Each year thirty-plus teens at Orphanage #4 shake their director’s hand and graduate. At 15 or 16 they walk out the door of the orphanage and move onto a floor of another unfriendly dormitory, this time at a city or village trade school. The difficulties they faced at the orphanage are magnified now that they are out on their own.
And the countdown begins: in two or three years they will graduate from trade school and face the world without any support system at all. According to national statistics, only one in ten orphanage graduates survives the transition into normal adult life. All others end up “on the streets” in one form or another.
But God, the Father of the fatherless, is empowering graduates of Orphanage #4 in Zhytomyr to turn these statistics upside down.
Last Bell Ministries comes alongside these teens before orphanage graduation, letting them know that there is a family waiting for them. Upon graduation, they are invited to be part of one of our two family homes, the Shelter or the Haven (according to year of graduation). There, houseparents offer them the love and security of family, and the many practical and emotional tools they will need to survive their transition to independent life. At our Support Center, additional staff offer graduates Biblical counseling and various kinds of practical help, including legal assistance. Young people are finding hope in Jesus Christ through Last Bell Ministries, and are furthering their education, finding good jobs, and starting healthy families of their own.
Relationships are foundational in serving kids who have been hurt and abandoned, and the staff pursue the kids with the love of Jesus Christ in spite of many negative behaviors. Our staff recognize that the number one need of all orphanage children is Jesus Christ. The gospel is preached continually to all children, teens, and young adults whom we encounter. It is our greatest joy to see orphans become children of our earthly family and of God’s eternal family.