Slavic Christian Ministries is a Christian mission agency that shares the Good News of Jesus Christ. We focus our outreach to the cities, towns and villages within northeast Ukraine. Our ministries include orphans, refugees, medical missions, theology courses, and drug rehabilitation. In the past, we have also engaged in English evangelism courses, short-term mission trips, and distance learning. Our theological resources have been read, taught, and studied in churches across Ukraine and in 80 Christian colleges in Ukraine and Russia.
Slavic Christian Ministries is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Christian organization that has been in existence since 2001.
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, what-ever you did for one of the least of these... you did for me.’”
Matthew 25:40
Abandoned And Wandered For Food
Galya is a fourteen year old orphan who was admitted to the orphanage with her brothers. Her older brother Vova is sixteen years old and her younger brother Misha is eleven years old. Unlike Tanya, whose father is an alcoholic, Gayla’s parents didn’t care about her and her siblings at all. Her irresponsible parents didn’t provide love, care, or attention to the children.
Galya’s house was a constant mess and her parents never fed the children. Because the kids were on the brink of starvation, Galya and her brothers would roam the streets in search for food, skip school, and try to survive any way they could each day. Finally, the school authorities contacted social services, who took the children to
the orphanage, so they could have hot food, warm shelter, education, and a place of safety.
The parents were deprived of parental rights, but were given an opportunity by the government to change their ways and bring their children home. It has been more than a year and still no attempt from the parents to communication, visit, or try to engage their children has been made. Despite everything that has happened, Galya and her siblings want to go home, but clearly, they are unwanted and unloved children by their parents. Galya reminds me of Isaiah 49:15, which says, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”
When we first met Galya, she was a reserved and unfriendly girl and didn’t want to speak or interact with our ministry. Initially, Galya didn’t show any concern during our visits, but over the passage of time, she has blossomed and is now very interested in the Bible and the salvation message. After about a year of ministering and loving her, she accepted Jesus and has begun a prayer life to our Lord.
Galya doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up, but she has discovered the meaning in life – by having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. If God touches your heart, please pray for Galya and all the children to turn to Jesus, be protected by him in the orphanage and so they will never be trafficked by evil people in the future. We can bless them while in the orphanage, but after they depart, they are very vulnerable.
Looking Backward To Rushing Forward
Tanya is eleven years old. She grew up in a large family with other five other brothers and sisters. Her family is very disadvantaged because her father is an alcoholic who killed another man and is currently serving a life sentence in prison. Because Tanya’s mother was unable to support all the children by herself, Tanya was delivered to the orphanage and abandoned by her mother.
When our ministry first met Tanya, she was very reserved, unsociable, and cried continuously. She was a disturbed and a very moody child because of her emotional trauma. At any given moment, she would burst into laughter (when we were around) and the very next moment her laughter would turn into uncontrollable tears for no apparent reason.
During our initial classes in the orphanage, Tanya would sit with her back towards us and didn’t express any desire to listen to or learn about our Bible lessons. We tried continuously to reach this little girl, but nothing we attempted positively influenced this very distraught child. Therefore, we allowed her to open up to us in her own timing (if ever at all). By God’s grace she eventually began to share with us her feelings and fears.
Once trust between us was established, we prayed with her regularly and her violent mood swings began to dissipate. She is still learning how to control her temper, but with God’s help, our guidance, and teaching her biblical truths, we are seeing positive progress. Now she looks forward to our classes and rushes to meet us at the door every time we come to teach the children. She eagerly helps us with our lesson preparation and loves every Bible story! Tanya continues to hope and pray that her family will reunite with her once again. If you could pray for Tanya and her family, we would deeply appreciate it