July 2012 Update

Dear friends,

Here’s a report on the team’s summer activities.

June 2012 Camp in Simferopol: In early june this summer US team members, Haley Harrell, Jordyn Harry and I,  traveled from Nashville through NYC and Moscow to arrive in Simferopol, Crimea (Ukraine). We flew directly to Simferopol as opposed to flying to Kiev and then going by train to SImf. This made travel faster and easier. We recovered from jet lag much faster. This summer we worked in 2 facilities.

Last year we taught a series of lessons called Guardrails. Last summer we started teaching the concept of an intentionally placed barrier that will cause use to self-trigger as we approach sin. Last year’s Guardrails pertained to our friendships (e.g. how to choose the right friends). This year’s Guardrails related to our attitudes toward these topics:

• Knowing who we are (God’s creation and His children)
• Giving (what we have and not being possessive)
• Lifting others up (instead of tearing them down)
• Serving others (like crazy)
• Obeying God fully (and following Jesus)

One of the most positive outcomes of the camp trip was a meeting held on Tuesday at Gagarin School for Girls. Attending the meeting were several representatives of organizations, a local church and a foster home, as well as several other individuals including 2 former orphans. These people represent those who are serving the orphans in the school. It was particularly exciting to see the network begin to form through the efforts of Dmitry Malashko of Simferopol SOS Foundation. Dima has completed the “Ukraine Without Orphans” course training and desires to establish a “Crimea Without Orphans” network.

Eastern European Missions delivered several boxes of Bibles to be distributed to the two orphanages upon the team’s request.

Gagarin School for Girls - this former internacht houses 99 girls ranging in age from 5-18. Most residents are from poor income families or are social orphans meaning they have no parents and may live with relatives or guardians or are wards of the state due to abusive or neglectful circumstances. A 20-30% of the girls are true orphans meaning no family. Most of the kids were already departed for the summer. However we worked with about 12 kids remaining at the school.

Even though the number of children was low it was a critical time for our team. We used this time to pave the way for future camps. By getting to know this small handful of kids we will have gained the interests of the other kids.

There was a set of twins in the older group, Yulia and Alyona. Both were very curious and wanted to know more about the grace of Jesus, why we struggle in life, why God allows suffering. They had many questions and concerns. Yulia was the first to engage us. The next day she brought her twin sister Alyona, who was 6-months pregnant. On that day we prayed over Alyona and her unborn baby boy. It was a very emotional moment for us as a team. It’s this type of situation that perpetuates the orphan problem.

On another day we were teaching about “serving”. Attending our group was a teenager named Marina and her younger sister Katya. As we were working on crafts for that day, I looked to notice Marina quietly helping her sister. I said to the team, “Guys, look here.  We are witnessing a ‘serving attitude’ right here.”

Detskyi Dom of Simferopol -  We have had a presence in this small 50 bed facility fsince 2010. The June camp marked our 4th camp in 2 years. We ate 2 meals each day at this facility and spent every afternoon working with the kids here. There were 18-20 new kids at the home this summer. As many as eight had been adopted by Ukrainian or Italian families the rest had either graduated or returned to live at home with relatives.

Personally speaking, one of the most impactive moments occurred on Thursday. After teaching about serving others, I decided on the spur of the moment to demonstrate how Jesus served his disciples by washing their feet. I asked for a tub, some water, a towel, and a volunteer. A young girl, Polina, was chosen. She came forward and sat in the chair. As I began to talk about how Jesus washed the disciples feet and its significance, she began to squirm. It took quite a bit of convincing her (thanks to mentors Nastya and Masha) before she allowed me to proceed. The funny thing is that several girls jumped up and ran. I thought they were looking for an opportunity of escaping what they thought was a boring class. Later I was told they were seen racing into the bathroom to wash their own feet for fear I would make them participate. They didn’t want me to see that their feet were dirty.

