Mission Trip to Ukraine- Recap

Hello Family & Friends!

As many of you know, I recently returned from my missions trip to Krivoy Rog, Ukraine! It was a very blessed trip, in every way. Thank you all for your support: financial, prayer, donations, thoughts, help with my family, etc! It’s incredible to me how well God provided for every single thing! There were amazing things happening almost every single moment, but here is my attempt to summarize and share an overview.

Our team! (not pictured: Jen)

Our trip was 12 days long, and we had a team of 8 people. It was a good group, we worked well together. I learned a lot from our leaders, Kristi & Gary Graner, and also enjoyed being around Max Fetisov and his team at True Hope Ukraine & Church of Truth. (He never intended to start a church- but since he ministers to orphans, and orphans tend to be rejected- even in CHURCHES- he saw that he needed to start a church. 70% of his church population are orphans.)  We had a few interpreters that were always with us and took great care of us! One of our interpreters was a 23 yr old who is one of Max’ adopted sons. We also had a married couple who were really helpful, fun and are now friends! It was interesting to use interpreters to communicate. They predominantly speak Russian in the area that we visited. I’ve been working on learning some Russian but have a long way to go! 😃

We did all kind of things on our trip. True Hope Ukraine’s main focus is ending the cycle of abandonment in regards to the orphan crisis in Ukraine. But their ministry is not just to babies and young people in orphanages. It’s actually quite far reaching! They regularly visit Men’s and Women’s mental health/disabled facilities. I discovered that 95% of these people were/are orphans (even thought they are adults now). They visit teenagers who live in dorms independently- at age 15-17 many of them are living on their own- without adult supervision! About 80% of these youth are orphans. We visited many of these “dorms”. We also visited some tuberculosis hospitals/facilities where sick or recovering kids live, under the supervision of hospital workers and “teachers”. Many of them are orphans, or have sick parents, or have been away from family for a long time. Often times they wanted hugs, or to play or color with us. For all of the groups we visited, I played music for them (I had no idea how much music I’d be sharing! God really taught me a lot in this process), and our team told stories for them and prayed for them if the opportunity was right. We always brought gifts and bananas, cookies or candy. We bought SO MANY BANANAS on this trip! It was a special treat as bananas are a bit more expensive there. We visited single moms & their children, children in a transitional facility (just coming off the street, or out of bad situations), a drug rehab home for adults, a refugee camp, a family who lives outside the city that have 13 people living in a tiny shack, and even had the opportunity to pray for and give kind words to a woman who works on the street in prostitution. 

at TB facility

With our interpreter friends: Andre & Julianna

Another part of our trip was encouraging ministry leaders there, who do this kind of serving on a weekly basis. We visited 3 local churches, as well as attended 2 leadership meetings and a prayer meeting where local pastors got together to pray for their country and upcoming presidential election. At nearly every place we visited, I/we played music for them, and then our team spoke and ministered to their attendees and met with their pastors. This was a special experience because these leaders and volunteers are giving of themselves every single day, and it was a privilege to be able to come along side them, and encourage them!

Singing at one of the dorms

Singing at Women's facility

I learned a lot about flexibility. Our plans shifted around a lot, so I really had to rely on God in order to feel mentally/spiritually “prepared” for whatever the day brought. I learned to see ALL PEOPLE, not just the young, as God’s children, who truly just need to be shown love. I experienced how music can really carry and release a special atmosphere, and I continually asked the Lord “what song would you like me to sing?” as we went into new places that I had never been and had no context for. He faithfully put a song on my heart each time, along with some words to share sometimes. I learned that everyone has an important story to share- I watched each of my team members who really hadn’t ever spoken publicly, as they bravely shared from their life experiences with people of all ages. It was eye opening to be in a country that is working towards more freedom, but still has a lot to overcome. Of course this made me more grateful for the country we are blessed to live in. I learned more about the power of prayer- I had a team of people back home praying every day for me and honestly I could feel the protection and comfort that that brought to me! 

I believe that our team brought blessing, encouragement, and hope to many people. We did our best to bring God’s love each place we went. The local team there said that our team was different- that we had a “peacefulness” to us- that we didn’t have an “agenda” except to help, support and love people. Of course this was a beautiful compliment to us. It is comforting to know that we supported a great organization that is making a big difference, one person at a time. True Hope Ukraine has a powerful, amazing vision and they are currently expanding and building new facilities which will continue to push forward hope, truth, and a better way of life for SO many orphans and people, of all ages. I’m grateful for my new friends in Ukraine, and so grateful for all of you in my life!

With Max & Amanda Fetisov, standing in future True Hope Ukraine Facility

Thank you for your support and allowing me to share!

Love, Ellen