Ukrainian young adults volunteer with disabled children

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Chernovtsky, Ukraine

The children’s faces light up each time the young volunteers come to visit them at the Aquila Foundation, a ministry to children with disabilities.

In Chernovtsy, Ukraine, near the Romanian border, Vera Kushner, a Nazarene whose heart and ministry is for people with disabilities, started the Aquila Foundation nearly nine years ago. Today, thanks to a partnership with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Child Sponsorship and monthly visits from Kiev First Church of the Nazarene teams, the ministry is meeting many of the children and mothers' needs.

Due to lingering Soviet influence, there is still discrimination against people with disabilities in Ukraine, said Trino Jara, Eurasia Region NCM coordinator. Most of the children touched through Aquila live only with their mothers because many of their fathers abandoned them when the children were born with physical or mental limitations.

A team, including Nazarene Mission Corps missionaries Joe and Ree Sumi, Nazarene missionary Linda Russell, and Jara, recently visited the ministry accompanied by Iryna Galisevich, NCM Common Wealth of Independent States (CIS) Field Child Development coordinator. The team witnessed young people from different churches in Chernovtsy, most of them students or recent graduates, investing their weekends to minister to the kids and their mothers.

When the volunteers arrive, they lead Christian songs, teach a Bible lesson, and help the children learn a Bible verse. The moms spend some time in another room, learning how to make a craft and listening to a biblical reflection.

"When I began this ministry it was like the sense of living in a bubble of happiness, joy, and God's love; like in heaven," said Ruslan, a young family doctor and leader of the ministry volunteer team. "We could spend our Saturdays in many other ways but we don't because we want to give our time on Saturday to invest in these families. We also gather together on Thursday and Friday to prepare everything for Saturday to minister to these families."

These young men and women could be spending their time with friends and enjoying typical recreation; instead they choose to invest their lives visiting and ministering to these families and leading the Kids Club on Saturdays, Jara said.

"Once you enter the lives of the children and see their inner person — not just their bodies with their limitations — you discover they are smart and loving kids. You discover they live in a cage where they can not escape," said Malivina, a university student.

NCM Child Development operates in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova, and some CIS Field countries that are closed to the gospel. There are currently 27 Kids Clubs in the CIS that minister to more than 1,000 children each week. More than 350 children receive monthly support from individual sponsors.

The program's goal is to provide holistic development for children and nurture the gifts and talents that God has placed in them. The mission is to identify and release the God-given potential in every child on the CIS field. Child Development exists to support ministries to children among Nazarene churches in the countries of the former Soviet Union, helping local churches multiply their care for children. 

To learn more about NCM Child Development in CIS countries, see ncm.org. 
--Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region

 

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