Trip Updates, Volume One: Arriving at Camp

Original 5 Americans from Midtown team:  2009-2011 (so far!)...and camper Sasha :)

First of all, I apologize for not updating my blog sooner upon my return from Ukraine!  It's a funny thing that happens when the trip is over and I am back in the "real" world.  I can't stop thinking about the kids and all I have experienced, but it takes time for me to fully be ready to talk about the trip.  It takes time for the enormity of the experience to sink in.  Also, re-entering the world of our chaotic, busy American lives after being away for 2 weeks makes it difficult to re-adjust and have time to just catch your breath.

This was the BEST year of camp so far.  We had an amazing group from Midtown go as well as some old Louisiana friends and a new friend from New York (Hi Laura!).  As we sat on the bus, anxiously awaiting our arrival at camp, I have to admit I began to feel jealous of the other returning Americans on the trip.  Last summer (2010), I got a new group of kids because my kids from the first year (2009) had not returned (except for Big Vanya).  While others reunited with their kids from the past summer, I started from scratch again, trying to build relationship and trust with total strangers who's experiences have taught them that it is not safe to trust new people.  The kids were amazing last summer, though, and I grew very close with them. 

As we headed towards camp this year, I had been told that it was unlikely that my kids from last year would be back...I would likely be starting over with yet another group of new kids.  While everybody else was excited about seeing their kids from the previous two summers, all I could think about was how I was going to miss my kids.  As we pulled into camp though, I immediately saw Sasha (who gave me the name Masha Macaroni) and Big Vanya from other groups who I had gotten to know over the past two years.  I immediately regretted my attitude, knowing that God would bring me all the way to Ukraine, even if it was just for those two kids alone. 

But God hadn't.

As I was pulling my bags into our building, I heard my name and looked up into the windows on the second floor.  And there was Cristina...and Sasha...from my group last summer!  It was such a gift to have the same group from last summer, to build on our relationships as they had grown over the past year.  This year felt so different from the previous two...not just for me but for the other Americans as well.  It felt like visiting old friends.

More details to come, but the trip was off to a great start!

Me and Cristina, Reunited!

Last Night in Brussels = First Day in Ukraine

Just wanted to send a quick note that my time in Brussels has come to an end and that I leave for Ukraine in the morning!  I will take an early train to the Amsterdam airport, where I hope to meet up with the rest of the team to fly to Kiev.  Please say a prayer for me with all my stages of travel (metro to train station to airport to Kiev) as well as the rest of our crew-- we have many people coming from several different itineraries.

It has been wonderful to see my friend, Steph and to get to know her friends as well as her life here in Brussels.  I loved the city...even more than I expected.  We had a nice mix of staying in and going out and I feel like I got to see a lot of the city.  It's going to be quite a change of pace to leave for camp!  I am having mixed emotions-- I'm so sad to leave Steph and I'm nervous about camp like I always am, but I'm also so grateful to have another opportunity to see those kids and another opportunity to serve God with such amazing people!

Much more when I return to the US!

Bon Voyage...Already?!

most of the Midtown Ukraine team

I can't believe this is happening so soon!  I leave tomorrow morning and it has been a busy couple of weeks leading up to this.  Packing and preparing can be so overwhelming and no matter how much time I leave myself, I'm always panicking at the last minute (like now).

me and Steph at her going-away weekend

I am going three days ahead of the team and am taking a four day layover in Amsterdam to spend a couple days with my friend Steph who lives in Brussels.  Steph and I were sorority sisters together at Vanderbilt and she was my roommate for two years in DC after undergrad.  We had a going-away weekend for her before she moved last summer but I haven't gotten to see her since.  Steph is one of my favorite people and I can't wait to see her!

After my visit with Steph, I will take a train back to the Amsterdam airport to meet up with the rest of the team to fly to Kiev!  I'm so excited to see all the kids.  I'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and getting to know some new kids too!  The rest of the Midtown team leaves next Monday so keep them in your prayers as they go through the inevitable last minute preparation, packing, and panicking as well!  Please pray for un-eventful travels for me and our team, for team solidarity, and especially for the kids at camp.  Please pray that they continue to be open with us and that we can bring some joy and hope into their lives.  I will update more when I get back but in the meantime,check http://midtowninukraine.blogspot.com for our team's updates!

