Saturday, November 13, 2010

Hope for Orphans - Ukraine without Orphans by 2015

They came from many different towns and villages. Some traveled for hours - others just across town. What brought the over 500 people together this weekend in Kiev was an emerging vision. Empowered with the call of God's word to take care of orphans, dreamers came with a dream - Ukraine without Orphans by 2015

Christian organizations, church leaders, Christian family centers and foster and adoptive parents came together for the first Alliance National Conference. The goal of this conference was to issue the call for churches to step up and care for the thousands of children living without parental care in one of the 88 orphanages scattered throughout Ukraine or in other devastating life circumstances.

Much like sister movements in the United States  (i.e. Christian Alliance for Orphans) this Ukrainan movement could very well change the face of child welfare in this country. It was an incredible privilege to be part of this remarkable movement.  It is hoped that the Alliance in Ukraine will be a model to other countries on how the church can impact the lives of orphans.

 Ruby Johnston, co-founder of ILDC, told us of this adoptive father's incredible story of child rescue.

                            Coffee break time between workshops.
 Ruby, along with staff member and translator, Anya, challenged the groupto consider the power of networking.
 Our book. "Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child" has been translated into Russian. We were asked to do a book signing on Friday evening and had the opportunity to present an adoption workshop on Saturday. What a gift we have been given to serve here.
The ILDC staff in Ukraine, l to r - Max, Oleg, Anya and Vika are pictured with the leaders of Co-Mission, an incredible resource organization located in Ukraine, Russia and the US.

We leave Sunday afternoon for our final work week overseas and will be joining our family just in time for Thanksgiving.

1 comment:

Mirjam said...

Thank you all! This was a great conference ... let's continue to dream and act!