РусскийMinistry to the orphans
“Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
(James 1:27)
True service and worship to the Lord is revealed when we are attentive towards orphans, when we look after them, visit them, or take part in the process of adoption. We are called to pay particular attention to those orphans who are in sorrow, distress, oppression, harassment and agony.
We believe that:
– our labor is not in vain in the eyes of the Lord;
– whenever we tell a child about Christ, we are collecting the harvest on God’s fields;
– whenever we show care for “one of the little ones”, we show care for Christ Himself;
– by taking care of the physical needs of the children, we can bring them closer to the knowledge of God.
Almaz Church believes that God loves even these “little ones”, and that God’s people are called to show care to orphans in the best possible way, giving them our time, money, effort, and, of course, love.
Our vision:
– To change the heart of the Ukrainian nation
– To change the idea about the orphans and people with special needs.
– To help gain the skills necessary for building up the lives of orphans and people with special need.
– To bring these changes for the glory of God.
– To carry this mission all around Ukraine and even further to the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Our ministry:
Almaz church serves orphans in the orphanages of Ukraine with the most severe mental and physical needs (III and IV category):
– Snyatyn (Ivano-Frankovs`k region)
– Romanov (Zhytomyr region)
– Znamyanka (Kirovograd region).
Specialized orphanage in Snyatyn
This orphanage is located at a distance of 500 km from Kiev, in a small village called Zaluchchya-Dolishniy, Snyatynskiy district, Ivano-Frankivsk region.
Mr. Henry Krishtofovich lived there in 1939, the Soviet government sent him to Siberia, then an orphanage was found in his estate.
It is home for 130 children with severe multiple mental and physical disabilities, who need home care, household and health services. Some of the “residents” of the orphanage do not walk at all. Their total life is spent in beds, they do not see any other option. All this is due to lack of rehabilitation programs, the lack of medical support, specialists and financing. These teenagers live with atrophied muscles, because from their birth nobody takes care of their rehabilitation, at all…
Specialized orphanage in Romanov
This orphanage is located in Romanov village, Zhytomyr region, with a population of 8,000 people. The buildings, home for 100 orphans, are outside the town, in a waste land. Until 1947 there were barracks that were built by Czech settlers, who the Soviet government did not release home. In 1947, Stalin deported all the Czechs to the Czech Republic, and there was established an orphanage for orphans with various pathologies on the basis of these barracks. For 50 years the orphanage met the standards of Stalin’s camps more than even a typical Soviet prison. Children were housed in two buildings, the windows were grilled, room walls were painted black, metal doors were locked. In winter the buildings were heated by stoves. Every winter on the average 15 children died from hypothermia. It was a closed type establishment, and it looked a lot like “the last station of life.”
A new and better life for this Romanov orphanage has started from 1997, with the director Vasily Nikolaichuk. He took away the grilles from windows, repainted the walls in warm tones, laid gas and heating, built a bath house, opened a medical office. Today, there are only boys and men with severe multiple mental and physical disabilities (such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, different genetic abnormalities, etc..) in this male orphanage. Most of them finish their life there before reaching the age of 35. Those who live longer will be brought to the detention center for the elderly.
Specialized orphanage in Znamenka
The history of the town is directly connected with the railway.
Znamianka was founded in 1869 as a station at Yelisavetgrad-Krukov railway. Znamenka today is a major railway junction in Kirovograd region.
There are 130 children from 4 to 25 years old in this orphanage. They are suffering from cerebral palsy, spinal hernia, congenital deformities of limbs, mental retardation. The majority of children move by means of wheelchairs, and many spend the entire day in bed because of the severity of illness or lack of wheelchairs.
