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 Ukraine, Village of Hope
Read the latest update from the Podgaiskys, the CBF Field Personnel at the Village of Hope. Updated January 2008.
Read an update from Bill Mason on the Village of Hope after returning from the Board of Supervisors Meeting in November 2007.
 The Village of Hope officially was founded in 2003 when the buildings located on a 16-plus acre camp in the town of Bucha, Ukraine were purchased. But the hope and need and vision for the Village of Hope had begun years earlier.
The city of Kiev, Ukraine is home to 4 million people, but several thousand of those residents are children between the ages of 3 and 16 who live on, in, or under the streets of the city. Recognizing the need to respond to this growing crisis with Christian compassion, the Ukrainian Baptists, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of NC, and Stichting Little John (the Netherlands), came together to establish the Village of Hope.
The Lighthouse Work began on the property in late 2003, and continues through the efforts of volunteer work teams and a dedicated group of paid Ukrainian workers. Efforts have been concentrated on the completion of the first building to be used as a group "foster home" for up to 30 children. This building has been named "The Lighthouse."
A Master Plan for the Village of Hope was adopted by its governing board in October 2004. That plan includes completion of the Lighthouse as the first priority, but envisions that the entire camp will include: watchtower and security building, fencing around the property, medical center, chapel, dormitories, food service building, and individual family cottages. Some of this construction will involve remodeling existing buildings, and others represent new construction.
 In the summer of 2006, 12 teams with a total of 117 volunteers from North Carolina traveled to the Ukraine. Much work was accomplished but more importantly, relationships were established or reconnected as the Americans, Ukrainians, Swedes, and Germans worked together for kingdom purposes! Groundbreaking for the cottage was the week of May 21st. The 2nd floor of the cottage was put into place in early September with neat rows of brick added to the 2nd floor on the outside of the building. The area around the Lighthouse has been landscaped. The Food Service Building and Dormitory have been works in progress all summer. The guardhouse is up and beautiful and the metal fence around the property has had the finish paint applied!
And we now have two foster families living in the Village of Hope!
The Maltsev family: Yuri and Lena and their two biological daughters, Jana and Diana, have Alexander (Sasha) and Michael (Misha), brothers who are five and three years old.
The Moskalenko family: Andre, Natasha and their two biological sons, Daniel and Dimitry, have Katya and Tanya, six and two years old;they are sisters.
Thank you to all the teams that have participated with their prayers, their financial commitment and their labors of love. We encourage you to consider your participation in this ministry next year. Would you continue to come and work and bring $5,000 as it has been suggested to each team in the past? Although we won't be building another cottage during the summer of 2007, there is ongoing operational budget needs for the support of the foster families and there will be plenty of renovation to be done. With your financial support, we would like to create an endowment for long term support for the children in the Village Of Hope in addition to renovation costs. Presently the Village of Hope Lighthouse has space for approximately twenty-two additional at-risk children and with the completion of the cottage, ten more children can be housed. The estimated cost to care for one child is $3,000 per year.
Here are ways you can be involved:
Sponsor a Child in the Lighthouse
The cost to support a single child in the Lighthouse will be $250/month or $3,000/year. Families, SS classes, Bible study groups, and individuals are encouraged to become involved.
Send a Mission Team this summer
Summer 2007 mission teams are scheduled to work in the Village of Hope from April to September 2007. Each team will consist of up to 12 people for 8 days with costs expected to be around $1500 each.
Support the Operational Costs
Yearly operational costs for the camp are estimated to be $6000/month or $72,000/year. Contributions toward these expenses will ensure the children have adequate support and supervision.
Make a Financial Contribution
Churches or individuals are encouraged to make contributions of any amount, large or small. Projected costs for 2006 summer's work include $96,000 for a new cottage that will house ten to twelve children and house parents .
Pray for the Street Children
The Village of Hope is a Christian ministry to the street children in Ukraine. We recognize that the spiritual needs of the children are as important as the physical buildings. Some things can only be accomplished through prayer. Ask God to provide for the children. Ask God to send caring Ukrainians into their lives. Ask God to give strength and courage and patience to those already dedicated to working with these children. Ask God to change their hearts as well as their living spaces. God will provide.
~ To make a general financial contribution to the work of the Village of Hope contact: CBF Global Missions, PO Box 101699, Atlanta, GA 30392, Project #81393.
