer to eat their borscht with some hearty bread. Duzha dobre!

It seemed kind of silly for a minute. Then I wondered, is that really such a trivial prayer? Some people might think that for an orphan couple, to have pictures taken is a big deal in the first place, so why worry about having the perfect light? But it’s precisely because they are orphans that the details are so important. It’s the details that say to an orphan, You are loved, each part of your life is important, we care about you.

(Watch for photos from this photo shoot. Lena and Sasha aren’t quite ready to share them yet!)

- Emily Millikan

“Orphan Sunday is your opportunity to rouse church, community and friends to God’s call to care for the orphan.” – Orphan Sunday website

In 2011, Orphan Sunday will be held November 6th.