When we lived in Ukraine there was a ministry we worked closely with other than the Widow’s House. It was called Angelina and is now called Hope. It was one of the two ministries that was pro life. This ministry had a unique approach.

First of all I must tell you that children raised in an orphanage never learn life skills. They go to school and learn reading a writing and stuff like that but they are never taught how to make a bed or cook a meal or do the dishes. Absolutely nothing practical to live outside the orphanage. At age eighteen they have to leave the orphanage. They are not prepared to live at all. So a lot of the girls turn to prostitution mostly for food and a roof over their head.

Svetlana, me. Marlena & Marina

If they find themselves pregnant they go to one of two pro life ministries for help. They both help the mother but in different ways. Hope is run by a mother and daughter Svetlana and Marina. They help the mother through the pregnancy and then when their baby is born they take care of them until the baby is five years old. How they do that is amazing.

Svetlana was raised in a small village about an hour away from Zhytomer. She still owns the house in that village. She had the house upgraded with running water and a shower. She and Marina went out every weekend and held a Sunday School on Saturday for all the children in the village. This gave them a real rapport with the villagers.

Svetlana knew what these girls needed after their baby was born. She and Marina told them about Jesus and they accepted Him as Savior but if they didn’t have help with their babies they would go back on the street. Svetlana found a house for sale in her village. She bought it and has moved the girls with their babies in the house. She and other ladies of the village started to teach the girls life skills. The girls live in the house with their children and they cook and clean and do dishes and all the other things needed to take care of a child. They are so grateful to get a chance at a normal life. On Sunday they get dressed, take the train into Zhytomer and go to church. That is a requirement to live there. The girls enjoy the day out

On more than one occasion we would go out to the village and visit the girls. They loved the company and cooked for us and showed us what they had learned.

Next week I will tell you and show you some of the things these girls are learning to be self sufficient.

Thankful for all I’ve learned,
Jan