Global Aid Network Mission Reports

Thursday, March 15th, 2007

Another day of our ministry, more lives that had been touched, more hearts that received God’s love and forgiveness.

The group visited two more village secondary schools and kindergartens in Bragin district. Those two schools had some things in common - fairly young and creative directors - Svetlana and Marina, wonderful and very talented staff teachers and children.

Both schools had never had American guests visiting them, so kids and their teachers were very excited. The children performed, trying to do their best for the guests to feel welcomed and warmly accepted.

Then the group split into tree smaller ones and had an opportunity to fellowship with the kids in a more personal way. American volunteers shared the Gospel with them, many prayed the prayer of salvation, some did it really from the bottom of their hearts, just like one 10 year old girl, about whom one of the team members who was in the class at that time said that “the most peaceful and divine smile appeared on her face after the prayer, so that it was obvious that Jesus has come into her heart.” Moments like this are really worth coming to the trips like this.

Another probably life changing meeting was with a young mother who had a baby boy with a light form of cerebral palsy, which still can be cured. But the family which is just the mother and a grandma, since the father left his wife with a child as soon as he found out about his disease, does not have enough finances. So the woman was given $100 from the GAIN ministry for her baby to go to the sanatorium to get some special treatment and also was offered an opportunity to consult a Christian doctor, who’s a specialist in this field. Both women (the mother and the grandma) were crying, being moved by the care and love they’ve received from the guests who came from so far away.

One more special event of the day was visiting the local Baptist church with its pastor, which was started more then 80 years ago. That was like going back to the past in a time machine - seeing people, who came to know the Lord at a very early age and who remain faithful through all those severe times of persecution and war even until now, when they’re elderly people. But their hearts are full of faith and love to their Lord and Savior and to this perishing world. They are real heroes of faith and it was a real honor to get to know these people and to be able to pray with them for their beautiful country.              

Friday, the 16th;  Saturday, the 17th

The two last days are over. It was the time of meeting old friends - pastors, local authorities, teachers and children who we’ve already met before.

While visiting a secondary school in Hoiniki, the group had a chance to meet with the Mayor, who, in spite of being ill, came to see guests from America. Some of them, including Tom M., the leader of the group, he knew already and this time kept calling them “my friends”. It was obvious that mayor Nikolai was much more open and the atmosphere of the meeting was like the one of meeting good friends, who have so much to talk about. He also seemed more interested in what protestant Christians have been doing in his district, saying “we did this” (not “they”), or “we’re working on that”. He also granted a protestant church a building for the rehabilitation center for drug addicts and alcoholics which is a unique situation and a miracle in itself.

So the ties of friendship made a couple of years ago and love of God shown in action during the projects like this serve for the benefit of the local church here.

The rehab center we’ve been to was another familiar place for many in the group. It was so good to see what God has been doing to set people free, to see the faithfulness of pastor Slava and the others who had started this center and have been helping those who are in great need for help and salvation.

The highlight of the Saturday was visiting a huge school #3 with about 800 kids in Hoiniki. It was like coming back home, since we’ve been here before and the doors were wide open. Most of the kids did remember some of the American volunteers from the previous visit, which was very nice of them.

A very interesting and unusual program was presented to three different age groups of the children in turns. It consisted of a short introduction and a skit on a ‘Good Samaritan’ followed by the story of Jesus dying on the cross and being risen from the died which explained the coming Easter to the children, most of which don’t know what Easter really means.

The testimonies, given by the members of the team, including one of the Belorussian interpreters, touched the hearts of many of the teenagers who had a chance to hear about the power that changes lives and gives hope - the power of Jesus Christ who’s alive and willing to forgive.   

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Wow! What a day we’ve had today! One can put it like this - an overwhelming hospitality and openheartedness. The group had a chance to minister to kids at two sites today: a kindergarten with children from 3 to 6 years of age in a town of Komarin and a secondary school plus a children’s social center with the kids up to 16 in a little village near Bragin. Both of them are in Chernobyl polluted area. But the disaster didn’t shut people’s hearts. They are ready to welcome guests and host them the best they can. Tamara, the director of the kindergarten willingly opened the doors of the facility to the American group, and we were able to spend some really great time with the kids sharing the Gospel with them. The little ones were very responsive and full of life no matter how hard the circumstances they live in are. They were happy and excited as well to get their gifts and children’s Bible stories.

Some of the team members also had a chance to pray for Tamara’s (the director) husband who’s really sick because of Chernobyl and she appreciated it very much. And in general people in those places were touched by the fact that there’re those who really care about them, who know about their problems and what is more - are willing to help.

