“Yet you must continue to advance in strength with the truth wrapped around your heart, being assured by God that he’s the One who has truly taught you all these things. Remember what you were taught from your childhood from the Holy Scrolls which can impart to you wisdom to experience everlasting life through the faith of Jesus, the Anointed One!” – 2 Timothy 3:14-15 TPT
What an amazing month my team, Amadea, had in Dnipro, Ukraine! It was an emotional one for me, while I processed many personal things, but also, the strange connection that I felt as soon as my feet hit the cobblestones that is the Ukrainian rode. My team had been praying about who we were to work with this month, what ministry we were to do, and how we could improve as a team in a new way in order to better connect with one another. Like always, at least with our team, we miraculously booked an AirBnb the day we got into Dnipro (not ahead of time because our card loves to decline right when we need it most lol), was able to get to said AirBnb right on time (and within a decent price range that just so happened to be what we had on us in that moment), had a contact named Zenya contact us rather quickly in regards to our ministry for the month and last but certainly not least, we were able to stay in one place for the ENTIRE month!
Our forever friends, and now, some more family! I love you all, and we will see each other again someday. (left to right on back ‘row’: Victor, Vadim/Vadya, Andrii, Bogdan and Robert; left to right on front ‘row’: Zenya, Nastya, Camden, Andrii, me, Madie and April) -> Gina was at home because she wasn’t feeling well 🙁 but she is very much pictured in Spirit.
Don’t get me wrong, we have loved that God likes to keep us on our toes, but it was nice to have a bit more of a stable structure and an established (yet flexible) schedule for our time in Dnipro. Most of it was spent inside of an orphanage, loving on children, playing with them, letting them climb all over us, indirectly teach them about God (since we weren’t allowed to say the Gospel in a normal way -> due to government and established regulations within the orphanage) and so much more! Don’t worry though, we were silently praying over them the whole time, laughing and hugging them as tightly as we could and smiling the entire time while silent tears escaped our eyes at how much our God loves them. However, there were four children that really stuck a particular heart-string in me: (and since I can’t directly name them, I’ll give them ‘new’ names for safety reasons) Glen, Kylie, Eliza and Tommy.
“Children are God’s love-gift; they are heaven’s generous reward. Children born to a young couple will one day rise to protect and provide for their parents. Happy will be the couple who has many of them! A household full of children will not bring shame on your name but victory when you face your enemies, for your offspring will have influence and honor to prevail on your behalf!” – Psalm 127:3-5
Ukrainian Christmas decor, reminding me of home and making me feel joyful and merry as we walked down the street to visit a friend for dinner.
I don’t need to explain why many kids arrive at an orphanage; it’s, unfortunately, a thing that happens more frequently now-a-days and that is absolutely heart-breaking. A child should bring joy, they should bring a love that could only truly compare to God’s unconditional, pure love (yet His is still even more boundless than our own could ever become), and yet, there’s many cases where the addition of a child is only celebrated for a year or two, maybe not even that long before they become a “hindrance” and their parents want nothing to do with them anymore. Is that all cases? No. There are some cases where the parents just couldn’t afford to take care of them, and I really wish that those would cease too, but I know that people are imperfect and we tend to make hasty decisions before truly weighing out the possible consequences of said choice. But, because that is a part of the world we live in, we MUST take out time and truly love on children, to show them the right way of things, to make an impact on them and let them see God’s unconditional love through us, praying that they will find Him. One thing we can’t do for them? Have them accept God into their lives; we definitely should share with them, but, like as in the case for any person, we cannot force them to believe in God. All we can do is share, pray and be by their side for God to use as a guide to Him for them.
The hands of a truly talented artist! ^^
Those four children I mentioned above: they were all different, of course, but they all held different traits that I could see in them that reminded me of God’s character, of His love. Glen held God’s bravery and the love of a brother (I can’t post a picture of him, but remind me to show you in person after the Race; he looks as if he could be my brother, the resemblance is truly uncanny); Kylie held God’s kindness and generosity, as she always came up to me and embraced me with many hugs, lovingly blowing kisses and offering snacks to me because she just wanted to share with me; Eliza also held a version of God’s love, as well as His creativity and joy since she loved to show me different games, dances and helped to teach me a little Ukrainian while I taught her a bit more English; and finally, Tommy held God’s curiosity, intimacy (in a brotherly love kind of way) and patience as he admired the technology I had on me with an awestruck wonder, yet he would always hold my hand and wait for me to look at him before he would babble at me in Ukrainian, which would instantly cause me to grab him and pick him up, giving him a gentle hug while he rested on my hip.
“All children show what they’re really like by how they act. You can discern their character, whether they are pure of perverse.” – Proverbs 20:11
Tip of the Day: If you ever want to own a dairy farm (like so many people overseas do), place jugs on the way to the barn: it’ll save you time and cause less of a headache.
Of course, we had plenty of prayer time, adventure time and resting time during each week, while also attending our contacts’ church and hearing testimonies of some beautiful people; however, our main ministry for our time in Ukraine was to help in the orphanage. While in the church, we had opportunities to meet new people (of course), to lead worship on a Sunday evening, an English worship night and for a youth night as well. Those friendships, I’m certain, will last a lifetime; after all, we played games, fellowshipped, laughed, got into God’s Word, served alongside each other and so much more: we became a family, just how Christ deems for His Church to be. Ukraine is a historically rich land, holding true to their traditions and culture that was so humbling to me because I was able to be a part of it for a short while. I even got to meet a famous Ukrainian artist (Natalia), who taught my team and I how to paint a traditional Ukrainian type of artwork using a paintbrush made with cat hair (no cats were harmed, I promise).
Ukraine will always hold a special place in my heart; I have a deep connection to this country, one that I cannot hope to truly explain, but I know that I will never forget this place. I also have a feeling that I will be coming back here one day, for what reason I’m not sure, but I have a feeling that when it comes to that point, God will let me know. Thank you for teaching me new things about myself, about God and about people; I will most definitely never forget them, and I know that God is deeply rooted in your country, continuing to grow daily until everyone in Ukraine knows the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!
The picture on the right was the art that I made, thanks to our good friend Natalia, a famous Ukrainian artist who set time aside to teach us a form of traditional Ukrainian painting. The owl, spoon and small circle box on the left are her own creations that I bought from her. They were ALL made using the cat hair paintbrushes (again, no cats were harmed).
“If God’s grace doesn’t help the builders, they will labor in vain to build a house. If God’s mercy doesn’t protect the city, all the sentries will circle it in vain” – Psalm 127:1
“No matter what, make room in your heart to love every believer. And show hospitality to strangers, for they may be angels from God showing up as your guests. Identify with those who are in prison as though you were suffering with them, and those who are mistreated as if you could feel their pain.” – Hebrews 13:1-3
Taylor I can see the Holy Spirit moving in and through you. Thank you for sharing your experience and most of all Praise and Glory to God for what He is done, in all that is seen and unseen. We will continue to keep the Ukrainian people, missionary partners and Nationals and of course the children in our prayers for safety and most of all for the revealing of God and the Gospel of truth that is Jesus Christ in their lives. To God be the glory forever!
You so eloquently describe your love for this country, the ministry, and the children. How very special to be able to be learn a traditional art form by an expert. I love your creation, beautiful! So glad you had a fruitful month.