I've included a picture of me and Steph and this year's Midtown team -- woo hoo!

Graduation from the Orphanage...Now What?

A fellow Midtowner, Radooga(n?) and Ukraine-enthusiast, Heather Harris (also known as "HH" or, "Hezzer" in Russian) shared the above photo from one of the orphanage's graduation and dance.  Please note that the tallest boy in the middle is named Vanya (we call him "Big Vanya" because there are so many).  He will be the subject of my next post and was in my group my first summer in Kharkov.  Also please note the girl to his right (your left)- Sasha, who is the girl I spoke of in my original post that calls me "Masha Macaroni".  These are just two of this group that are very familiar with our Midtown team. 

Graduation is a big deal for these kids and all kids who have to leave the orphanage (usually around age 15-16) because it represents decision time.  Most teenagers who graduate from the orphanage will go on to technical school and for some, even college, but almost none will finish.  Though their government support continues (the government pays for their school and housing), it is very hard for these kids to stay in school.  Why?  I will give you three of the reasons.

(1) They have no support.  The orphan culture does not stay in school so all the older kids they have known, who have both abused them and been their only family, cannot be found on college or technical school campuses, but instead, the majority are on the streets:  living a life of crime, drugs, homelessness, or prostitution.  So the kids who go to school often have no social support.  Not to mention that children raised in an orphanage are considered second-class citizens by other Ukrainians, which makes it even more difficult to make friends and find support at school or university.  When times get tough, they leave school and return to the people, and culture they know. 

(2) They have no structure.  Children who grow up in the orphanage do not learn to be self-sufficient or to problem-solve in the same way that children who have individual or close-to-individual attention from their parents do.  Yes, the orphans learn to fend for themselves but only in a survival sense:  through violence or other maladaptive coping skills like drinking or sex.  No one teaches the orphans to balance a checkbook, how to handle their own finances, how to study, or how to plan their time.  The orphans go from a world of structure and being told where to be and when to a world of independence they have no training for.

(3) They have no motivation.  Children who grow up in orphanages are given everything they need to survive:  food, water, shelter.  But they are not promised love or healthy relationships, and they are not taught self-respect.  Quite the opposite: they are taught they cannot earn anything.  They are taught that they are only worthy of handouts.  Everything is given to the orphans for free.  Often when people (very often Americans) come to visit them, they bring "stuff" and leave quickly, never to return.  Even when the kids go to technical school or college, they don't have to make passing grades to pass, they just have to SHOW UP.  They are kept to a different standard, a LOWER standard.  Imagine what that teaches a child if they are given the message that they cannot earn anything (and therefore have nothing of worth to offer) for their entire life.

These are just 3 of the reasons the orphan culture repeats itself in a never-ending cycle.  I can only hope that our time with these kids and the relationships we build with them, make a bit of difference.  I remember talking to Lena (one of the girls in my group last year) as she was going off to school, and telling her that she can do school and make a career, that I believed in her.  I also asked her not to go into prostitution and reminded her that she does not have to.  She looked at me surprised and simply replied "I'll try."  This is just the tip of the iceberg of understanding what life is like for these kids.  From my Vkontakte (Russian facebook) relationship with Lena, she seems to be doing well, but you just don't know.  The decisions these kids make after graduation are literally that of life and death. Statistics have shown that merely 1 in 10 of these orphans become functional members of society; the rest are lost to crime, drugs, prostitution, or suicide soon after.

Please pray for this group of graduates as they spend their last summer at camp with us before leaving for technical school or university!

Also, ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT TO DONATE!  I, luckily, have raised my support but our team is still $4,596 short so if you, or anyone you know would like to donate to our trip this summer, please donate at the link to the right!  And God bless!

Fundraising: A Successful Experience!

Just want to drop a quick shout out to all my fabulous donors!  I have successfully raised all my funds for this year's trip!  Whatever I raise from here out will go to help out my fellow team members.  So feel free to donate if you haven't already-- it all goes to putting on a camp for these amazing kids!  I can't believe how quickly the trip is coming up- 7 weeks!  And please remember to keep the kids and our team in your prayers!

