March 2011 MUCH Newsletter

Hello family and friends,

It looks as if spring has sprung here in Ukraine. The temperatures are in the low 50s F. I am still anticipating a late snow that may be heavy but will only last a few days. The weather here by the Black Sea is unpredictable.

I will begin by telling you some good news. The MUCH Board of Directors has approved a 20-day demonstration massage program at the Dobromel Orphanage. While I am in America, Svetlana, my fiancée, who is a certified massage therapist, will live in Dobromel during the month of October with a family from Pastor Volodya’s church. She will provide massage for three or four of the children, documenting with video their before-and-after conditions. If, after viewing the results, the administration approves a regular program, this will open a new door for these children, changing their lives in ways that no one has even imagined.

While we are on the topic of massage, amazing results are pouring out of Froonza. In October of 2010, MUCH launched the massage program in this village of 3,000 people on the peninsula of Crimea, Ukraine. The inspiration for this program developed in September of 2009, while I visited a family of thirteen children; seven of them are foster children. One of them, twelve-year-old Kolya, was born with cerebral palsy.

Kolya

For fourteen days, Kolya and I walked to the school; it was only a dream that he would ever be a student there. Teachers come to his home to teach him because he must be able to walk independently to attend the school. Kolya has been receiving massage for 20 days every month for the last five months. In five months time, his progress has been amazing. As of the beginning of March, Kolya’s legs are much straighter, top to bottom, and his legs are not twisted to either side. Most of all, he is now using two canes to assist his walking, instead of the forearm crutches that you see in the picture above.

Kolya's receives his first massage

I projected that Kolya would be walking normally within two years. With continued massage treatment, he may beat my expectations by one year.

It seems that good news travels fast! Children with disabilities from other villages have begun to participate in the Froonza program. When God opens a door, look out!

The month of May will mark the end of my ninth year living in Ukraine. In that time, God has brought more that 500 children into my life. Sasha and Kolya are only two of the many children who are helped by your support. It is my desire to share more personal success stories and stories of their needs with you. I want you to understand the great personal impact that you are having on so many lives. Thank you for helping me change the world one life at a time. Please continue to pray for all of the MUCH team as we continue to answer His call.

Blessings of love and healing,
Mark

Ira's Insight

Dear friends,

The girl about whom I am going to tell you this time is a well known to you. She is seven-year-old Sasha, and I have written about her in some of the previous newsletters of MUCH. Sasha has a rare disorder - arthrogryposis. This congenital disorder causes multiple joint contractures. Sasha has one of the most severe cases of this disorder. It impairs her cardiac and respiratory function and causes pain in her chest and back.

Sasha has become very close to my heart. Today Mark and Sasha are very good friends. It is funny to watch when Mark tries to speak to Sasha in Russian. Not understanding him, sometimes Sasha asks me, “Chto on skazal?” That is for “What has he said?” Every time when we visit Sasha, she demonstrates her new skills in Math, Russian and in English. Her eyes sparkle every time she shares her dreams with Mark about her future. This little girl has become very popular in many countries of the world thanks to activities of MUCH. Sasha’s days have changed a lot since MUCH touched her life. After my previous stories about Sasha, many people are waiting to hear about the decisions of the doctors. I hope my article will answer all of your questions.

It was in a hall of the policlinic where Mark and I met Sasha and her mother Natasha for the first time. They were waiting for the masseuse to give Sasha a massage. I was struck by Sasha’s disability because I had never met such a person. I was very sorry for this girl and especially her mother, who looked very sad. After Sasha’s massage, the masseuse told us about her disorder. She told us that there is hope for children with such rare genetic disorder – this hope is a set of operations on bone joints. The masseuse told us that the cost of the operations is very high. I remember that at that moment there was distress in my heart, “Why can’t the government help Sasha and other children with this disorder? There should be a solution for this situation.” These questions had been in my mind until we visited Sasha and her mother at their home, in the end of last summer. Looking at the girl, it was difficult emotionally for me to translate the conversation for Mark and Sasha’s mother. It was at this time that God moved my heart to ask Mark if MUCH could help Sasha beyond the massage program.

Some months later, in October 2010, Sasha and her mother flew to Israel where she was examined by specially qualified doctors. This examination happened only thanks to people who helped this family with finances. The total cost of tickets, boarding, and examination in the Israel clinic was $3000. It was a very important assessment for Sasha. This was the first time that doctors who specialize in arthrogryposis examined her. Sasha and her mother came back from Israel very encouraged. The doctors said that they had successfully operated on people with the same disorder as Sasha’s, and they promised to send the mother results of their decision about the time for Sasha to be operated on and the cost of the operation. Their results came a number of months later. It was a big task for the doctors to come to one decision about the scheduling of the first operation for Sasha. They say that the best time for Sasha to be operated on will be in two years because of her bone growth process. The first operation should be done on her chest because there is a danger for her life. The concave bones of her chest press on her lungs and heart. The cost of the operation is $65,000. Sasha’s mother is investigating the prices in other clinics in Germany and Russia where doctors perform this operation. Natasha is going to connect with these doctors using internet Skype communication system, E-mail, and the phone. She wants to get as much information as she can about the possibilities for her daughter’s treatment.