In addition one of the older girls, Adile, asked lots of questions and always said “Thank you for the lesson.” A couple of the older boys and even one very quiet girl opened up to Nastya toward the end of the week. While that might not seem like much, it represents a gigantic and imperative leap forward in building the relationships needed to mentor a child. We have to develop trust first before we can hope to reap anything from the seeds we plant. Younger children are easier to build relationships with. Typically with teens we use the phrase “closed to our friendship”. Often they have been left relationally empty-handed, so distrust is a natural emotional self-defense mechanism. Patience and unconditional love provide the best tactics. It’s not we get out of the relationship but more importantly what THEY get...LOVE.

Want to make a difference in the life of a child? Go with me!: I’m just now beginning making plans to return, most likely, in early December of the year. We’ll be home before Christmas. Contact me if you’d like to go. Costs are usually in the $3500/person neighborhood. We can talk about where the finances come from and I’ll get you fully prepared, don’t worry. Please don’t let the notion of money or work stop you. You’ll raise what you need and many will be blessed. Don’t worry that you family can’t do without you. they can survive. You and your family will be blessed in the time-sacrifice you’ve made.

PRAYER:
- Gagarin: Please pray over this facility and the resident girls as well as the staff at Gagarin School. There are chronic behavioural issues as well as alcohol use and promiscuity among the older girls. You may recall that a 14-year old girl took her own life this past spring. Pray also for Alyona and her baby.
- Detskyi Dom: Pray that we will be able to reach these kids. They are heavily influenced by the world around them, pop-culture, and the desire to fit in. In general, the kids at this orphan home are more socially  adapted. However, the home is not without its behavioral issues. Pray that the Holy Spirit will soften the hearts of these children to receive the story of God’s grace and lives will be changed.
- Anya Goliakova: She is a teammate who is on permanent staff as asst. principal at the school. She has a very difficult job with long hours and little time for herself. Even when on vacation or after work hours her phone rings continually with calls from the school. She is making strides in showing the girls the love of Christ. One girl, Tanya, has quit smoking and drinking. I also noticed on a Russian-speaking social network that she is listening to contemporary Christian music.
- Vika Vdovichenko: Vika recently joined a local college campus ministry as the social outreach coordinator. Her new role will be to recruit college students into their program in order to teach them about Christ. Secondarily, she will train them as mentors in a future program focused on reaching out to orphan graduates attending trade schools and underprivileged college students as well as institutionalized orphans.

- Social Outreach Center: Team member A partnership is being formed to fund and establish a social outreach center to be used as a meeting place for orphanage graduates, trade school & college students and a supported house church. Please be in prayer that God will provide the funding needed to build this vital outreach center.
- Nastya Skovorodnykova: Nastya continues to mentor to the children living at the Detskyi Dom of Simferopol in addition to maintaining her full-time job at International Institute of Intercultural Communication and Crimean-American College. Nastya spends a portion of her free time (at her own expense) to visit the children and maintain our connections several times each month. Lately Nastya has been asking the Holy Spirit to show her more ways she can serve. This August, she will serve an orphan outreach ministry at Gvardeskii village orphanage for special needs children as an interpreter for Americans from Southeast Christian Church in Louisville.

Other Highlights:

- Arthur conducted the June birthday gift program at Detskyi Dom

- Reunited with my old friend Igor form Gvardeskii whom I met in 2008 when he was an orphan

- Team member Haley Harrell conducted an orphan art project

- Our friends at home raised enough funds for us to locally purchase much needed flip-flops for the 50 children at Detskyi Dom. We had enough to also purchase sports equipment for Gagarin School.

- Team mentor Violetta Alimova graduated from college and received her diploma.

- Delivered 2 donated digital cameras to 2 of our mentors to use during orphanage visits

- Team Mentor Sasha Lifintseva participated in a camp held in Eastern Ukraine in July
Thank you for your ongoing support and prayer. Without your help these kids would never know the love of Christ or of god’s grace. You ARE making a difference.

Peace and grace.
Joel

 

 

 

 

 

"Social Orphanhood in Ukraine: Massive Child Neglect and Abandonment

(Tony Morrow-YRI)

Excerpt from a research paper presented recently (October 2011) by an Ed.D. Candidate (Alla Korzh) at the "Seventh Annual Danyliw Research Seminar in Contemporary Ukrainian Studies".  The paper provides a clear description of the orphan situation in Ukraine, and a solid foundation from which explains why  YouthReach International initiatives in Ukraine are so critically important.   

