Global Aid Network Mission Reports

Brown Bus, Lviv, Ukraine

While visiting the Livchytsi Boarding School, we were seated in the Auditorium when 9 year-old Iulia came in and immediately sat between Talu S. and Sharon P.  Dr. Jean T. was present and spoke to her in Russian.  Iulia had never experienced a visit from Americans before.  She was not shy at all.  She told Dr. Jean that she is a good doctor.

We then left the Auditorium and went into the classrooms.  This made an opportunity for us to visit with Tatyana V., a teacher with 6 years experience.  She remarked how happy she was to have us visit the school and give the aid to the children. 

This is a boarding school where about 100 children stay the night on weekdays.  Over the weekends, some children (about 30%) go home.  The teachers work from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. and then one nurse stays with the children overnight.  After dinner the children have about 2 hours to complete their homework and then they have free time to play games and watch movies or cartoons.  They also have computers they can play games on in one room, but no video games.

The location was an 1885 Mansion built for a Duke as a gift from the King.  The Duke never really lived there, but visited sometimes.  After he left, the next owner emptied out all the furnishings and left the home to go into disrepair.  It was empty for a number of years before being turned into a Boarding School in 1956.  Major repairs have been done to the roof, heating system, and plumbing.  More repairs are necessary in the children’s living quarters.  We observed many places where the steps are worn and slanting due to the years of use. 

The windows are made of wood and need to be replaced with sealed ones.  The wood or metal beds that had mattresses were misshapen and worn.  The beds were all neatly made and the floors were clean.  Even with the little they have, they try to make it as nice and cheerful as possible.  It is so difficult to see the conditions they have to live in.

Our time with the children was wonderful.  They were very open and polite.  Even when we were walking into the facility, they were greeting us and holding the doors.  Some even approached us with handshakes or hugs.  They were very friendly, even though they could tell we didn’t understand what they were saying!  As we were leaving, they came to the bus and hugged us goodbye, waving as we drove away.

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Brown Bus, Lviv, Ukraine

Palmer P. of East Aurora, NY writes:

Today we worshipped at New Life Church.  This Church is about 6 years old.  Pastor Misha’s energetic and passionate vision was a ministry to prisoners.  He desired to help them when they are released to get back into society.  There are 6 former inmates residing in the Church building.  Many former prisoners are now married with families, including their Deacon, and are still very active in the Church.  They visit 4 prisons, sometimes as often as 4 times per week.  Pastor Misha is aware that the prisoners need discipleship more often than once or twice a month. 

This morning we entered the Church just before 10 a.m.  The approximately 125 members of their congregation were just arriving.  We accessed the Church by walking through a steel gate into an alley, and then through a steel door into the 4-storey former manufacturing building.  The building was sitting vacant when Pastor Misha purchased it to provide a shelter for the former prisoners.  Using their unskilled labor, it is being transformed into a beautiful multi-purpose facility. 

The Auditorium is located on the second floor of the structure.  The floor below is being finished for the future Auditorium, with more seating capacity and a baptismal.  Above the auditorium floor are the classrooms and the top floor houses the single men.  Once you enter the auditorium, you find a wonderful, wall-sized painting on the front wall.  It depicts a cross in the upper left-hand corner and many colored striations throughout.  Pastor Misha explains that this is representative of the many struggles and triumphs of life on Earth, but if you keep focused on that cross and what it represents, you will be victorious.

One of the most moving experiences of the service was the singing.  They had prepared the media screen with the Ukrainian and English words to the Worship songs.  With all of us singing in unison, it was a great reminder of how God can hear and understand every language and tongue.  As our voices melded in song, led by the youthful Praise Team and accompanied by the keyboard and guitar, it was a small taste of what Heaven may sound like.  It was especially moving that the whole congregation had learned OPEN THE EYES OF MY HEART in English to sing with us during our visit.

In closing, I would encourage everyone to attend a multi-cultural Christian worship service – there will be an opportunity on the next GAiN trip!

JANUARY 31, 2007

BROWN BUS, LVIV, UKRAINE

WILLIAM R., Affiliate, COLFAX, CALIFORNIA writes:

Sodova Vyshnya home for the elderly was located in a 300 year-old former monastery.  The floors were uneven and sloping while the central corridors remained dark at midday.  There were frequent stiles between rooms that certainly would not meet our OSHA safety standards.  There were steep stairs between the three floors of this facility that the residents would have to use getting to the dining hall.

The elderly residents in this site each received a stuffed doll, which they immediately began to caress and hold like it was the most precious thing in the world.  They began to talk to the doll and stroke it lovingly.  One of the residents, who appeared to be only sixty years old, sang a plaintive melody of tender love and the room became silently transfixed as we listened to her song of appreciation.

One of the residents, whose body was twisted and deformed with osteoporosis, clung to my hand and tenderly stroked our clasped hands with her other hand even though it was bandaged in gauze from a burn.  She smiled as we touched and our eyes locked in fixation as we communicated without words.  It was a tender time as the Gospel message was heard and accepted by this woman.

By going to this site, we have the chance to share the love of Jesus with smiles and hugs, which are always well received by these lonely people who are trapped in an institutional life.  Our personal contacts are a rare and precious bright spot in the midst of a gloomy winter scene, which seems unending in this part of the world.

These trips are life changing events; I will never be the same as I remember the faces of these elderly persons who have been shut away in the dreary and decrepit old institutions that survive on the bare minimum of support.