Rescuing Desperate Street Children-April 9, 2009- Intercede International

Rescuing Desperate Street Children

UKRAINE (INS)—Life for street children in Ukraine is horrifying. Many of them beg in the streets, sniff glue, and live in public washrooms. If they try to return to their families, they face the danger of being beaten or abused. Into this moral vacuum Father’s House has gone to offer an eternal solution: the love of Christ. Father’s House is an indigenous mission based in Ukraine that is assisted by Intercede International.

It is after midnight in Kiev—too late for panhandling and too dangerous for the petty crime that sustains 20,000 homeless street kids here. The bitter cold is made worse by strong winds that whip sleet and snow into the faces of the volunteers.

That’s when Roman Korniyko and missionary volunteers from Father’s House start their late-night outreach. They know where the kids’ hideout—sleeping, sniffing glue, or trying to keep warm in dens of cardboard and rags. They find most of the homeless children huddling together for warmth in abandoned basements, in the tunnels of sewers and subways, in lofts of public restrooms, under bridges or in the empty stalls of open-air markets.

“Come with us to ‘Father’s House,’” invite the volunteers. A few have met the strangers before. Tonight, they decide to go with them.

Once at Father’s House, the children are scrubbed and disinfected, given fresh clothes appropriate to the season, fed a hot meal, and provided with a clean and warm place to sleep for the night. Before retiring, they also hear the story of how Christ died for them, loves them, and has a wonderful plan for their young lives.

The children are free to leave, but most stay. Some are eventually reunited with their birth parents or adopted by Christian families. Dr. Korniyko and his team have led hundreds of children and their parents to new life in Christ.

Dr. Roman Korniyko and his wife Natasha started Father’s House in 1996, as a ministry dedicated to rescuing street children, abused, neglected and runaway children, and giving them a safe place to live, in a Christian family environment. From a small two-room apartment, the ministry has grown to about 10 children’s homes, and a network of many Christian house groups that provide interim foster care. Father’s House has developed a family model, in which Christian couples take care of a group of children, treating them like their own family. Children are taught about the love of Jesus, and most become committed Christians.

Early on, Dr. Korniyko realized that many of the older children, after years on the street, had fallen so far behind in their schooling that specialized vocational training was needed to equip them to re-enter society. So work began on a building with vocational training shops and additional accommodations for 40 to 50 children.

Father’s House has also started new youth groups, designed specifically for children older than 15, who have graduated from Grade 9 and are in high school, vocational schools or in colleges. The purpose of this program is to prepare youth for individual living after they graduate from Father's House, when they are ready, and to help them acquire necessary life skills. A youth group consists of a young married couple who live with the children and act as their mentors, and six children.

Natasha Korniyko is a vital part of the Father’s House ministry. She is a warm, loving, caring, dedicated woman, who can communicate very clearly both to the children and to outside people. Natasha helps with the administrative work of this ministry, and does a lot of co-ordination of details with the Ukrainian government.

‘Singing Hearts’

Father’s House has a girls’ music group called “Singing Hearts” that shares their music and testimonies at church services, village cultural houses, orphanages, hospitals, schools and special Father’s House events. Their leader Ludmila Girak does her best to improve the girls’ skills every day. The goal of “Singing Hearts” is to become professionals and through Christian songs to bring the good news about Jesus Christ to unbelievers.

Island of Treasures

Father’s House’s has been running the Island of Treasures camp for homeless children since 1999. The idea of this camp was born when the ministry realized that it is very difficult for children to get adjusted to living in the Father’s House centre or in a family after living for a long period of time on the street. The purpose of the camp is to create an atmosphere where children feel secure, to help them discover their gifts, and to give them hope and stir the desire for a better life.

The children at the Island of Treasures are very challenging and their problems aren’t typical children’s problems. Although only seven to 10 years old, they have been insulted by people in their street life and they don’t understand why they have become rebels against the world. Most of the children who come to the camp don’t know how to communicate properly. Almost every child has a problem with studying. Some children, though they are 13 or 14 years old, have never been to school. Adults to them are enemies or ones they can deceive or steal from. These children have very low self-esteem, which causes them either to avoid different kinds of activities and people, or have endless open conflicts. The children need a lot of time to calm down and understand that at Father’s House they are secure. Because of this, life at the camp becomes a transitional stage from street life to Father’s House.

This ministry also helps out occasionally with other projects as needs arise. For instance, in the summer of 2008, Ukraine was hit by massive flooding. At least 26 people died, more than 40,000 buildings were flooded and damaged, and the total damage from the flood reached $800 million. Father’s House responded by helping out people who suffered from the flood the most—especially families with many children. Your prayers and support can help Father’s House deal with other emergencies.

Model for the Nation

In 2005, the Ukrainian government adopted Father’s House’s model of orphanages for the nation. The Parliament of Ukraine accepted a new law regarding conditions for social protection of orphans and abandoned children. The law guarantees the state’s provision for orphans and abandoned children, and lays a good foundation for Ukraine to move from orphanage-type to family-based care for such children—including adoption, foster families, and family homes. The official presentation of this new law took place in Father’s House, because the final discussion of this law before going to the Parliament took place there.

Pray for Father’s House, as the Korniykos and their co-workers seek to rescue more suffering street kids and lead them to Christ. You can help provide Ukraine’s suffering children with a Christian home. Sponsors’ prayers and financial gifts provide the means to keep Father’s House running. Gifts of $30 monthly provide for a needy child.

“Many of these kids are having their lives changed forever,” asserts Dr. Korniyko, “They’re not just finding health and getting saved. I believe they are future missionaries. These kids are coming out of cardboard boxes to Christ!”

For more information on Intercede’s work and partner agencies, please check out: www.intercedenow.ca.

Photo 1: Ukrainian street children struggle to sleep in an abandoned room. (Intercede International Photo)

Photo 2: Two Father’s House workers and their adopted family. (Intercede International Photo)

368FAH

April 9, 2009