"Everything Began and Ended With Prayer"

Report about LifeNets Ukraine Summer 2012 Mission by Greg Rorem

This past July, LifeNets helped send myself and others to Vinohradiv, Ukraine to help Vasil and Irina Polichko with running a two-week day camp. Vasil, with his wife Irina, is a pastor of a Sabbath keeping church in the town of Vinohradiv, and each summer he opens the grounds of the church to children living in Vinohradiv for a two week summer camp where they are involved in many different types of activities including English lessons led by myself and the others sent from the USA. The majority of the children at this camp, as well as some of those who volunteer much effort and time in the kitchen and other more unseen aspects of the camp, come from families and situations that are often abusive or otherwise very difficult partly due to the amount of poverty found here.

Many of these children would find themselves with nowhere to go and virtually nothing to do during a typical summer away from school, but Vasil and Irina Polichko, desiring to show these children in disadvantaged, difficult situations that there are people who care and that there is a God who loves them greatly, run this camp with the help of others to give the children not only something to do during the summer, but a place to where they can go where a spirit of love and caring is felt as well as where the word of God can be heard. 

Our group from the USA was primarily tasked with teaching classes in English, as that is something which can give these children a definite advantage as they grow up and move from school and college as some of the older children already have. We would normally teach a lesson as one large group where the children would learn to recite things like the Lord's Prayer in English by memory, learn a few English language children's songs, and write any new words they learned in notebooks they were given, and then we would break into smaller groups and engage in various activities while trying to get them speaking any and all English that we could. Many times this is where the children's eagerness to learn really came out the most, as we were always being asked by them what the English word for this or that was. We not only conducted these English lessons, but we also spent much time with them by eating meals, playing with them during free time, and going on afternoon and evening excursions with them where they were always asking questions about English words or even grammar by the older kids. One favorite activity in which we often found ourselves participating was volleyball, eventually English made its way into that routine of theirs as well, as pretty soon they were starting to keep score and say different game words in English, which was really great to see. On one such afternoon excursion to the Tissa river, as the weather was very warm there during these weeks, we met other children there who saw us and witnessed our example, and they then asked if they could come to the camp the next day also. Of course they were welcome to come as a very impressive aspect of the Polichkos’ camp is that their doors are always open to those who wish to come or are in need of help.

Spending so much quality time with them showed them that even complete strangers are out there who care before even meeting them enough to travel across the world and sacrifice much time and effort for their sake. In addition to all of the lessons, activities and excursions, every day there was a Bible study conducted by Vasil Polichko to remind them daily of the love of God and that all blessings come from him, and with Vasil, everything began and ended with prayer. God was so often included in even the most routine things that it really left an impression on me, and I realized how important it is to remember to do likewise, since it can be very easy to forget that all blessings do come from God when coming from a place of such bounty and blessings as the USA. It is clear that God’s hand is at work with this camp. Much of what happens wouldn’t be possible without these hard working people who have God’s help. They are always praising, giving thanks, and giving the glory of what good things take place here to God. It is clear that God uses every bit of our donations and contributions as well as Lifenets’ effort to go so very far in such a faraway place.

Many thanks again for the sponsorship to have been able to participate helping over there. I still keep in contact with a few of the kids over there through the Internet, as I was able to connect especially well with some of the older teen guys which was definitely facilitated by my gift of languages (namely Russian in this case, as well as any Ukrainian I tried to pick up while there), as I was able to converse and joke with them while being able to also answer English questions and new words when out of the class room times and on excursions and whatnot. It was truly great to have been useful that way. Especially one of the young guys, Joseph, was constantly asking me questions, always asking me what different words were in English and even was getting into some grammar (like why is it "he is" but "you are" etc.), yet sometimes he would ask for a Ukrainian word that I didn't know, and Oleh was of great help there, yet even now and then one stumped Oleh with a specific Trans-Carpathian word, but by that stage either Vasil or Irina were able to translate it to Russian and by then in those cases I could usually get it into English to answer his question. Sometimes my brain was fried from all the constant questioning, but I was definitely glad for it.

Anyway, I will have to sit down at some point and think of some more stories of what went on there, as I am sure you'd love to hear them.

Greg Rorem