An AMAZING DAY!

I spent the day at Vorzel today, in Groupa House 1 where I first felt God calling me to minister to these orphans. I remembered how I 'wandered' over there and met 2 young men who were working on the building with their Pastor. They told me about the children with 'big heads' and 'six fingers' and I was curious and wanted to find these children so we could find them families. It's there where I met Pastor Sasha and my ministry began. At the time, the children were never outdoors, and from what I understood, no visitors allowed.It's there whereI found the children, lying in silence, no toys, no stimulation at all. There were the lowest of them all,and the children who would soon be transferred. It was a scarey and sad destiny for God's littlest ones. I knew I had to help. Today, the children have toys in their cribs and carriages, the staff laugh and sing to them.It's a very different place. Almaz is working on redoing the bathrooms which is uplifting for the careworkers.They were delighted to see me and immediately asked about the children who were adopted. They asked if I knew about families for the children who remained. I was so glad that I could tell them that Vlad and Andrey had parents. These conversations would not have occurred in the past. The barriers have fallen and the careworkers are not sceptical about our presence. They see the fruits of our labor. Soon they will have a wonderful area to bring the children outdoors, with real benches to sit on, and overhangs to protect them from the sun. They asked for a fence so they could bring the childrn out in the walkers! What a change! And they allowed me to spend all day with one special little boy, whom I know as Do Vee Sat. This is the little Vietamiese boy with failure to thrive that I had given them money to buy a blender so they could feed him last year. Not only did he thrive, but he has the most beautiful little full round face! This little boy has a severe case of cerebral palsy; he can not bend at the waist from the contractures in his hips. He is the size of an 8 month old, yet is 3 or even 4! I sat and held this tiny child for over 4 hours. long after the others went inside. I held him while I played ball with SASHA; while I pushed Andrey in his stroller; and while I gave rattles and toys to the others. ANd I slowly stretched his tight little arms , and massaged his hands, and kissed his neck. And slowly he started to relax; he trasked toys and then he SMILED. The biggest and best smile I ever saw. His face lit up and so did mine! We were in love! I cooed and he cooed! The doctor brought me a therapy ball, and I gently stretched worked his stiff little muscles and he relaxed. I was hoping the careworkers saw his reaction and I brought him closer and they were amazed to see him smile and BELLY laugh! I know that I touched this child today and made him feel special. I know so when I laid him down and he started to cry. When I leaned over him and talked to him he stopped and then slowly, very slowly he reached for the toys which was hanging over his head. And he TOUCHED it! This little boys arms were stuck at his side and after a few hours of stretching he could reach!!!! And he smiled!! I thank God for this ministry he has given me! Please pray that others will continue when I leave to stretched this child so that he can sit! Please pray we can get him a family.

Mission Trip Summer 2011

Well, I never packed so much into three days since leaving for the Ukraine a few days ago!I have already flown into Moscow, then Kiev, taken a 9 hour car ride on VERY BUMPY ROADS to Ternipol, visited a Bebico, a preschool program for children with Down Syndrome and other delays, consulted for some individual children and demonstrated intervention techniques, visited and toured a rehab center, a hospital center, had lunch with Pastor Vladimir and his lovey wife Oksana and son Zacharia, visited a building being constructed for their ministry to children with special needs, and presented at a seminar to a group of parents and professionals in Ternipol on Early Intervention Strategies to enhance the development of young children with special needs. After taking a tour of the beautiful town of Ternipol, I boarded a train for the 8 hour trip back to Kyiv. After being picked up at the train station and a quickmeal at McDonald's,I arrived at the Hotel Spa in Vorzel where our team decided to stay this time to offset our hectic schedule! Then it was off to the orphanage to visit with the children and start work on the playground.During a relaxing dinner, on the water edge (!) we got to meet the other members of our humanitarian team, and rest up for the upcoming week. Our team consists of Pastor Sasha and his wife Olya, myself, an Early Intervention Specialist and Parent Advocate, Rachel Haas, a Graduate student, Dan Peters, a missionary and self proclaimed 'baby freak', who is the father of 16, whose 2 youngest were adopted from the Ukraine, a couple from Norway, and Stephen, a lawyer and President of a local Down Syndrome Group. Our goal is to provide support through the continued construction of the playgrounds in Vorzel, and services to the children and staff. We will also be meeting the Head of the local Parents group in Kyiv to begin a collaboration of support for the local families. We will be visiting a level 4 orphanage in Znamenka and distributing donated toys and materials. Our group is gathering information on specific needs of orphanages, parent groups , centers, schools and hospitals, with the intention on gathering therapeutic equipment in the states and sending a shipping a cargo crate for distribution this fall! We have already had specific requests for standers, Rifton Gait trainers, hippotherapy equipment (more on this later), motorized chairs for young adults, tubchairs, and classroom materials! More posts with pictures tomorrow!

Off to Vorzel tomorrow!

