It was an amazing moment when our ministry to orphans collided with my hobby of home decorating! Our dear friend Tom Benz, founder of Bridges of Faith  Ministries, told us that the missions team he was  bringing to Sevastopol wanted to help renovate an orphan teenager's apartment. We had the perfect candidate for him - Nastia - our 18 year old post- orphanage graduate - who now works in a garment factory. Nastia was assigned a tiny government apartment, which in reality is a single room, rather than an apartment, as we know it in the U.S. She shares communal bathroom facilities as well as a communal kitchen with an entire floor of people.
                One of my favorite things in the world is home decorating.  While Nastia's apartment is simply one tiny room, there was plenty of work to be done and I was excited at the very thought of it!
       On a Monday night, we were having a bar-b-que at the beach with the missions team and all of our young friends who either currently live in the orphanage or have  graduated from it.  Nastia was there too, as she never misses an opportunity to have hot dogs on the beach!  For some reason that night, Nastia was in a depressed mood and was giving many of us a bit of a cold shoulder.  Her cold shoulder melted and her face lit up immediately the moment we told her that we wanted to come and work on her apartment.
                Early the next day, a few of the team members arrived at her apartment to do a simple analysis of what work needed to be done,  take measurements, and decide what tools would be needed.  The moment we came within sight of Nastia's fourth story window her gleeful face popped out the window and she began yelling to us.  She welcomed us into her humble abode as the hostess of all hostesses.  She had spread the table with cookies, candies, and cakes and was serving tea and coffee the moment we stepped through her door. On her meager salary as a seamstress in a garment factory, this was undoubtedly sacrificial giving, since food is an expensive commodity in Ukraine. It was also very apparent to me, as I had visited her apartment before, that she had cleaned the place inside out, not a thing was out of place.
 
                Once we decided what her apartment needed, we began the shopping process.  This was quite an undertaking since there is no "Home Depot" to run to here!  After several hours, we had purchased linoleum to replace her floor, paint, and plaster to re-do a wall that was badly crumbling, and of course all of the necessary tools.  And so, the work began.  The team showed up with great enthusiasm and ready to get to work.  We began taping off the windows  which were terribly chipped and cracked in order to repaint them, replastering the wall which was falling apart, and moving furniture in order to begin laying the new floor.  Nastia worked just as hard as anyone and probably with more joy than any person on the team.  It was obvious that she was not only excited to be making the much needed improvements, but she was also thrilled to have so many people around. She knew that all those people were there just to bless her - what a feeling for a lonely teenage orphan to experience! As neighbors would pass by in the hallway, she would proudly explain that we were "remodeling," a term that indicates dignity, money and upward mobility in the currently expanding Ukrainian economy.
 
As the apartment began taking shape, it became clear that Nastia's front door just HAD to be replaced.  It was so pathetic it wasn't really even worthy of being called a door.  Not only could she hear everything that happened in the hallway, preventing her from getting good sleep, the door was hollow inside.  It was the type of door that belonged on a closet - not the front of your home.  The door jam indicated the door had been kicked open multiple times and the lock mechanism was a joke.  The problem was that a new door costs about as much money as we had for the entire project, $200.  Thanks so much  to the generous souls who responded to our  urgent email plea and enabled us to buy and install a brand new, beautiful, steel door.  The door even has a special LED light which lights up the key hole.     It was a great treat to see Nastia's shocked faced when two of our team members hauled the door up the four flights of stairs and presented it to her. It was especially touching because she had just told Andy earlier that day, that she was now planning to save her money for a new door.  God had given her the desire of her heart before she could even pray for it!
 
                So, after two days of painting, replacing a broken window, plastering, moving HEAVY furniture, killing mold, laying linoleum, installing a door, and putting everything back together again, we were finished.  The best part of this remodeling project wasn't the amazing difference all of the work made on Nastia's apartment, but rather the amazing difference it brought about in Nastia.  Not only did it give Nastia some dignity, it gave her an opportunity to be a hostess. And best of all, she saw the love of God in action and felt her heavenly Father's love for her. This experience also gave Nastia vision that just because it seems like life has dealt her a bad hand of cards, doesn't mean that she has to keep those same cards forever.  Nastia is now planning to save her money to put in brand new windows and wallpaper. Truly, this is vision she didn't have before.  It appears that this two day renovation project has changed Nastia forever!   

To View More Picture From Nastia's Apartment Renovation Click Here!

      One of the most exciting events of the week was developing relationships with the kids between the ages of 14 and 17.  There were about 40 of them in this age group.  It was interesting to see the drastic difference between this age group and the younger children.  The older teenagers (our target group) were not exactly the warm, receptive type as is often the case at first. Despite their serious faces and their cold demeanor we were able to break through to some of them.  By the time we left the camp we had exchanged emails and phone numbers with about 10 of the older teenagers and invited all of the older teenagers to join our weekly "family night."  Although there were 30 others who didn't act as interested in us, we are certain that we made the message very clear that we care for them, that we live in Sevastopol for the purpose of helping them make it in life and they are welcome in our home and our lives if they desire.  We are waiting with anticipation to see them again when they return from camp this week.  
Seeing these kids eat up our love was awesome and yet sobering. The need far surpasses what Andy and I or any short-term missions teams are capable of giving.  It is clearer to us than ever that only Jesus Christ is big enough to meet all their needs and change them from the inside out. Please pray with us for supernatural wisdom, ideas, solutions and resources to help these kids in a life changing, lasting way.

On August 2nd we celebrated Vanya's 18th birthday. This was not just Vanya's birthday; it was his entrance into the world as a man.  He officially graduated from the Dietsky Dom (Children's Home) and is left to find work and a home all without the support of parents.  We celebrated his life by taking him and two of his friends bowling (it's always fun to bowl with people when it's their first time J ).  Afterwards we had a party with cakes, balloons, and church friends.  It was such a blessing to see him be blessed.  Vanya also shared with us at the end of the evening that he had never had a birthday party before.  
Sometimes day to day life feels slow here in Ukraine. But when both kids tell you, "I will never forget this day for the rest of my life," it quickly puts into perspective the bigness of what God is doing for these kids.  For Andy and I it was a one night birthday party of which we have both experienced many. But for Anya and Vanya it was life changing.  It was the first time their lives had been celebrated!