Foster Children

During my fourteen days with thirteen children, I learned many things about the value of life. Seven children, ages 5, 10, 12, and 15, as natural as could be, lived out each day in front of me. With so many children, I expected more conflict. There was very little crying, no fighting, and a lot of cooperation.

At the church service, I saw a lot of little children. I learned that they were all adopted or foster children also. Where does all of this love come from? As parents with very strong Christian values, these people all received a spirit fed upbringing. The brothers and sisters from the same family learned from their father, who has recently passed on to his final reward. They learned from their mother about love being the main focus in life. They learned it as children, during the soviet times. Now, they live it, with powerful hearts for the God whom they serve

This man who lived as a Christian during soviet times was a leader in planting churches is his area of Crimea. The final church that he started was in his own home. His eight children all have children of their own and many are fostering children in need. This family church continues to exist as five families gather to strengthen the Spirit in their lives as they walk the walk that they talk.

There are so many children existing in dangerous environments in this country. I heard a story about a mother filling the baby bottle with wine instead of milk. This child is now in a loving home, but his past has scared him in many long lasting ways. This country has struggled through nineteen years of change, paying dearly for their freedom. The children suffer the most.

The foster child program is new in Ukraine. In Christian homes, I am seeing great results. Parents who have already raise a family of their own are reaching out to help the children most in need. Ukraine is moving forward, slowly but surely. The children who are being taken into Christian homes will become strong citizens of the future. There is hope.

September 2009 MUCH Newsletter

At the end of August, I spent fourteen days in the village of Froonza, Crimea with a family with thirteen children, two of whom have physical disabilities. I had met fifteen-year-old Vanya six years ago. He has been in a wheelchair for the past five years and has had little or no therapy since that time. With massage and the use of a muscle stimulator that we provided, his leg swelling was reduced and he felt his leg muscles were responding to the stimulator. I'll visit this winter to check on his progress.

Seven years have come and gone since I moved to Ukraine, most unaware what plans God had for me. He opened three doors to minister to children in two cities in the first two years. During the past five years, two of those doors have opened wider, and additional doors have opened. Marganets orphanage, our first outreach mission, has four additional ministries that we are supporting: computer, massage, music and dance, and the drug and alcohol prevention program. In the same city, we began a program to cloth children in the Transition Home. A door opened in northwestern Ukraine at the Dobromel orphanage. We began to support this program that Pastor Volodya has been operating for eight years. This year we would like to add two more hours of massage to the program in Illichevsk. The city of Illichevsk, population 62,000, has much bigger needs than we can handle, but we want to do our best to help the children.

Two years ago, we began a Christmas fund raiser to provide money for these six additional programs, to be supported on a yearly basis, instead of adding them to our regular budget. So far, we have been successful in raising the money needed to operate the programs. They touch the lives of four hundred children in some direct or indirect way.

The October newsletter will launch the 2009 Christmas fundraiser. I will detail each ministry and share some of the results from each. These children are growing beyond a maintenance level of existence. It is because of your support that we can supply what the children and staff need to enhance rehabilitation, learning and social development. We have brought them all a long way in these seven years. Let’s not drop the ball. Let’s continue to love these children through these programs of clothing, education, and rehabilitation.

There is so much need in the world, particularly for children. But how do you know what children to help? I know the children that I am to help because God shows me. If you want to help children anywhere, ask God to show you; ask Him to give you peace about what He shows you. Our children and staff are thankful to God for all that He has provided. They wait, believing that God will continue what He started seven years ago.

Blessing of love and healing,
Mark

Ira's Insights (September 2009)

Early intervention is a very new word combination in my native Ukrainian/Russian language. For many mothers whose children suffer from different disabilities, it is still unknown.

I thank God that in Illichevsk at the Massage Clinic many people know these words and understand how it works.

In the May Newsletter in “Ira’s Insights ” I wrote about one little girl named Eve D., who has became a patient of the Massage clinic this year. God has put a desire in my heart to share some progress that she has for now. I want you to see “with my eyes” the result that children have at the clinic.

When Eve was born, she had some neurological problems and as a result she couldn’t do what children her age usually do. The neurologist saw the problem and very soon she had her first massage treatment at the Massage Clinic. Even after the first massage treatment the girl had great results. The mother followed the masseuse’s directions and did special exercises for her child between the massage treatments.

