Spring in Ukaraine

Two weeks ago we had an Easter night with the children at the orphanage-internot. The preparations took over a week. All of the 4th and 8th grade children (8-A and 8-B classes) were actively involved in a Resurrection mime skit, making Easter cards and cross-stitch work for adults, memorizing poems and painting Easter Pisanki eggs. The children spent time in our house making some of the decorations.

One Saturday afternoon we had Denis, Inna, Laura, Marika and Nastia Samoylenko to our house to make Easter cards and Pisanki eggs. Considering that these teenagers rarely leave the orphanage it was quite an event for them to ride a city bus to our house by themselves. I finally spotted a small figure of Denis behind the girls backs as they were entering the house and giving me and Tania a hug. I picked up this 15-year-old kid and said, "Denis, how come you are the only boy in this gang?" He looked up at the girls and answered, "Well, somebody had to bring them over".

It was exciting to observe the closeness and unity among the children during Easter time. The boys were not embarrassed to help the girls, the older kids had fun participating in a mime skit with younger ones. We really felt like resurrected Jesus was among us and His love warmed each heart. The skit turned out to be great! What a presentation of Creation, The Fall, The Death of Christ and His Resurrection! There were so many children involved in this skit that Inna had to ask, "Who would be the audience?" Vladik played Jesus part so well, that Vera Pavlovna, the Ukrainian language tutor, got emotional.

On Easter Sunday we took the forth grade children to church with us. Michelle and Lisa joined, too. Sasha did a great job singing hymns, Aliona and Olia followed the scripture during the sermon. Then we all walked downtown and had pizza at the Greek Mall. We all had a great time talking, playing with the baby and reflecting on what Jesus did for each of us.

Children's prayer needs and Praises


In a recent newsletter we asked you to pray for Marika, a 13-year-old girl who was once sold to the gypsies by her parents. We thank you for your prayers. Marika is doing better. She comes to our house almost every Sunday. Spending time in our family helps her to get away from her loneliness and bad influence of the orphanage teenagers. Marika has been less aggressive, spending more time doing school work and basketball. We bought Marika a few books as she likes reading. She read Harry Potter (part 4) in one week and cried over the last chapter. The Lord gave Marika a pen-pal friend from Nashville, TN. Marika was very touched to have a new friend. Please continue to pray for Marika and her problem with smoking.

Please continue to pray for Nastia S. (8th grade) and the family from Nebraska who want to adopt her. Nastia is a very, very sweet girl. She misses her friend Natasha who was adopted in December 2005. Natasha's family are friends with the family who want to adopt Nastia.

Praise God with us for the families who (since December) adopted Natasha (8th grade), Vera K. (4th grade) and Vika K.(4th grade). The children are doing fine. Please pray for Vera's health problems and Natasha's insecurity.

Please continue to pray for Seriozha Linkov. We brought him to our house and to visit his old friends at the orphanage. He is still very miserable at the other orphanage where he was moved in September. He really wants to come back.

Please pray for Alex S. (4th grade) and his emotional problems. Alex just spent over a month at a psychiatrical hospital. His anger attacks on the children and adults still bother us. We hope that the Lord will calm him down and show His love in a special way.

We thank you for your gracious donations this year which gave us the opportunity
° to buy glasses for Aliona, Vika and Tolik (4th grade)
° to finance the orthodontic care for Vladik (4th grade) and Kostia (8th grade)
° to buy school supplies, new underwear, clothes, brooms, laundry detergent and s hampoos, toilet paper, medications and food
° to take the children to church and bring them to our house
° to take the children to field trips (ice rink, Aqua park, picnics)
° to pay tutors and a psychologist
° to pay for a translator to assist Lisa's infant massage classes to 8th grade girls



To be continued .....

additional pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/heritagehouseproject/

tax deductable donations can be sent to:
Chapelgate Presbyterian Church
2600 Marriottsville Rd
Marriottsville, MD 21104-1628
Paul Becker orphan account #9284M