~ To sponsor a child in the Lighthouse or to make a designated contribution contact: Missions Coordinator for the CBFNC, 8025 North Point Blvd., Suite 205, Winston-Salem, NC 27106, 336-759-3456.
~ To schedule a mission team contact: Bill Mason, Volunteer Coordinator, P O Box 99, Wingate, NC 28174, 704-233-4645,email: wmason@carolina.rr.com.
For more information, contact Linda Jones, Ljones@cbfnc.org or (888) 822-1944. Visit their website at www.villageofhope.info.
Read the Summer 2007 Reports.
(Some excerpts from these reports are in the September newsletter, The Gathering.)
For more detailed information, visit these links:
 Read the September 07 update from the Podgaiskys, the CBF Field Personnel at the Village of Hope.
Read the October 07 update from the Podgaiskys.
Read the December 07 update from the Podgaiskys.
Report from Greystone Baptist Church in Raleigh - The Children
Ukraine Orientation Package
Village Of Hope Letter
Ukraine Travel Letter
Ukraine Brochure
Summer 2007 Reports
Update July 20, 2007, by Bill Mason
Update July 28, 2007, by Bill Mason
A Volunteer's Perspective, by Sharon Harrington
Notes from Harvey Michael, Summer Site Coordinator
If We Build It, They Will Come, by Karen Brewer
Update August 18, 2007, by Bill Mason
Update July 20, 2007
 This has been a great week and a tremendous amount of work has been completed. However the high point of the week was the tea and cookies with the children on Wednesday morning. The children are so well behaved and courteous. To see the smiling faces makes the work worthwhile.
This week the team from Southeast Baptist Church in Greensboro was here with 12 team members, joining the team was Barbara and Jim Hastings of Temple Baptist Church, Durham and David Karsner of Louisville, KY. All of the team worked very well together. Jim Hastings has a white beard and looks like Santa Claus and the children are fascinated with him and want to sit on his lap and ask for gifts.
The team was fortunate when we attended the Bethany Church at Bucha because the church baptized thirteen new believers at a lake near the church on Sunday morning before the regular service.
Some of the tasks that were worked on were:
Three ladies and one man cleaned the inside of the new cottage, removing construction debris, removing paint from surfaces that paint had splattered on to, cleaned tile walls and floors of extra grout and washed windows inside and out.
Several ladies and men applied a semi finish and a finish coat to plastered walls in the food service building, removed old tile from walls and removed old plaster from walls in preparation for new plaster to be applied.
Three ladies painted steel columns and overhead steel trusses on the patio of the food service building. These ladies had never painted before and with a little instruction they were painting like professionals.
Several men cut a tree in front of the cottage and removed all the limbs and dug out the large stump. They also removed construction debris around the outside of the cottage and with the assistance of a front end loader, removed debris from around the site of the new cottage.
There was a tremendous amount of work done even though the temperature was in the high 90's and one day was over 100 degrees F.
Bill Mason, Volunteer Coordinator, Wingate Baptist Church
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Update July 28, 2007
This week we had five team members from Ardmore Baptist Church in Winston-Salem and joining them for their second week are Barbara and Jim Hastings of Temple Baptist Church, Durham. This week has been much cooler than last week when we had two days of 104F, at least the humidity was low.
 Again this week the highlight of the week was tea and cookies with the children. It is amassing to all of us, how well behaved the children are all of the time not just when visitors are around but even when they are playing. They are not arguing or fighting with each other. On Friday morning Sasha came up to the gravel pile and wanted to help load the wheel barrow. He picked up a shovel and started to shovel and shoveled until it was loaded then he helped Jim Camp roll the wheel barrow to the place that was being filled with gravel. I told Michael that we have a new worker. All of the children are interested in the work that we are doing and watch us work.
This week, two of the Ardmore team is installing the plastic boxing on the entrance foyer of the dorm. We are installing the boxing so that we can remove the high work platforms to the cottage to finish the outside plastering and paint the outside of the cottage with waterproof paint. Two ladies cleaned and reorganized the tool storage area, cleaned the break room, hallway to the break room and painted outside doors. Also some of the team chipped away old plaster from the walls of the food service building. The team formed and poured about half of the concrete apron around the cottage. A concrete apron is used to protect the outside walls of the building from rain spatter and diverts rain and melting snow away from the building. The aprons are one meter (3.28 feet) wide. Since most of the team has been here before they wanted to work a half day Friday and tour on Saturday since they are staying two weeks.
