Sasha Goes to Kiev

Sasha (right) and Ira.

Tomorrow, our beloved Sasha ( Marizza Pechen'ko) will be traveling to Kiev to attend a training seminar hosted by One Hope. She departs at 2:30 p.m. Simferopol time (6:30 a.m. our time)

Each Spring, orphans age-out of the orphanage system at age 17 with little or no practical  life skills. This training provides learning modules focused on teaching orphans during their last year at the orphanage. The modules include:

Module 1: Identity (who am I and how can I develop each part of my personality)
Module 2: Social Skills (how to relate to others, manage conflicts and use good manners)
Module 3: Health and Hygiene (nutrition, hygiene, bad habits, first aid)
Module 4: Love and Sex (respect in friendship and girls/boys relationships, the purpose of sexual relationships and their possible consequences)
Module 5: Gift of Marriage (things to consider before you agree to get married, way to express love and deal with disagreements in marriage)
Module 6:  Raising Children (how to create a family, be a positive parent and know child’s needs)
Module 7: Homemaking (food shopping and cooking, taking care of your home and clothing, hospitality)
Module 8: Time and Money Management (what life costs and how to budget; how to manage time)
Module 9: Job Skills (profession orientation, how to find and keep a job, the risk of human trafficking)
Module 10:  Legal Rights (human rights, orphan’s rights, law and the consequences of its breaking).

Our goal in the coming year is to help equip our team of 12-3-1 mentors so that they can, in turn, equip others. Sasha's participation is merely the first of many opportunities we hope and pray God will open for the team. Not only will the rest of our team mentors benefit from this knowledge and training but also orphanage staff, teachers, caretakers and workers will learn how to better prepare kids for real life outside the orphanage system. Sharing could also extend to those mentoring orphans through other organizations working in Simferopol and Donetsk.

We'll will be working diligently to connect our 12-3-1 mentors with other individuals, churches, groups, organizations, professionals, and brothers & sisters in Christ who are also ministering to orphans not only in Ukraine but in other countries as well. This helps to speed and facilitate the proliferation and exchange of knowledge, creating added awareness of the plight of orphans worldwide.

Please be in prayer over Sasha as she travels overnight by train. This can be somewhat dangerous for a girl traveling alone. Although Sasha is very street-wise the potential for harm always exists.

Also be in prayer over Anya Goliakova. She currently is suffering from a serious infection that requires 3 shots of antibiotic each day. She was to have traveled to Kiev with Sasha but is under Doctor's orders to remain at home.

I'm excited about the things God is doing in Simferopol among his people.

Peace and grace.

P.S. Sasha will be working with Vika Vdovichenko (also a YRI TeamSim 12-3-1 Mentor) building a Social Outreach Center in Simferopol ministering to low-income college students, trade school students (mostly orphans), orphanage graduates, and orphans. She must raise support for her monthly salary. Want to no more? Email me if you want to help.