"Social Orphanhood in Ukraine: Massive Child Neglect and Abandonment 

Socio-demographic shifts accompanied by the economic crisis, unemployment, and labor migration have consequently affected the social fabric, where historically established family values and bonds were breaking down rapidly for the first time in Ukrainian history (Artiuh et al., 2006; Balakireva et al., 2000; Perelli-Harris, 2008). Such socio-economic instability led to an increase in divorce and single-parent families. Additionally, escalating unemployment and the absence of state assistance services drove many Ukrainian parents into dire poverty and substance abuse, which deteriorated social morale and parental responsibilities, pushing many parents to force their children to beg on the streets (Balakireva et al., 2004). Binge drinking, drug addiction, and physical abuse in the family triggered an increased number of troubled families, prone to abandoning or neglecting their children altogether (Artiuh et al., 2001, 2006; Balakireva et al., 2000). Seventy percent of parents leading such a life style – primarily from alcoholism – abandoned their children in 2006, up from 58 percent in 2004 to 70 percent in 2006 (Artiuh et al., 2006). In 2005, there were approximately 44,919 troubled families, where 93,548 children lived (Artiuh et al., 2006). In 2008, the number of such families reached 80,000 (Ukrainian State Statistics Committee,

2008).

An estimated number of biological and social orphans in Ukraine fluctuate from 103,000 to 115,000 due to inaccurate statistical data reported in Ukraine, where approximately 11,000 of those biological and social orphans are institutionalized in state-run orphanages until the age of 18 (Balakireva et al., 2010). Biological orphans are children who have no living parents. Social orphans are children with living parents, either abandoned by their parents or removed from troubled families – where one or both parents are alcoholics, drug-addicts, incarcerated, or missing – and thus deprived of parental care (Artiuh et al., 2006; Balakireva et al., 2000). Ninety percent of the entire orphans population are social orphans. In this paper, I will be using an “orphan” term for a biological orphan and a commonly interchangeable term “children deprived of parental care” to refer to social orphans. 

As a result of rough experiences in abusive families and later in highly-regimented orphanages as well as limited opportunities available to these youths when they enter 

adult life, many of them become susceptible to drugs, alcohol, crime, prostitution, and suicide. According to non-governmental organizations in Ukraine and the United States, 10 percent of orphans commit suicide after leaving their orphanage before turning 18. Moreover, 60 percent of girls end up in prostitution, while 60 percent of boys engage in crime (Home for Every Orphan, 2010; Ukraine Orphans Outreach, 2010). 

Orphanage schooling, substituting for families’ care and upbringing, falls short of providing Ukrainian orphanage children with knowledge and skills to survive on their own. Typically truncated curriculum, inadequately trained personnel working with many psychologically traumatized orphans and children deprived of parental care and low teacher and upbringer [Upgringer (in Ukrainian: vyhovatel) is responsible for supervising orphans' development in the orphanage, including their education and behavior. He/she holds a two-hour "prep time" daily after class. This time is designated for homework done in class.] expectations about children’s potential fail to provide quality 

educational preparation for further educational pursuits. All of this ultimately sets them up, at best, for a vocational track pipeline. 

Vocational education rarely leads to socio-economic stability in Ukraine. The quality of vocational education has deteriorated since the collapse of the Soviet Union 

(MESU, 2003). Many vocational schools are still teaching the curriculum designed for a centralized economy, rather than revamping it to meet the needs of a market economy (Hellwig & Lipenkowa, 2007; MESU, 2003). While vocational education is perceived as a fast and easy track for manual skills acquisition, it rarely serves as a platform for economic stability. Entering universities, seen by many orphans and children deprived of parental care as well as Ukrainian society as a whole as a means of social mobility and success, becomes virtually impossible for these children.