It’s like the local pastor, Yuri, said, that many did come, they were saying a lot, but there were no kids. But this group of American volunteers really showed love in action. And that catches and melts people’s hearts more then any words.

Every person who came to this place was able to touch several lives in different ways, either just being there and listening to somebody’s life-story, like it was with an elderly lady Tatiana, whose dear ones either live too far from her or passed away and she’s living all alone and has nobody to even talk to. But elderly people like her need just simple care and understanding, and having got it today she was so happy and thankful. That visit made a difference for her just as it did for the teachers and other staff of the small village school our group had been to as well.

While watching the concert that was prepared by the children and their teachers you kept thinking how much effort they’ve put into this program, trying to decorate the gym where the concert was on, with little hand-made Belorussian national things. There was warmth and much love in it and one could feel it in a special way there. No matter how hard the life is to them it was amazing to see that light in their eyes, to hear all those warm words.

The highlight of the day was our visit to the abandoned town “Sunlike” in a 30 kilometers zone.

The scope of devastation is unbelievable. Empty flats with the toys and books on the floors, schools with broken windows, and more. You could almost hear the voices of the children, running around, playing…but no one was there. That was an experience one can never forget or get used to, no matter whether you’re local or a foreigner.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

What a wonderful day God has given us today! Both the weather and the people we met today were just so beautiful and welcoming.

The first site we’ve visited today was a secondary school with 176 kids from 6 to 17 years of age from the 1st to the 11th grade.

The director, Galina, warmly welcomed the American group and shared a little about the school, its students and ex-students etc. The group was also shown a school museum with an interesting exposition of pretty old household items that were used by the kids’ grand grandparents and are a part of Belorussian history.

After that the American group split into three smaller ones and went to the classes where were welcomed and presented with souvenirs made by the kids in their craft classes. Children in each group were very active and excited just as all kids are. They participated gladly in every activity their American guests suggested to them, enjoyed looking through the pictures.

Older kids were racking their brains trying to find out how the tricks showed by the members of the team worked, and enjoyed working together over it.

Gifts were a special moment for the children as well. They all liked the teddy bears, dogs, cats and other stuffed animals they got, no matter how old they were.

At last the children and their teachers had a chance to hear a Gospel bead bracelet story and pray together with their American friends. That prayer was a top moment of the project in this school that brought hope to many who prayed that day.

The fellowship with the kids was followed by a concert where they performed and brought even more joy to the guests and ended up with the traditional tea party with the director and the staff of the school. 

Tom M. shared about international GAIN ministry and the reason why the American volunteers keep coming to the post soviet union countries. He also introduced the local pastor and mentioned that thanks to his recommendations the team had a chance to visit this particular school. So now Pastor Alexander will continue to work with the school and the director on a regular basis.

The teachers were moved by warm words of appreciation and encouragement expressed by the local pastor and the team members.   

Inspired by the results of the first visit American volunteers left for the second site which was organized by “Spasenie” (Salvation) church for the invalid society “Scream of the soul”. The situation in the families who have invalid kids is often very poor. In many cases fathers when they find out about the condition of their children leave their families and moms have to battle for surviving themselves. So such visits bring them hope and encourage them greatly. People were open to hearing the Gospel, many of them heard about Jesus for the first time ever and were touched by the care they were shown by the American team.

One of the ladies who were the speaker of this society heard the Gospel bead bracelet story from the leader of the American group Tom Miller and was so excited to get the bracelet and the explanation to it. In a little while three more ladies came up to Tom and wanted to get their bracelets as well having heard of them obviously from that first lady. So when they got their explanations they immediately started reading them with great desire to find out what was in there. 

So in general people were moved by the care of people who don’t really know them but because of God’s love they come with open hearts and bring them hope and at least a little bit of joy in their hard lives.

It is the final day of the trip and a telephone call came in from the local police station that a child had been abandoned.  The founders of Noah’s Ark Children’s Ministry in Mukono, Uganda get such calls very often.  The orphanage is home to 65 children.  Well, that was before the call.  Pita, one of the directors of the home and two social workers left in the early afternoon to pick up the orphan child.  When they returned, the Global Aid Network team was surprised to see, not one, but three children—one in the arms of each worker.  Patricia, a frightened and skinny two year-old girl, held Pita tightly pressing her head against Pita’s neck.  Henry, also two years old and his baby brother, only a few months old were scantily clothed.  The three looked dirty, hungry and in need of tender care and attention.  Moved with compassion, Pita named the baby ‘Nathan’ meaning ‘a gift from God.’  The team from Global Aid Network had a prayer service with the newly found children and praised God for the work of Noah’s Ark.