Feeling Blessed,
Michelle

Fundraising: A Humbling Experience

Group Picture (Americans & translators) Summer 2009

The only thing more uncomfortable than talking about money...is asking for money.  We all want to believe (and assert) that we can take care of ourselves.  The truth is, traveling to Ukraine for 2 weeks and putting on a camp is not cheap.  And so all the members of our team are called upon to humble ourselves and reach out to friends and family for help.  The first year I set out to raise the almost $2,000 it costs to go on this trip, I thought it was an unreachable goal.  Nevertheless, I put together a modest, safe list of the family and friends I knew most intimately and who I knew were Christians who might support our cause.  Even with many generous contributions from this group, I quickly realized I needed to expand my list.  Feeling anxious about offending anyone, I hesitantly sent out more letters, praying that God knew what He was doing.  I sent letters to friends of my family, friends who are not Christian believers, and others that I originally had precluded.  As it turns out, God does know what He's doing!  I learned so much about faith and trusting God from that second wave of letters.  The story of the orphans in Ukraine and the mission of our team touched all kinds of people:  people I have only met a few times in my life, non-Christians who believed in the cause of reaching out to the orphans, and even individuals who I knew harbored a lot of anger toward God because of tragedies that had occurred in their lives.  I received donations from some of the  most unlikely sources as well as words of encouragement from many of my financial supporters.

Each year, I have taken a list of my supporters and their kind words with me on the trip as a reminder of how I got there!  It doesn't get easier to ask for money, but it has gotten easier to have faith that God will supply the support we need as long as we are willing to humble ourselves enough to ask for it. 


To those of you who have supported me this year and/or in the past, I thank you!  It continues to be difficult to ask for money and so writing this post has taken me easily 5x as long as the others, but I feel called to continue my fundraising efforts as our trip approaches.  I'm only about $400 away now but I know that it is not only up to me to find the remaining funds.  I know that while I am not sufficient in my abilities to solicit financial support, I know that our cause in going to Ukraine is worthy, and that God will work through my community to make this year's trip happen! 

If you want to contribute, the link to my paypal account is to the right of this post.  You can also write a check to Missions Development International (MDI) and I will turn it in.  Thank you!

2 Corinthians 3:5
"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God"


2 Corinthians 9:10-12
"Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God"

Radooga and Its Contagious Mission

Ashley "Sash" and me at our surprise 4th of July cookout at camp 2010

One of the most telling things about Radooga and it's mission for the orphans in Ukraine is how much it touches people's hearts.  It is a dangerous thing to read this blog (consider yourself warned), to talk to any of us involved with Radooga, and especially to go to Ukraine and meet the kids first-hand.  You will carry a piece of the experience with you for a lifetime. 

I was drawn to my first trip after a slideshow and presentation at my church, Midtown Fellowship.  As touched (and saddened) as I was by the situation of the orphans in Ukraine, I must admit my initial thoughts were more along the lines of "I don't have time for that",  "I don't have the money to go," "I don't speak Russian," "I'm not sure I even know where Ukraine is," and especially selfishly, "If I'm going to take 2 weeks off from work/school, I'm going to the beach!"  Those thoughts, though numerous, were easily drowned out by the pull in my heart that said..."Were you listening?  You can't NOT go."  So I did.

My second year, I sent out letters to friends and family, asking once again for donations and prayers for our team.  I sent one of these letters to my best friend, Ashley Hartsook (pictured above).  Ashley got her letter in the mail and called me immediately.  Ashley didn't want to donate just money or time; she wanted to go.  This was only a few months before the trip and I sadly informed her that our team was full but that I would check with our trip leader, Russ.  Two days later, I got a call from Russ that one of our team members could no longer go and wanting to know if I knew anyone else who would want to/be able to join us...I did.  It was wonderful having my best friend join our team last summer!  It's hard to explain what the experience is like, why you would want to summer in Ukraine year after year, or to have someone share the thrill of getting a message from one of the kiddos over Vkontake (Russian facebook), so it has been such a blessing that my bestie is now a part of that.