The difficulty of entering universities lies not in the outright denial of access to higher education, but rather in the quality of education offered in orphanages and the level of corruption in university admissions, all of which exacerbate orphans’ limited future opportunities. According to Article 52 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the government is responsible for providing free public secondary, vocational, and higher education on a non-competitive basis to orphans until 23 years of age. Although all public universities are required to give priority to these vulnerable youths, some universities do not abide by the law and keep the ‘free’ spots for those willing to give bribes. This further traps these children in structural inequalities and pushes them to succumb to the low-quality education of vocational schools."

You can read the rest of the research paper by clicking on the link below:

Korzh, A. (2011, October 20-22). Metamorphosis of the Role of Education in Ukraine Through the Prism of Ukrainian Disadvantaged Youths. Chair of Ukrainian Studies. Retrieved January 6, 2012, from http://www.ukrainianstudies.uottawa.ca/pdf/P_Danyliw2011_Korzh.pdf

Pray for the world's 100 million street children | Christian News on Christian Today

Pray for the world's 100 million street children | Christian News on Christian Today

Kseniya Simonova presents - Yana Korokhina "Faces" by Yana Korohina "Faces"

This is a must watch video. One of the kids we have the pleasur eof knowing, loving and mentoring was recently given a camera to capture images using her magical eye for photographic imagery. Yana K. Is tremndously talented. The host of this post Kseniya Simonova is a former winner of Ukraine's Got talent TV show. She creates temporary imagery using sand. She presents - Yana Korokhina "Faces" by Yana Korohina "Faces".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlEl56HSUMo

Yana K.

More Time with Less People Equals...

...greater impact!  

(A Message From Rob Browne, Executive Director, YouthReach International)

Think about that.  Jesus invested heavily in 12 who in turn changed the world.  Paul invested keenly in a few young evangelists who greatly broadened the reach of the church.  YouthReach International is encouraging our Mentors, referred to as 12-3-1 Mentors, to follow Jesus' example and do the same as the core of this ministry is 1 to 1 mentoring in the orphanages of Ukraine and Russia.  It is a huge task but it is a worthy task.  Thank you for sharing in it with us.

As said in our last newsletter, last month was National Mentoring Month.  I heard from many readers some of the efforts they initiated to see mentoring become more real to them.  A good friend and local minister in our area and I have challenged each other to invest in people half our age.  At 43, that really means something!  In keeping with that, I had breakfast with a wonderful young man named Mark last week and marveled at the joy and ease of listening to him and encouraging him in the things he is passionate about.  Mentoring does take effort but it is definitely a joy.  Whether in your home country or on a YouthReach International Mission Trip, invest the effort and experience the joy for yourself!

2012 Team leaders Retreat

Much is happening on the ministry front we want to share with you.  On January 24, nearly 50 YouthReach alumni, friends, team members, and team leaders gathered in Lilburn, GA, for a powerful night of worship and fellowship.  Thank you to Tim and Sheila Dunn for hosting us and to Pete McReynolds for leading this worship time. The next day our core team leaders for 2012 gathered for a full day of equipping at Campus Church's "Underground"  in Norcross, GA. Thank you to Karla Crump, Julie Williams, Cheri Raines, Tim and Sheila Dunn and Traci Browne for preparing and serving our meals!  Pictured below are leaders from California, Colorado, Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Georgia.  Please keep them in prayer as they are now training their teams who will go out this summer to stand beside those 12-3-1 Mentors in Ukraine and Russia and invest the effort while experiencing the joy of mentoring orphans and at risk youth.

Two hours before that wonderful night of worship started, our Board of Directors, together with our Executive Team, concluded their first meeting of the year at the 1818 Club in Duluth, GA.  From left to right, Dr. Jerry Strader (Abilene, TX), Wayne Tomlinson (Brentwood, TN), Rob Browne (Executive Director and Director of Russian Operations), Sherriann Hicks (Atlanta, GA), Dr. Andrew Vick (St. Louis, MO), Jim Pack, Jr. (Atlanta, GA), and Tony Morrow (Director of Ukrainian Operations, Abilene, TX) are pictured below.  We are very grateful to our Board for their commitment and service to this ministry. Please keep them in prayer as you also remember our staff, volunteers, Mentors, and of course orphans.  Also, click on this link to read a brief profile on each of our Board Members and see a better picture than below of what they really look like.  They serve quietly and behind the scenes but it is important that you know more of who they are and the passion they bring to our work.