A fifteen member team from Global Aid Network visited Uganda over a ten-day period in November 2006.  While there, the team had the privilege of staying at the Noah’s Ark Children’s Ministry.  Global Aid Network had partnered with Noah’s Ark in building a home for children who were abandoned and those who had lost their parents to war, AIDS and malaria. The ministry has sent aid to build a wall  around the facility, which was necessary due to the constant abduction of children for child sacrifice and human trafficking. Piet and Pita Buitendijk had been making missionary trips from the Netherlands to Uganda since 1996 and in 2000, sensing the direction of the Lord, they decided to build a home to shelter a number of Uganda’s 3.4 million orphans. Since then, the home has expanded to facilitate the increasing number of children, is now situated on 19 acres of farmland and has 20 work aides and a pastor to attend to their spiritual needs.

The team had numerous ministry opportunities in the local schools, church and at the orphanage.  Uganda, like the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa is severely affected by the AIDS epidemic.  The team shared its HIV/AIDS program with over 1,200 students from 2 local high schools, emphasizing the need for abstinence before marriage, fidelity in marriage and Christ-like character development as a means of stemming the AIDS pandemic.  They were also able to distribute toys and share the unfailing love of Christ to 300 children at an elementary school.

A rare ministry opportunity came for several members of the team when, while returning from a school presentation, rain diverted their mile-long walk back to the orphanage to a hut serving as a restaurant. There, the team met 12 people from the nearby village.  After introductions, the team shared their game presentation with the villagers.  The local pastor, who had accompanied them, had the opportunity to meet the parents of some of the children who attended Sunday school at his church and to share Christ with them using gospel bracelets that include beads of various colors that help to simply communicate the Good News of Jesus.

Currently, as night shelters close in northern Uganda and the refugee camps are phased out more children are expected to be on the streets.  Global Aid Network is monitoring the conditions, poised to send additional compassionate aid as needed.  Let us continue to pray for the work of Noah’s Ark Children’s Ministry and the people of Uganda as they struggle to survive in a nation recovering from political, social and economical upheaval.

Global Aid Network will be sending a ministry team, November 4th to 18th later this year as they continue their support in this needy country. For further information on how to participate in this upcoming mission trip or donate to the work being done in Uganda, please visit our website at: http://www.gainusa.org/give/detail.cfm?id=8 .

The team has successfully arrived to Minsk and checked into the Orbita hotel.  No lost luggage praise the Lord!  We met our interpreters tonight and had a part of Ambassador’s training with them.  Shall continue tomorrow with the Lord help as we start our day at 8.30 breakfast and then drive to Mozyr in the afternoon.

Can two people make a world-wide difference?  Pietr & Pita Butendijk are a loving couple from the Netherlands who founded the Noah’s Ark Children Home in Uganda.  The compound stretches for twenty-three acres and is secure, protecting children from animals and kidnapping.  Recently, a Global Aid Network team traveled to Noah’s Ark to assist Pietr & Pita in their ministry.  Over the course of the next several days, American volunteers had the opportunity to minister to these 68 children first-hand, in addition to sharing AIDS education and the gospel inside three schools in the surrounding area.

Ministry at the orphanage itself is a never ending opportunity.  According to Kathy R., “You never left ministry there.  In the mornings some of our volunteers were up.  They were bathing babies [and] every child gets a bath.  And they change clothes several times a day, they were helping them change clothes, get dressed, get ready for breakfast.  And then we went all day and at night some of them were praying with them, helping them read stories and that kind of thing.  So you never left ministry.”

A tragic reality around the world is that some babies – especially girls – are simply abandoned by their parents.  Though many parents grieve as they turn over their kids to authorities, sadly others have different stories.  Kathy shared about one such orphaned girl named Elizabeth.  “Elizabeth was found on the side of the road in a bag.  She still had afterbirth on her, she had never been cleaned up, she was covered in flies.  [Today,] she is one of the most confident little girls you will ever see in your life.”

The Noah’s Ark Children’s Home in Uganda is a refuge for orphans from all walks of life, and each story is truly unique.  Just take Mary, Margaret, and Gladys, for example.  According to Kathy, “They are precious triplets…just beautiful, smiling girls.  The mother had given birth to one of them and was hemorrhaging and was actually driven by bicycle 40 miles, delivered the other two, and then she died.  The father and the grandmother couldn’t possibly take care of nine children – they were very poor farmers.  It wasn’t a lack of love; it was just a lack of ability.”

And that’s where Pietr and Pita of Noah’s Ark came in, providing home and hope for these three girls and many others – teaching them about the love of their heavenly Father in the process.  Through the love of Jesus, these people are changing the world one child at a time.