Thinking of Sasha’s life and of the changes that have happened to her in less than a year, I am sure that for this little girl our meeting in summer was the turning point. She is the same physically, with the same disorder, but her heart is different – it smiles because in it there is a big hope for physical changes through operations. Sasha seems not to be afraid of operations and all kind of difficulties that may be connected with the operations. She lives only with one dream, to be like other children who can walk to school by themselves. Everyone who sees Sasha wants to help her. You can meet Sasha at the MUCH website. Click on ‘Meet Sasha’ at the bottom of the home page to view the video clip. If God has put it on your heart to help Sasha, click on ‘Help Sasha,’ also at the bottom of the home page. MUCH has started an account in Sasha’s name for future expenses associated with her surgery.

Until next time,
Ira

February 2011 MUCH Newsletter

Hello family and friends,

February is blasting us with bitter cold sea winds accompanied by bright sunshine. Common to Ukrainian culture, people are out and about, breathing in the fresh air, walking and talking, all bundled up in their fur coats and hats, boots and gloves. As for me, a much-needed ten-day massage has directed my thoughts to the children of the Dobromel Orphanage.

Four years ago, I was introduced to the children of the Dobromel Orphanage. These children, having more severe mental disabilities than most of the children at the Marganets Orphanage, took hold of my heart. I knew that massage was changing the lives of the children at our clinic in Illichevsk, children ranging from mild physical disability to extreme physical and mental disability, and I was seeing results of massage at the Marganets Orphanage as well. I had begun to discuss the needs of the children at the Dobromel Orphanage with the director, Mikhail. He seemed open to the idea of massage; there was no question of the need; even so, like all people in a depressed economy, he had his doubts that this could become a reality for his children. We discussed massage again during my last visit.

Pastor Volodya has brought spiritual support to these children for more than ten years. He does a great job helping the children learn about God and prayer. In addition, he provides fruit and fruit juice for the children. The children are hearing the Word and they are being fed, although, they have a need to experience change in their physical lives. They need to feel good about themselves and about their bodies; they need to be healthier than they are. Massage can make these changes become a reality, and Pastor Volodya is ready to help encourage massage treatment for the children as a valuable health factor. He has close interaction and good influence with the director. We are each part of the team that will help these children prepare for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, what is the first step? The first step is always to seek God’s timing and provision. Second, I have sent a proposal to the MUCH Board of Directors to send a massage therapist to Dobromel Orphanage to demonstrate massage with a twenty-day treatment program for three or four of the children. I want the results to ignite a big interest in the Dobromel Orphanage administration in finding a massage therapist to work with the children there. If approved, MUCH would support such a program financially.

Read the different perspective of life that Ira wants to share with you in the following post.

Blessings of love and healing,
Mark

Ira's Insight

In every country there are big and small cities, big and little towns and of course villages. In each of these places, there are advantages and disadvantages of living there. If you live in a big city, you can choose: a school for your children to go to, work to earn money, a shop to buy food, a cinema and a club to have fun, a hospital and a doctor to be treated. Having such advantages are good. But, there are some disadvantages, and the biggest ones are pollution, smoggy streets and much traffic. Most people dislike it and enjoy going to the country on weekends to have rest. That is a story of living in a big city.

Small cities, towns and villages have a different life. Most people who live there know each other well; usually we say, “I know who and how they breathe”. There are a lot of advantages to living in such small places, such as fresh air, comfort about your children playing in the yard, etc. But – in a small community there is no big variety of food products in the shops. To get to a big city it is also a big problem – not everyone in a small place of post-Soviet countries has a car, so people have to use public transportation. If you are sick you can’t choose a hospital or a doctor to go to because in the place where you live there is only one small medical center where you can go to get help. Recently I read in the news that in one of the villages a young man died. He had been waiting for help, for an ambulance for a couple of hours! In the village where he lived, there is not any medical place for people to address for help. If their children are sick, not doctors, but their parents treat them. When I read that news I thought, “How do people with serious disabilities live there?”

In Illichevsk, the Massage Clinic is attended by many children who live, not in the city, but in little towns and villages that are near the city. In these places, there is not medical help for children with disabilities. From my own experience, I know how difficult it is to get to Illichevsk without my own transportation. I live in a town that is situated close to Illichevsk (approximately 15 minutes of driving); my house is not far from the bus stop but it took me about 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to where I had to go using public transportation. And that was only one way. There are many small towns and villages throughout Ukraine that do not have easy access, if they have any access at all, to rehabilitation facilities. I think Illichevsk is one of the small cities that is blessed by God because there is a Massage Clinic and Rehabilitation Centre for the disabled children there. The same is true with the small town, Froonza, in Crimea, where there are about 15 special children. The Massage Clinic that is run with the help of MUCH gives hope, both to the children and their mothers.

I think that eight to ten years ago, parents of children with disabilities, either in or near Illichevsk or in Froonza, never thought that in the future they would have so many advantages for their children. I am sure that this is just the beginning of what will happen, thanks to the work of many people who have opened their hearts for the sake of special children in Ukraine.

Until next time,
Ira