YouthReach International - Board of Directors

In less then 3 weeks we will have completed Mentor Training Retreats in Novosibirsk, Russia, as well as Donetsk and Simferopel, Ukraine.  These efforts are beyond key to our work.  A mentoring ministry is only as strong as its mentors and these retreats are all about developing the depth of our mentor teams in both countries.  Please pray for Mike Neill (College Park, GA) and Margaret Moore (Abilene, TX) as they join me in Novosibirsk, February 24-26, 2012. Tony Morrow will be carrying out the Ukrainian Retreats the last week of February and first week of March.  These meetings are especially key for our Ukraine arm right now.  Your prayers for Tony as well as any encouragement you can push his way will bless our efforts there immensely.  Thank you in advance for them!

Next month's activities include Chick-fil-A SERVE Seminars in Novosibirsk and Tomsk, Russia, as well as a team from Greater Atlanta Christian School going to work alongside partner church, Tomsk Christian Church, in Tomsk, Russia.

An upcoming announcement about our spring fundraising dinner in Nashville, TN, on May 5, is just around the corner.  In a sense, I am burying the headline but you will hear more about this in the coming weeks.  Those of you in middle Tennessee, please save Saturday, May 5, at 6 p.m. for a very special evening with YouthReach International in Franklin, TN.   More on that in an email all by itself.

Finally, are you interested in serving on YouthReach International's Prayer Team?  It kicks off tomorrow and a few places do remain.  Please contact Tony Morrow (tony@youthreach.org) immediately if you desire to stand with our ministry in this way.
Please refer to the Latest News page on our website for prayer requests, praise reports, and online resources.

With sincerest thanks and deep appreciation for you all, I am,

Rob Browne
Executive Director/Director of Russian Operations
YouthReach International

Request from Tony Morrow -Ukraine operations Director at YouthReach International

Hello Everyone :)


Many of you have (and continue) to pray for the Morrow's and the wonderfully challenging work we are blessed to be a part of with YouthReach International in Ukraine.  Thank You!!!!


The Board, Staff, Mentors, and Short-Term Mission Volunteers at YouthReach International know we need the prayer support of many as we strive to exemplify Christ to the orphaned children of Russia and Ukraine.  With this in mind, I would like each of you to prayerfully consider joining YouthReach International's Prayer Team.  The document which I have attached to this e-mail briefly (but clearly) describes the responsibilities of a YouthReach International Prayer Team Member.


I am encouraging each of you to read this document and to prayerfully consider becoming a part of YouthReach International's Prayer Team.  If you have any questions regarding this request, please do not hesitate to contact me.


Once I have received responses from all who would like to be a part of this very important ministry, I will develop a contact list and begin sending weekly prayer requests to our YouthReach International Prayer Team Members.  This weekly communication will also provide updates as to how God is answering our prayers.


Thank you so much for considering this request!

Tony Morrow
Director of Ukraine Operations
Youthreach International
(325) 439-0501
tony@youthreach.org

YouthReach International

Prayer Team

James 1:22
“Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.”  


I Thessalonians 5:17
“Pray continually.” 


YouthReach International Lifestyle Commitment 
The board, staff, mentors, team leaders, and team members of YouthReach International strive to:

• Read the Word of God daily
• Do what God’s Word says daily, and
• Pray continually

The YouthReach International family strives to live out a Reading, Praying, and Obeying Lifestyle so Christ is exemplified in every area of our lives and ministry.


YouthReach International Prayer Team Commitment
YouthReach International seeks individuals who are willing to live a Reading, Praying, and Obeying Lifestyle and who are committed to praying daily for the advancement of God’s kingdom through the YouthReach International ministry.


