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| Delivering gifts at a government run orphanage in Lviv |
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| Long, dark hallways in government run orphanage |
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| Our team |
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| Boys restrooms at the govn’t run orphanage |
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| Girl’s bathroom – same place |
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| Beautiful churches & buildings in Ukraine |
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| Christian orphanage outside of Lviv |
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| Former Ukrainian orphan speaking to orphans – He was with our team. Amazing. |
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| Local pastor’s wife made cake for the occassion and the little ones are enjoying it. So cute! |
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| Had to get this of the orphan director, what a HUGE heart for these kids! |
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| Proud to show off “her room” |
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| Very proud to show off their room – good kids. |
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| Our local partner presenting the orphanage director with some gifts. |
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| I was ready to bring these kids home with me. Breaks my heart here and in Ukraine. |
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| This local pastor/wife adopted 6 kids from the orphanage we visited. I asked them to share their dreams with us. They all said something like, “to glorify God and worship him and play the piano or guitar, etc”. |
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| Our team and some of the adopted children |
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| Our team’s Assembly Presentation with the local church – great time! |
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| Our team ministered in a cerebral palsy orphanage the day I had to fly back |
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| Thank God for someone who decided to care. |
This was such a great trip for me and Patch Our Planet. We were able to team up with one of our current church partners, First Baptist Woodstock. We also made new friendships through TEAR ministries and are forming a quick bond. Our work there was very important. We “performed” an Assembly time at each of the orphanages, then we would break into groups and have sporting activities and crafts. Each of these would begin/end with a devotion about “how God sees the inside”. Then, at the end of our day with the orphans, we would have a “Summit” meeting with the Orphanage Director, Administrators, Teachers, Local Church partners and our team. This was so much fun because it allowed us to share why we were there and find out what the real needs were. It also allowed us to work through our local church partners. This is very important so that we can come to support what they are already doing, not what they are reliant upon us to pull off.
We planted the seeds for a long term work by helping to strengthen the bond between the church in Ukraine with local orphan works, by meeting with the Orphanage Directors and finding out the needs, and by serving alongside of local church partners in order to help lead the way in that region in the future (potential church networks, conferences to educate/equip leaders to care for the kids more effectively through the church).
It really is true. The Biblical mandate is for the church to care for orphans. Not just the Western church, but every church. If each church would simply care for the children in their own community, no matter where that may be, we would make a sweeping difference in the lives of millions. That’s what we are shooting for! To see more about what it is we are doing or to support our work, check out the following link: https://patchourplanet.org/about-us
Blessings,
Steve Gillis
Director, POP
