Remembering...this is why we do what we do.

This is why we do what we do - for these children. Tonight I have had a chance to go down memory lane to this past November & December, when Ukraine Orphan Outreach hosted a group of Ukrainian orphans who toured Colorado, along with a group from Orphan's Promise - Kiev, to bring the story of the Old Russian Shoemaker to our area.

My heart is filled with such joy at their smiles. This picture was their final performance of the musical. The before picture, of them first arriving in Colorado, albeit they were exhausted after 18 hours of travel, they were not this joyful. These groups, bringing the nations to the USA, is so vital to what we do with sharing the plight of orphans with the masses.

This picture shows how much they changed in just one month, nurtured by love, laughter and lots of hugs and cuddle time. This is how children should be treated - should be valued. Many of these children come from difficult backgrounds. I adore them, they are resilient children, and they have bright futures thanks to the work our partners at Orphan's Promise are doing in the transition centers in the village near their orphanage. They, unlike many orphans, will have the ability to walk into a life where they can be mentored, challenged and most importantly, shown love.

So to my sweet friends, Yulia, Sveta, Vitaliy, Oleg, Vanya, Alosha and Vitya, thank you for sharing your life with me. I am honored to know you. You have forever captured a piece of my heart.

On Saturday, my young friends will receive notes from their host families in Colorado, hand delivered and translated into Ukrainian. It's these little bits of communication that will forever keep them bonded to the experience and hope they had while away from their institution.

Please pray for my friends, pray for their futures - that mentors and families would surround them, guide them, pray that they will come to know Jesus and love Him, that they would feel and know his great love for them.

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UPDATE: On Saturday morning, I received a Facetime request from my dear friend, Karen Springs who works for Orphan's Promise in Kiev. She, along with the other cast and crew members, spent a day with the kids sharing letters and loving on them. These are pictures from Karen's blog and show how much the crew fell in love with these children. They are truly precious in HIS sight. 

Vitaly and Vanya

Sveta reading a letter from her host family.

Facetime with ME! Such a great surprise!

Facetime with my friends.

The cast and crew from the 2013 Old Russian Shoemaker Tour! (Minus Alex - the Shoemaker).

Switching Gears: An Orphan Crisis Brewing in Ukraine

As I am sure many have heard on nightly news reports and seen the occasional article in the paper, there's a big hoo-haw going on in Ukraine at the moment. I've been so busy working on projects for Ukraine, crisis plans and reading Ukrainian news sources that I've not had a moment to spare on catching up with what's been going on here.

So in a short few paragraphs, let me explain what is happening in Ukraine:

Ukraine has a southern autonomous territory called Crimea that it acquired as a legal land transfer from the USSR to Ukraine in the 1950s as part of a bridge building project. Basically the USSR only wanted one country managing the project, so they gave it to Ukraine which shares its border with Crimea. It is an autonomous territory, similar to Puerto Rico is to the USA - they don't really have much to do with the mainland, have their own territorial government and regulations, elections, etc. They go about their business, there's no travel restrictions to/from, and if anything "bad" happens, Ukraine supports them.

In November, Ukraine's then government decided not to sign an association agreement with the European Union after spending the last year telling everyone they were going to sign it. Dumped in the day before. People went to the streets in protest. The protests were, for the most part, peaceful. Then all hell broke loose when the Ukrainian government decided to use force to remove the protesters - people were murdered, and eventually Yanukovych fled Ukraine to hid out in Russia. Parliament voted to oust him when he fled the country, and new presidential elections will be held in late May. There's a lot details here that I'm not adding, just giving you the 35,000 foot view.


Then in February, Russia, which rents warm water naval bases in Crimea while offering cheaper gas prices to Ukraine, overtook Crimea. Within 24 hours on February 27-28, Russian troops seized the airport in Sevastopol, military bases and complexes, tv stations, and telecommunication companies in the region. All of this was to "protect Russian speaking Russians" per President Putin's comments about the Russian Federation occupation of Crimea. This sparked an immediate panic of all out war in the region.

For several days, we watched as Ukrainian's new government scrambled to cope with what Russia had just done. It is now March 21st, three weeks of Russian Occupation. On March 16th, Russia held a referendum vote in Crimea to transfer the territory to Russia; against all Ukrainian laws. So to put this into context for the US folks: It's like Venezuela taking it's navy and about 18,000 troops to Puerto Rico and taking complete control to protect the "Spanish Speaking Venezuela Population in Puerto Rico", then holding a vote two weeks after the occupation to say that Venezuela was now absorbing the territory into their control. So what did Crimea vote for? Well 120% of the population voted in Crimea for becoming part of Russia...yes, you read that correctly, 120% of the voting population. Did you know that Russian politics are rigged? No, okay, well there you go, you first lesson. Russia now claims they own Crimea.

Ukraine has basically abandoned Crimea at this point. They are entrenching along the border with Russia and Crimea to protect themselves if Russia decides to attempt an even bigger land grab into mainland Ukraine. Russia's actions have left a humanitarian crisis for those of us in the orphan community, but I'll get to that in a moment.

So now you probably know more than 99.9% of all newscasters and journalists in the US, along with most of the American population. Pat yourself on the back.

Where are we now?
After reading the above, where does that leave Ukraine and our work in Ukraine?
At the moment, there's a lot of "what if's". A lot of plans are in the works and partnerships are being formed to help those in the conflict regions. War could break out at any moment, and everyone is treading on egg shells praying it does not.

We are shifting gears with our orphan advocacy group and personally to provide the necessary assistance for those in crisis situations. What does this look like? It's really three fold:

• Encouraging orphan advocacy groups/NGOs in Russia to help the orphanages in Crimea. Since Crimea has now been absorbed by Russia, so have the orphanages. The news coming from our partners on ground in Crimea is not good and it is not a safe situation for these children. They are now Russian citizens without any documents.
• Ukrainian foster families in Crimea and along the border need urgent help. They are legal guardians of the children, and Ukrainian citizens now living in a Russian territory. Russia has very different laws on foster families. The families have few options, but some are looking to evacuate.
• Orphanages in conflict regions near the border of Russia and Crimea are in a difficult situation should things escalate with Russia. Partnerships are being formed to assist them should they need to evacuate.

All of the above takes a lot of TIME! It also takes amazing partners and financial help. If you would be interested in helping, please e-mail me (see contact page for my email). We are looking for partners who can offer help on ground in Ukraine with facilities, food donations, and those around the world that can offer prayer support, food donations, financial donations, medical and clothing supplies - all in the event that provision can happen in less than a 24 hour notice.

It's a lot, I know!

On the other side of things, my trip in May has been cancelled thanks to the airlines cancelling because of "unrest in the region". At this time, I will not be in Ukraine till, hopefully, sometime in the fall of this year.

Thank you for your prayers for us for wisdom and knowledge moving forward, and for the right partnerships to be formed.