Bill Mason
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A Volunteer's Perspective
Two years ago, traveling through the Ukraine in the Irpine and Bucha areas, many homes looked run down, if not uninhabitable by US standards. During the last two years, many improvements are being made. There are many signs of economic progress in the area. Progress is not limited to the economy but to the lives of seven small children that are residing at the Village of Hope. These children, but for the grace of God would not be alive and prospering today.
There are two little brothers that were left in an unheated house in the dead of winter without food, water, or heat. They waited many days for their parents to come home. Finally, someone found them. It is a miracle that they were still alive. The brothers now live with a loving foster family at the Village of Hope.
Two beautiful, lively little sisters were taken to a governmental home. The mother had had been beaten to death by her live-in boyfriend. The boyfriend was sent to prison for murder. Because of the rules, the sisters were put into two different homes because of the difference in their ages. The oldest girl, Katya was told by the other children that she was too old; she would not be adopted. When the people from the Village of Hope found her, Katya kept asking about her little sister. No one knew about Tanya because there was not a birth certificate and the government did not have any records of her existence even with her being in a home for the young children. Katya remained adamant that she had a sister. Tanya was finally found and is living a happy, stable life with Katya, and their caring foster family. Katya remembers things about their mother but Tanya was too young to remember, which may be a blessing. This narrative does not go into all the horrors that the c hildren have lived through.
 The Village of Hope (VOH) is supported by organizations throughout the world; most of these are Christian organizations. During the summer months, volunteers come to VOH to help with construction on cottages for the foster families and other buildings. Some of the buildings are reconstructions and some are new construction. The work is very hard physical work at times, but the rewards are great. For example, putting one of the children in a wheelbarrow and riding him around brings smiles and laughter for the child, as well as the adults that are working there. Betty Wainwright of Oxford, North Carolina has made dolls for the children. When Katya and Tanya were given the dolls, there were squeals of joy and sounds of laughter. At a tea party with the children, the children were presented with toboggans made by a lady in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The children would try the toboggans on, and then chose with ones they wanted. There was no pulling and crying; it was done in a sharing way. One group of volunteers had brought bubbles. The children asked, "Are these for me?" They loved the bubbles and had a wonderful time with them. The adults had a wonderful time with the bubbles also. This may be the first time the children had bubbles because the next morning all the liquid was gone.
When the children are not napping, they are playing outside, even on the cold days. There is playground equipment and riding toys. They do not seem to have any problems with sharing with the other children. Even with all the horrors the children have faced, Katya sings as she is walking around the campus of the Village of Hope, and it is a happy tune. The younger children try to sing with her but are not as familiar with the words. Having the children living at the Village of Hope is rewarding to the Ukrainian workers and the volunteers. There are smiles that come to the faces of the Ukrainian workers when they see the children come out to play. A lot of the Ukrainian workers are doing the construction work and are from rural areas of the Ukrainian. They work six days a week and may go home once very three weeks. They do not work there during the winter unless there is some heating in the buildings that they are working.
Several of these men are Christian. They seem to be good, down-to-earth, hard-working people.
There is paperwork that is being processed for more children. The paperwork can take a really long time before it is processed. Please remember this during your prayer time.
It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words; actually seeing the children and getting hugs from them is worth so much more.
The volunteers come to help the children, but the children help the volunteers by their smiles and hugs. It is an experience of a lifetime.
Some people are not able to go to the Ukraine to help. There are other ways to be a part of this, dolls and toboggans were made, bubbles, tools, vitamins, and other supplies were sent, and prayers are offered up everyday for this endeavor. They do like peanut butter, but it cannot be found in stores yet.
Sharon Harrington, Ardmore Baptist Church in Winston Salem, 2007-07-24
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Notes from Harvey Michael, Summer Site Coordinator
It is 6:55 p.m. In twelve hours we should be boarding the plane for our trip home.
The past five weeks have been a learning experience. I hope I can retain at least half of what I have learned about people: "potatoes-- not ball bearings," as Father Paul would say. Or "Herding cats," as Bill Mason would say. Anyway, I have been caught in a maelstrom of human emotions, quirks, hang-ups, etc. left wondering what I could do to smooth ruffled feathers, calm the excited and excite the becalmed.
I prayed a lot--sometimes on the fly.
Like a sailboat tacking constantly as the wind changed, but keeping a steady heading, I tried to be a positive factor in a dynamic situation that could without a moment's notice pile up on the rocks of discord or shudder to a stop on hidden shoals. My prayer is that when the account is tallied, it will be determined that we did more to help than to hinder.