Well, you think I'd be resting as I am heading off tomorrow morning but I'll tell you no matter how many times I go to the Ukraine, I'm always running around last minute packing! Donations for the children continued to arrive today and Jillian and I drove around the Poconos picking up precious donations for the children! Odd Lot generously donated over 50 coloring books and crayons (wieght 13 pounds) and i have over 130 Happy Meal Toys as well! I decided this time to put my clothes in my carry on luggage,  and toss the heavy matching suitcases, so I'm packed in 2 large duffle bags each weighing around 40 pounds!That's over 80 pounds of crib toys, rattles, sippy cups, spoons, chalkboards (That's right!), bathing suits, Happy Meal toys, Mardi Gras beads, rings, puzzles, nesting cups, crib mirrors, mobiles, baby toys (one's that make music or vibrate and DON'T require Batteries)and therapy materials. It's quite a hall and I'm  not sure where it will all land, but I know that every toys will be put in the hands of a child who needs it! Other materials will be donated to Parent groups. I'm excited to be traveling by overnight train to Tornopil, to present a early intervention seminar to the families and workers there. It's always exciting to have a new adventure and an overnight train sounds exciting! But more important it is to share what is close to my heart, Early Intervention, and sharing what I know with parents, educators, and the careworkers, so that a child's potential is enhanced and the quality of their life improved. I can't thank God enough for placing me in this field and calling me to do His work in such an exciting way. I'm really looking forward to spending the time at Vorzel with the children and the workers. It will seem odd but OH SO RIGHT to not see Igor, Ivanna, Leeza, Misha, Timur, and Vlad in Groupa House 1, and Masha, Agelica and ANya in Groupa 5 A and of course Ruslan and Timur! But it is a comfort to know that all are in the loving arms of their forever family! There are the other's left behind, to love and comfort; to stimulate and encourage; whose lives I will touch! Praying we can do so much more!
Well, I better close the bags, do a last minute check on the house, make sure the bills are paid, Jillian's bags are packed, print out my eticket and go to bed! Next time you hear from me, it will be from the Ukraine!

Missionary project in Vorzel (summer 2011) - AlmazGO.com

Missionary project in Vorzel (summer 2011) - AlmazGO.com

WANTED: BATHING SUITS

I've decided I want to bring bathing suits for the children in the orphanage. So if you have any old suits from your kiddos please send them my way. I picked up a dozen at garage sales this weekend and have our Church TLC group collecting them! Only two weeks to go! So please help me!

Donations arriving!

Toys and promises of therapy equipment started arriving this weekend! I will need to start some fast fundraising in order to transport it all. I have a wooded Rifton standing table that I can barely lift! Any ideas? Any family heading over soon that is willing to take some supplies/equipment as well?

Heading to the Ukraine again and need your help!

     This June I will be heading back to the Ukraine with a team of five. I will be joining Dave Daulton from a Father's Heart whom I teamed up with this January to present the First International Conference on the Needs of Children with Disabilities. Also joining us will be Stephen Ford, an attorney and past president of a local Down Syndrome Association, Dan Peters, a Board Memeber and Rachel Haas, a student. I will be be demonstrating and teaching therapy techniques for the children at Vorzel. Stephen will be meeting with Sergey Kurianov to work out details for a possible 'sister organization' relationship with the Ukraine Down Syndrome Assocaition. Dan will be Head Engineer for building and installing playground equipment on the concrete slab at Groupa House 5. We have so much more planned this trip as well. We will be visiting Pastor Volodymyr Kostyshyn, ('Vlad'), who works with a Church outreach ministry for children with special needs in Ternopil. He traveled 9 hours by train to attend our conference! He and his wife have a son who is severely disabled like my Jillian, and we were able to provide his ministry with 2 wheelchairs and 3 gait trainers our last trip which were given to needy families. There is such a need for equipment. I am accepting donations of equipment, along with money to cover the cost of shipping. Please contact me for more details and information where you can send a tax free donation to help defer our costs. I currently have a stander, a treadmill and at least one walker! We will be traveling by train and spend two days at Vlad's church and therapy center to see what they are accomplishing and how we can best serve their ministry with the children with disabilities. In the fall we'd like to bring a therapy team to work with their staff.
    
     We will also be meeting with Sergey Kurianov, the President of the Ukriane Down Syndrome Association, along with several Board Members and Association Members. (More on that later.)

      We also will be traveling to Znamenka, a level Four Orphanage and a visit with Oksana Vodyanitska, the Director of the Special Needs Ministry of Mission to Ukraine, a Christian Ministry operated in Zhitomir. They minister to children with special needs and their families through a number of programs. We met Oksana at the conference and she took us aside to thank us for the presentations, saying tearfully, "We having been praying for something like this for ten years!" We will also visit the Romaniv orpahnage, a Level Three orpahnage for boys ages 5 to 16 or older with special needs, They were hidden from view for years, but Mission to Ukraine literally found them and has been working with them for about a year. The boys benefit greatly from this intervention, but need more services and equipment, so we are doing a 'recon' while there to see precisely how we can help them on future mission trips. For more information on the Romaniv orphanage or Mission to Ukraine, see their website at http://www.missiontoukraine.com/.

     We are hoping to have enough funds raised to help with new sewage lines under Building #1 in Vorzel. The lines were installed  in  the 50's, and have totally deteriorated, under the building and are dumping RAW sewage under the building which houses some of the most involved children! We also have plans to start work on 2 new therapy rooms, and a new bathroom to replace the kitchen that burnt down last year!

      So we have lots of ambitions for this trip this June. We are seeking your prayers and financial support for this trip to cover our costs of travel, fod, housing and interpreters. Please consider sending us a donation and committing to pray for us on this trip. Please feel free to email me with any questions or more information. And don't forget, you are welcome to join us! Thank you and God Bless you for your support!
Sandie
sanflan@ptd.net