Today this girl has wonderful results. In spite she was born with some neurological problems and one of her legs is shorter, she can walk by herself today. She began to walk by herself just recently. It was a great surprise for her parents and the masseuse who works with her. The neurologist says that without early intervention this child would have had some serious problems in her physical development and could have received status of a disabled child, but thanks to the clinic she has avoid it.

The mother of Eve is sincerely very thankful to God for the opportunity for her daughter to have massage at the clinic. Today Eve is still the patient of MUCH. She has to continue to have massage treatment and exercises to improve the results that she has.

I hope you like the story that I have told you. It shows the real work and the real results of the Massage Clinic in the aspect of early intervention for children with disabilities. May God bless each person who has given his input in the progress of Eve and many other little patients.

Until next time,
Ira

My New Little Friend

The end of August found me in a small village of Crimea, living with a family of thirteen children. Among them was a twelve year old who had been born with Cerebral Palsy. My task was to evaluate his muscle imbalance and introduce two forms of treatment for him. Both massage therapy and electrical muscle stimulation were well known in the post soviet medical community. EMS was stopped because of the expense of cleaning and replacing the electrodes, and the lack of immediate results that surgery could provide.

This little fellow, Kolya, has a great enthusiasm to participate in the little world of his village. His mother told me how sullen he looked, and his eyes even became crossed due to lack of stimulation. As he became part of the family, he was encouraged to walk around in the house. He needed crutches to do this, but he was up for the challenge. Realizing the results of this need, I decided that we would take a walk every day. It turned into a two hour adventure.

On the first day I asked Kolya, “Where do you want to go?” He looked up at me with a big smile and said, “The stadium!” Not knowing where it was, I was given Lyosha as my ten year old guide. The three of us started out on our journey to the stadium, about four city blocks away. It was a slow procedure, but I was delighted to hear Lyosha and Kolya deep in conversation as we ambled along.

Each day, we would walk; one day to the stadium, the next day to the school. We spent more days at the school. Kolya had teachers from the school who would teach him at home, so many of the teachers would come out and chat with him. Some of the students would chat with him, some who knew English would chat with me. This was a big social event for Kolya.

During the walks, Kolya needed considerable room to manipulate his crutches, so we walked on the street. As people would pass by us I would greet them in Russian, “Good morning; Good day; How are you today?” People were clearly interested in this young spectacle of determination. Some would stop to chat. This was great! They had to talk with him because I didn’t speak enough Russian to carry on a conversation. But Kolya did very well conversing with the people.

Others were uncomfortable with what they saw, and looked straight ahead. Kolya followed my example and broke the ice with, “Hello, this is my American friend!” It was quite something to see. This went on for about ten days. Kolya was in his own little paradise. It ended up that I was evaluating more than his walking, but rather the large picture of him as an evolving little person.

Fourteen Days with Thirteen Children

After a most interesting train ride and conversation with a sailor and his girl, I arrived in Simferopol, Crimea. I had three hours to explore before my friends from Froonza would arrive. I had slept ok on the train, so I had some energy to explore. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and headed down the street to see the sites.

Finally, it was time to be looking for my friends. We had not met in person, so it would be interesting to see if we could find each other. Andre spotted me first. Anya walked up to me and asked if I was Mark. My visit had begun. On the way to Froonza, twenty kilometers beyond Saki. I asked Anya how many children they had. When she said thirteen, my eyes became very big.

We arrived at the house an hour later. As I passed through the gate in front of the house, Anya began to introduce me to the children. As she called some of them, they appeared, springing up out of the garden, three five year olds and a ten year old. Once in the house, I was introduced to others as they appeared from different places in this ten room house. I learned that five of the children, ages 20, 18, 16, 15, and 5, were their own. The rest of the children were either adopted or were foster children.

In the process, I was reintroduced to Vanya, now fifteen. For the past five or so years he has been in a wheelchair. It hasn’t stopped his active live, though. He wheels himself three kilometers to the sea to swim, and is active in wheelchair sports. His situation has changed, but I think in a positive way. He has very little muscle tone in his foot and lower leg, so it is no longer a turned ankle that needs to change. In my understanding of the situation, massage therapy and electric muscle stimulation will help to strengthen his legs and feet. I will be checking on him.

