The first picture is of Jenna (far left) and his street buddies. He is a 17-year-old street kid who has been running away from Orphanage #4 for years. About 7 years ago, I saw him on the street and chased him down to bring him back to the orphanage, but he kept running away, so now I just buy him food when I see him. He sleeps in the park in doorways and sniffs glue with his friends. I always tell him that the orphanage life is better, but he just shrugs his shoulders and asks me for food. I saw him again, and guess what? He asked for some food. I took him and his two friends to a local grocery store. I look at these kids, reeking with the smell of glue, and I am at a loss about what to do. In one way, my efforts to feed him fulfill a biblical message that he is Jesus in disguise, but I can’t help feeling that buying him food merely soothes my conscience…I can walk away saying, “At least I did not ignore him completely”. As always, it’s a hard call: do I invest more time with him and neglect other kids who have more potential to succeed in life? Is God putting him in my way to help him specifically? Who knows?
I have enclosed a picture of identical twins from an orphanage in Izmail, about 3 hours from Odessa. One night, we planned to take them out for Pizza along with a bunch of other kids. Mira, one of the twins, was excited to go, but her sister, Yara, started crying profusely and did not want to go. We heard later that she was afraid of the English language! After spending a few days with the twins, you can tell how opposite they are. When Mira sees me, she runs into my arms, but Yara runs as far away from me as she can. They are presently unavailable for adoption, but I would like to get someone to host them in the winter. If they are ever adopted, I have this image 10 years from now: they are skiing at Vail, and Mira is tackling the double diamonds while Yara is still on the bunny slope.
When I arrived in Ukraine, I took a few of the kids out to dinner. One of the kids was a new girl who had just arrived at Orphanage #4. Her name is Dasha (far right in the picture below), and she is 11 years old. I immediately liked this kid because you can read exactly what she is thinking by looking at her. Her facial expressions are really funny! We were at the dinner table with Ilona, one of my translators; Ilona was also an orphan who grew up in Orphanage # 5, not too far from Dasha’s orphanage. She has worked with FH as a translator for about 3 years. I asked Dasha through Ilona about her background. Dasha related the same story that many of the other kids have: father in jail, mother an alcoholic, and so on. Dasha spent 3 years in a home for street kids and was recently transferred to the orphanage.
Dasha said her birthday was in May, so I asked her if she could have anything she wanted for her birthday, what it would be? I expected her to ask for music, clothes, or shoes, but the one thing she asked for I could not give her. She said, very matter-of-factly, “To be with my family and take a walk in the park.” When she said it, Ilona immediately turned around, so only I could see her face, tears welling in her eyes. It took her a few seconds, and then she translated what Dasha said. Ilona knew exactly what Dasha was experiencing. Ilona’s dad died when she was young, and her mother began drinking heavily and eventually died of cirrhosis of the liver. Ilona is 20 years old and has no family except for a grandfather who never visited her at the orphanage. I sat there thinking I could empathize with them, but I could never really know what they were experiencing. Dasha is on the list to come this summer. I hope she will find a family to walk through the park with.