Another funny thing happened last year as well.  I have told my family (nay, talked their ears off) all about Radooga's missions and my trips to Ukraine.  They have been incredibly supportive (and patient with my story-telling).  So when Oleg, Radooga's founder, was going to Atlanta in the fall, I encouraged him to contact my parents about possibly attending or speaking at a Rotary meeting, in an effort to spread Radooga's mission and recruit more support.  My parents coordinated a visit with Oleg, who (I think) will be coming to speak at their club again soon.  After meeting Oleg, my dad called me immediately to say what a presence he was and how so many people were drawn to him and Radooga's mission to serve the orphans in Ukraine.  Though my parents haven't been able to come to Ukraine with me (yet?), to know Oleg is to know Radooga and I feel so blessed that they are involved now as well.

So be forewarned:  reading this blog today may lead to your own involvement with Radooga tomorrow.

Oleg, Mama Reising, and Papa Bear at Rotary 2010 (yes Mom, I posted your picture on the internet- you look great :))

 

Why Ukraine?

Some of you may be wondering why Ukraine? I have to admit, when I thought about doing mission work, I had never considered Ukraine. In truth, I hadn’t even thought about Ukraine until the trip was introduced at church. The story of the orphans touched me and I couldn’t not do something to help. Ukraine, like most former Soviet countries, has an overwhelming number (100,000+) of orphans resulting from abandonment. Statistics have shown that merely 1 in 10 of these orphans become functional members of society after they are turned out of the government orphanages when they reach a certain age (usually 15 or 16); the rest are lost to crime, drugs, prostitution, or suicide soon after. In my past two summers, I have spoken with kids about these outcomes and they told me about many of their friends who have suffered these fates. The kids also admitted that it would be difficult to finish school and not fall into crime. Many of the kids at camp have already committed crimes. One adolescent in my group, Slavik, came to camp last summer after four years in a juvenile detention center for killing a man. He and a few of his friends who were homeless and living on the street to avoid their abusive home lives, beat up a stranger up to take his money and did not realize until later that the man had not survived his injuries. Some of the girls have already prostituted themselves to some extent. One girl in my group, Lena, has not yet but when I made a request that she not turn to prostitution and finish school, she honestly replied, “I will try.” It can be easy to be afraid of some of these kids but it’s important to remember that they are children. I have realized that we are literally fighting to save these kids’ lives. More than gifts, improved facilities, or even money, what these children most need is hope. They need to know the story about a God who loves them, who became flesh and died to adopt them into His family, and has made them heirs to His kingdom (Galatians 4:4-5). They need to learn that even though they may never become a part of an earthly family, they are an extremely important part of a greater, heavenly family. I am excited to return to Ukraine this summer to continue sharing this message with the kids.

Masha Macaroni, A Brief History of a Strange Name

Thank you for visiting my blog!  I've never blogged before so please forgive me any blogging faux pas.

As many of you know, I have been to Ukraine the past two summers with my church, Midtown Fellowship.  Each summer, we have attended a camp in Kharkov, Ukraine, which hosts kids from several different orphanages for the summer.  During these summers, I have gotten to know a girl named Sasha (picture below) who is just one of the kids who has especially touched my heart.  I had wanted to go by a Russian name and was given "Masha."  Last summer, Sasha took my name one step further & started calling me "Masha Macaroni." A Russian word that sounds like "ver-michelle" (макароны) apparently means macaroni and thus I became "Michelle ver-Michelle...Masha Macaroni."  It seems our mutual love of puns transcended language barriers.  And thus, Masha Macaroni was born, the part of me that will always have a part of my heart in Ukraine. 

It's funny to think back to 2009 and remember boarding the plane for Kiev, nervous and telling myself that I could do anything for 12 days and that I just had to get through it.  Twelve days later, I got off the plane in Nashville knowing I would go back the next summer, and the next...

So excited to be signed on for trip #3 this summer!  Going to use this blog to give some background on my past two trips, provide updates on the kids I'm in touch with and this summer's trip, and to provide more information on how you can be involved with Midtown's ministry in Ukraine! 

More details to follow!
Michelle

Masha & Sasha, circa 2009