One of three foster children, taken from the same family, has Cerebral Palsy. He has been with Anya and Andre for four years. He struggles to walk on forearm crutches, but has such dominant hamstring muscles that he cannot straighten his legs to walk. Another common problem is that his dominant adductor muscles pull his legs together. His therapy will also include massage and electric muscle stimulation. Watching him walk is truly heartbreaking. We walked to the school and stadium each day as part of his new therapy. Some people gawked at him, and some stopped to talk, but it was painfully obvious that most of the community is unaware of the disabled in their village.

During my fourteen days there, I interacted with each of the children on a different level, spoke to an English class at the school, spoke at two church services, and developed some very interesting visions for the needs of the village. As I look back on my story, Waiting for a Miracle, I continue to wonder how big of a miracle it will turn out to be, and how many lives will be touched.

August 2009 MUCH Newsletter

August continues to be an interesting month. In the beginning of the month, I was in the Carpathian Mountains. The children of the Dobromel orphanage were in different camps throughout the region. Most were in the village of Yacinya, 3050 feet above sea level. They were located in a beautiful setting, surrounded by scenic foothills. We drove four hours to be with them for a couple of hours. It was the highlight of their camp. We did an AWANA program (children’s ministry) for them.

Volodya has been ministering to the children at Dobromel orphanage for eight years. When I visit the children, I stay with his family in Borislav. This visit, I learned more about the economy of this area. They haven’t had hot water in their city for fifteen years.

Back in Illichevsk, I was having adventures of my own with the dentist. She is a very good and gentle dentist. But just in case, I always tell her a joke to put her in a good mood. I guess that the economy has been such a challenge, it was not always affordable to pay for a pain killer. This was a big surprise for me. While you are there, be sure read The Seashell Girl. I’m sorry for those of you who don’t use computers. Maybe a friend could print it out for you. Or, maybe I’ll put my blog stories in a book in the future.

I think that it was in the fall of 2003 that I was in Saki Crimea for the first time. During that visit I met Vanya. I wrote an article about him entitled, “Waiting for a Miracle.” During an operation soon after his birth, a nerve was accidently cut. This nerve controlled the muscles that allowed him to turn, or evert, his foot to the side. This left him with what is commonly known as club foot. He has been on my mind all of these years. He is 12-years-old now, and on August 25 I will visit him and his family. I will share what I know and have learned these past six years. I’m not sure what kind of miracle will happen, but I think this will be the time that God will bless this child in a special way. I’ll let you know the results next month.

Through the hearts of those who support MUCH, we know that God is moving through our efforts. Through the results of our efforts, we know that God wants us to continue. My wish is that you could see the faces and hear more of the stories from the mouths of the people whose lives are being changed by MUCH.

Blessings of love and healing,
Mark

Ira's Insight (August 2009)

"Thank you very much. I am very appreciative to your help. You can’t even imagine how great your help is for us," said a mother whose child is a patient of the clinic.

Mark and I met this woman at the clinic when she brought her child for massage. Her son, Vladik, is a lovely boy of 3-years-old. When he was 1-year-old, doctors diagnosed him with bowed legs and pigeon- toed feet. For his mother “a new life” began: she visited different doctors and different clinics. Every advice was a new hope for her, but she didn’t see any progress. Her child couldn’t walk well. When he walked he often fell down. Some of the doctors told her to legalize her child’s disability for future financial help.

A year ago, she was advised to go to Kharkov, in north eastern Ukrainian, to see the doctor who specialized in this diagnosis. The doctor prescribed for Vladik to wear high orthopedic shoes for three years, receive massage, and some other treatments. The mother followed the doctor’s direction. She found a private masseuse, but it was difficult financially for her family budget to pay for private massages. Besides massages, she has to bring her child to Kharkov several times a year to see the doctor. To do it several times a year is very difficult financially for her family. Recently the doctor prescribed Vladik to wear other high orthopedic shoes for sleeping time. That pair of shoes cost 1000grevnya, (about $120).

Once when she and her child visited the local doctor, he advised her to address to the social department where she could get some help. At the department, she was told about the MUCH clinic, where experienced masseuses work and where her child could be helped.

Today her child is one of the children who get benefit from the MUCH clinic. His mother is sincerely happy because she sees the real help for the physical condition of her child and her family budget. The doctor whom they visit has a hope that Vladik will wear special orthopedic shoes less than 3 years, because of positive results.

The desire of my heart is to join Vladik’s mother and say, "Thank you," to those who support MUCH and help dreams become a reality!

Until next time,
Ira