 Sometimes I felt like the clown that makes himself a target for water balloons or worse.
But I will cherish the memory of Vlad puckering up to kiss the air in front of Macie's face as he rode past us one last time on his beloved bike; of Tanya running tiptoe after the other children, all ears and thin hair, or insisting on wire brushing the statues, like the American women were doing...Sasha, Mischa, Tata--all of them: children playing, happy..No longer discarded.
They seem so few. But one would be enough to justify the work, the planning, and the spending. I cannot look at what we have done, and will continue to do, as an accountant's balance sheet. It just doesn't work that way.
I doubt if I will live long enough to see this project completed; maybe it will never be completed in the sense of "It's done--we are finished," but I do not regret one moment of time spent here. I have ached in my body, felt my strength drained so that I moved only by sheer will, but I thank God that I have been a part of his work here in The Village of Hope.
Next year.................................
H.Michael, Wingate Baptist Church
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If We Build It, They Will Come
My experiences at The Village of Hope, by Karen Brewer, Greystone Baptist
This summer Greystone Baptist from Raleigh sent a team to The Village of Hope. This was the third year we have sent a team, and I have been on each trip. It is truly rewarding to see the progress at the camp: the building of the cottage, the new fence around the property, and the ongoing work on the dormitory and the cafeteria.
More rewarding, however, is to see the progress of the children. In 2006 when the first four children came, they were shy and hesitant to interact with us. The boys were especially reluctant to embrace new people and new faces. In early pictures of the children, they seemed to have empty eyes with a sense of apprehension.
What a difference a year makes! This year upon arrival, I was immediately greeted by the smallest of the children when Tanya came running at me with arms wide open. The children from last year have shown remarkable changes, sparkling eyes now replace fearful ones and healthy glowing smiles now replace shy expressions. The children are now eager to see what we bring with us, not only for them, but tools and gadgets to work with. Reports from later teams this summer indicated that even Sasha was pitching in and helping with the work!
The new children this year will hopefully go through this same transformation in the coming months. Loving parents such as Yuri and Lena and Natasha and Andre will help facilitate this transition through their love, guidance, instruction, and stability. 
Let us pray that the government will continue to allow the placement of children at The Village of Hope; that more foster parents will be identified; that construction and renovation will continue at a fast pace; and that those of us here at home in our churches will continue to support this project with our offerings, our prayers, and by participating in these mission trips.
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Update August 18, 2007
This week eight team members from First Baptist Church Raleigh, Raleigh, NC and two team members from Branch's Baptist Church, Richmond VA.,completed a great deal of work. They worked very hard on a variety of tasks both with the Ukrainian workers and as individual teams. Some of the tasks performed were:
Applied base plaster to the brick walls of the Food Service Building's left dining room.
Applied semi and finish coats of plaster to the walls in the Food Service Building's right dining room.
Removed and hauled away the old asphalt driveway covering in preparation for laying cement paving blocks.
Spread three loads of top soil around the cottage in preparation for seeding grass. Three more loads will be needed but due to rain the team was not able to spread this top soil.
Sorted and placed clothing, vitamins and other items that the team had brought for the clothing closet.
Started removing the layers of old paint on the hand rail of the main stairway of the dorm in preparation to sand and varnish the hand rail. There is beautiful oak hard wood under the old layers of paint.
Mowed the grass in the playground area so that the children will have a good place to play.
Completed the plastic boxing under the second floor of the guard house and this completes the outside of the guard house except for the finish deck on the balcony.
Also Vova installed the bathroom fixtures and the thresholds in the cottage.
 This was a very busy week with the volunteers and the Ukrainian worker working very hard.
Most of the children were back at the VoH this week from being out in the countryside with the house parent's relatives to avoid the pink eye. As usual the tea and cookie time was great and the children enjoyed getting gifts and having their pictures made. Also they received hand made toboggans from the Raleigh Team that members of First Baptist Church had hand crafted. Unfortunately the batteries of my camera went dead and I did not get any pictures of this tea and cookie time.
This was the last team of nine teams that worked at the Village of Hope this year and it was a great summer. A tremendous amount of work was completed. Each brick cleaned, each trowel of plaster placed on the wall, each shovel of dirt moved, every square foot of plaster removed contributes to the completion of the Village of Hope and a safe, loving, Christian home for the children that would have otherwise been forgotten. No task is insignificant to the overall plan for the Village of Hope.
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