Thoughts and prayers for the trip (Christa)

From the first to the last, the process of deciding to respond to God's prompting to go to Ukraine has been surprising. The journey started with an announcement during service one Sunday - would anyone like to come to Ukraine to work with orphans? To me, this was a no-brainer. I wanted very much to go on this trip, to develop relationships with these kids, to experience a new culture and a new country. I approached Daniel about going together, not knowing how he would respond. At first, he was not receptive, but God changes hearts. And sure enough, days later Daniel came to me to say he felt like God had laid it on his heart to go on this trip, with or without me. Turns out he had to go without me because of my school situation, and Daniel has gone to Ukraine twice now. Again, I couldn't go last year, but Daniel went - he strengthened old relationships with the kids, and forged new ones.

This year, I get to go. I want to go. I feel called to go. It's sometimes hard to explain to people about the trip. We say we are going to Ukraine to put on a camp for orphans. We'll be there 10, maybe 12 days. We'll present the gospel, we'll play games with them, and we'll have fun being silly - then we have to leave. Daniel and I have asked the question that others have asked: what really are we trying to accomplish in this trip? How much can we affect the lives of Ukrainian youth in 10 to 12 days? Well, the answer I believe is not much. But that's what I love so much about this opportunity. We are going to back to the same camp, to the same kids, and the group will look quite similar to the groups that have gone for the last three years. What we cannot accomplish in 10 - 12 days, we may be able to accomplish in 3 to 4 years or more. Visiting these kids during the summer is not the only way to carry on a relationship with them. We are able to keep up through Facebook and sometimes e-mail with these kids. But going back every year shows these kids that we are more than a faceless American at the other end of an impersonal e-mail. We are individuals who love these kids and want to be a part of their lives long term.

Again, we can't change the lives of every child. But in a group of 20 or so people, if we each forge a relationship with one or two kids, if we can bring them to Christ, provide them with the resources necessary to be discipled and grow in Christ, and help them get the resources they need to function in society after they are graduated out of the orphanage system - this will be worth it.

Pray for these kids. Pray that they would be open to developing relationships with us. Pray that we would be given a special opportunity to reach out to these kids. Pray that we have the ability and the resources to maintain these relationships and to make them feel loved throughout the year. Pray for the older kids especially - some of us know quite intimately what an entire childhood and adolescence in the system can do to these precious souls. Pray, pray, pray that we Americans can help equip the Ukrainian Christians to care for these children as Christ would want them to be taken care of.

FAT missionaries (Daniel)

From one of my journal entries at camp the first year I made the trip to Ukraine:

07/06/2009
Expectations of Us:

"missionaries should be F.A.T."

F = faithful
-designate time to be w/ God --> time to pray, time to read the word
-must be Christ centered
-be open w/ your relationship
-everything you do is ministry

A = available
-be open to doing everything, helping each other
-Help the other Americans.
-Work w/ excellence
-The Ukrainian team will also need your help

T = teachable
-learn much from everyone, never cease learning
-learn about others, yourself, God, the kids, the world, communication, life

Two more:

R = responsive
-do what you're told, just do it!

F = flexible
-those who are flexible do not break

When you are stressed, use humor, emphasize relationship

Beginning in the middle (Daniel)

Hello and welcome to our blog. My name is Daniel Baugh and I have the honor and privilege to present to you our first entry of the "Daniel and Christa in Ukraine" blog.

About 3 years ago, I was challenged to step outside of my comfort zone and go on a mission trip to Ukraine. I heard about this opportunity at the church that my wife Christa and I were attending, Midtown Fellowship, in Nashville TN. The mission trip consisted of a team of people going to Ukraine for about 2 weeks to bring the word of the Lord as well as ourselves and fun activities to a group of children in Kharkiev (pronounced "Har KeeVh"). These children, who live in state-run homes (orphanages), are sent to a camp in the countryside for the entire summer. While there they have nothing to do. I should mention that these children are the ones that are statistically the most at-risk since after "graduating" from the homes they live in, they frequently turn to drugs, gangs, prostitution, and even suicide. They have no chance to learn life skills during their time in the orphanage, so when they get out they have no idea how to go about supporting themselves. 

Our mission was simple: 

Teaming up with Radooga Ministries through Servant Life, we were to go and bring the kids camp. In our program, we combined an amazing number of talented Ukrainians and Americans with groups of kids broken up into different age groups. Our groups participated in recreation activities, crafts, story time, and a camp program which had singing, dancing, drama, pantomime stories, all with the goal of showing these kids the love of Jesus.

The kids loved it.

So when the time came around last year for the camp, I went again. The kids were even more enthusiastic this last year than they were the year before. It was another great success. Unfortunately Christa wasn't able to go in 2009 or in 2010, but this year she told me that God has laid it on her heart to come and experience the life-changing adventure that is Ukraine. I know from experience that these trips are life-changing, and that she will fall in love with these kids as much as I have.

So we have reached the present day... Our registration forms are in, our letters for support are in the mail and we are beginning our preparations for leaving the country this summer. 

The purpose of this blog is manifold but I would like to point out just a couple things that I want to accomplish with this:

1) This is to let people know about this ministry, to raise awareness to the work that God is doing in Ukraine through Radooga Ministries and Servant Life. I kept a journal of both trips that I went on and will be periodically posting a excepts from those journals. I hope that in this way, you the reader will be able to get a glimpse into what life is like at the camps and what the kids are like. As well as getting a look inside my heart and the hearts of the people that I served with.

2) We need your help. The cost of the trip is no small thing, and although we have already sent out letters, we will need all the help we can get financially to get ourselves to these kids. This trip needs more than money though, most importantly this trip needs prayer. The team needs prayer, the kids need prayer, the leadership needs prayer, the nation of Ukraine needs prayer. God's power is great and to us what seems like a major obstacle is nothing to Him. With His help we can overcome anything. So we ask you to pray for us and for this ministry.

If you would like to know more about Radooga you can visit their web site:

http://www.radooga.com/main/ 

Or read their newsletter at:

 http://www.news.radooga.com/ 

If you would like to contact me or Christa about information on how you can support this ministry you can contact either of us at: 

daniel.christa.baugh@gmail.com

Thank you and God bless.