A YouthReach International Prayer Team member is a person who commits to:

• Reading the Word of God daily
• Asking God to help them do what they have read daily
• Praying continually
• Maintaining a clear understanding of the YouthReach International Ministry
• Fostering a passion for the advancement of God’s kingdom in and through the YouthReach International ministry and,
• Praying consistently for prayers received from Tony Morrow the YouthReach International Prayer Team liaison 

Please contact Tony Morrow at tony@youthreach.org if you are interested in becoming a member of the YouthReach International Prayer Team

January 2012 Update

Greetings! Great things are happening with the team and Youthreach International. Even as I write this entry our mentors Arthur Kazaryan, Nastya Skovorodnykova, Violetta Alimova, and Elvira Sharipova are wrapping up the January birthday program at the Detskyi Dom in Simferopol. This was probably more challenging than in past visits as there is a blanket of knee-deep snow in Crimea. i know they blessed the children there with their visit.


Here’s a quick team update for the last month.

• Christy Blazer and I went to Beaty Swamp Community Church to provide a report on the December camp. BSCC is Christy’s home congregation in gracious and growing Monroe, TN.
• Linda, Christy, and I presented to the Donelson Church of Christ combined Bible class. Linda and Christy told those attended about how they were led to go. They each said that they felt their main role was to be there for the children, play, hug, love and support the efforts of our 12-3-1 mentors.
• June 2012 team is registered. Haley Harrell (Nashville) and Jordyn Harry (Panama City Beach, FL) will join me in June.
• Joel and Haley attended the YouthReach International team leaders retreat. Funding efforts are well under way and team meetings will begin soon.
• Haley and I in addition to all team leaders will be participating an “Read, Pray, Obey” scripture study as a part of our spiritual preparation.
• Nastya Skovorodnykova visited the kids at the Detskyi Dom to deliver some cards and gifts
• 250 pairs of socks and girls tights were collected and shipped to the Detskyi Dom from one of the home church groups at Donelson Church of Christ.

Please continue to pray about these things:

• Read, Pray, Obey: Team preparation begins this week. Pray that God will give us eyes to see, and ears to hear what his word will reveal to us - May we have the desire to read His word everyday, pray about what we have read, and then do what it says.
• Mentor Retreat: Our team mentors (Nastya, Marizza, Masha, Violetta, Elvira, Arthur, Anya and Vika) will be attending the YouthReach International - 12-3-1 Mentor's Retreat at the end of February. Led by Tony Morrow and Rob Browne, the retreat will be held at Commonwealth International University (CIU). Many of the mentors from team ministering in the Donetsk region will be traveling to Simferopol. Tony Morrow (Dir.-Ukraine Operations) is leading them in a "Read, pray, Obey" in a 5-week study of the book of James.
• Team Funding: Always this is probably the most stressful part of what we do. Not only that but it makes us uncomfortable to ask. Pray that God is preparing the hearts of those He has chosen to be generous and that we are able to meet our funding deadlines of 50% by March 1 and  100% by April 15. May God reveal the blessing to those sending us.
• Soil preparation: We are a seed-sowing ministry; one that does not predetermine which kids or mentors will be most receptive to the message before sharing it. We will share the hope and love of Jesus Christ with all those that the Lord puts in our path. Pray that the hearts and minds of the Chidren, our mentors, the orphanage staff personnel and those we meet on the way will be receptive.
• Travel: This year one of the most popular professional soccer tournaments worldwide will be hosted in Ukriane - The European Championship or Euro-Cup. A huge influx of travellers and soccer enthusiasts will be flowing into Ukraine at the same time we are. The demand for air and ground transport (trains, cabs, etc), lodging, etc will be challenging. On the bright side....there will be a festive atmosphere throughout Country. pray that God will make our way smooth and straight.
• Central orphanage: Please continue to pray over Anya G. and Vika V. working in the Central Orphanage for Girls. They are in need of funds to purchase fire extinguishers, light bulbs and many other physical needs at the orphanage are required or else heavy fines will be imposed. Drunkenness, fights, promiscuity among the girls living there is a daily occurrence.
• Georges & Laverne Carillet @ Commonwealth International University: Georges and his wife Laverne have been serving the kingdom for many years in Simferopol. They have been sharing the gospel of Christ through student organizations and Bible degree coursework at CIU. Currently they are struggling with obtaining long-term visas and land-lease issue with the university. Please pray that these are resolved.

Support our team: www.youthreach.org/2012summer

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