Robinhood Camp! Please, please, please help!

Dear Friends!

We would like to share with you that this August  we are going to have a camp  for the children of Odessa and Odessa region.  The theme will be Robin Hood.  The children will be coming from mostly non-Christian home.    We also hope to invite many children from villages.  These children come from families who are not able to pay for the camp and we would like to ask you to help. Besides them we are inviting at least 20 boys from Fontanka detention school for boys. Those are mostly orphans. Total number of children that we are expecting is 150. Almost half of them won't be able to pay for their ticket.

The camp will be held from Aug  11 – 20 in the beautiful forest where the children will be staying in tents.  The price for the camp (including transportation, food, crafts, and all activities) is $60 for one child, just $6 a day.

We are really looking forward to ministering to children through the camp and pray that these 10 days will have a big impact on the children.  Please consider how you can help.

Donations can be sent to:

Harvest International, Inc  a non-profit Christian organization that is located in Ocala, FL

www.harvestinternational.org   (please give a notice for Robin Hood camp in Odessa, Slavik and Alyona)

 

God bless you!

Slavik and Alyona

25 cents times 25,000

For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we'll never have to relocate our "tents" again.  2 Cor. 5:1




Yesterday, I received a glossy full-color brochure/advertisement letting the Texas-community about the up-coming church camp season at the nearby "rustic cedar and native stone" retreat center. What hit me  first and foremost was the amount of money given to this center as "donations" in the past year.  Try nearly $300,000.00!


Let me give you a bit of run-down on this place, not that it's any fancier or nicer than any other church camp in Texas, but, never-the-less, let me jog your memory.  If you haven't been to this camp, you've surely been to one much like it.

The retreat center  includes facilities for 783 persons. Sleeping facilities include nine dorm-style cabins, two semi-private cabins; an Outpost Camp with a log barracks, log meeting rooms, and 4 covered wagons & 1 teepee with 12 bunks each. Riverbend also has three motel-type facilities. Other facilities include a chapel, dining hall, a recreation building, swimming pool, 3-acre pond, amphitheatre, and various other recreational facilities. An on-site staff is here to serve you 24 hours a day.

Now, let me tell you about another camp.  This camp doesn't have a swimming pool, dormitories, bathrooms, a kitchen or any other facility that the most basic of American church camp has.  What it does have, however, is a team of servants who sacrifice themselves in order that children have a chance to go to camp, despite their life circumstances, and hear about Jesus, many for the very first time. The camp sits on a bare piece of property on the edge of town.  They used to own a trampoline and 12 tents (and yes, that's all) but now, they don't even have that.  Here's what Alyona has to say about their camp last summer:

The camp began on July 5th. It was on our sister church territory close to the Black Sea...nice location as the kids had the opportunity to spend three hours at the beach where there was nobody but our children and team. There were 107 children and 45 staff including the cooks. It required 14 tents where we were able to place children, staff, and medical room. Also there was a Coliseum where the shows were held and the evening devotionals. There was a built market where the kids could "sell" the items they have made with hands. As you look at the photos you will notice that the staff was wearing the costumes that were made by our good friend and volunteer. The kids had to amke their own costumes as well when they arrived to the camp. The camp had an idea of First Christians and the action was taken from the book of Acts. The kids had different things to do such as fishing, carpetning, working with clay and etc.
Everything was on a schedule untill the 5th day came when we faced a huge hurricane....that destroyed EVERYTHING....we had to evacuate the kids withing 4 hours out to 16 different villages. The children were in panic as they saw almost all the tents being on the ground, trampoline flying away, all the wood parts that Coliseum and a market were built out of. We tried to save as much as possible while 107 kids kept crying out of scare in a small church room. It all finished in 15 minutes and when we looked around it was obvious that it is the end of our camp that we have been working for the whole year....But we were happy and thankful to the Lord that NONE of the children or adults got hurt. More than, a day before two teenagers wanted to confess their sins and follow Jesus in their lives. It was very meaningful to us as we all understand that we can face the Lord anytime and the most important thing would be "what choice we ahve made in our life?"

Sadly, I have to share with you just how hard it was for them to ever get the tents in the first place.  Alyona and Slavik asked every American church and Christian that they knew for help.  They got none. They were finally able to find one Odessa business man who reluctantly donated the money.  He does not know the Lord.

Recently, when I was in Odessa and went to church with Alyona and Slavik, I once more sat in a church service and felt nothing but shame.  Once again, I watched a rag-tag choir of 18 members open their mouths and sing, perfectly and beautifully, complicated choir specials---4 of them in one service.  I thought of the large churches in America who have music budgets the size of an Ukrainian city's budget  yet cannot compete with the sacrificial beauty of an Ukrainian choir.  We've placed our trust in church 'bells and whistles,' and  in retreat centers with motels and swimming pools, yet our own children are turning their backs on God and the rest of the world is going hungry.  Our kids get sent to camps every year where they get an emotional high while enjoying the finest luxuries life has to offer. Odessa kids, who get to go to camp, make Bible costumes, act out Bible stories, swim in the Black Sea, and sleep in tents.

It's time for a change.  We can start with the tents. Oh, whoever you are out there, would you please take this word to heart?  Would you go to your churches and families and friends and tell them about the desperate needs of the world?  Would you tell them about the camp in Odessa, would you tell them about the desperate orphanage in Ananiev, would you tell them about the boys in jail?  Would you?  

In this one retreat center alone, they have over 25,000 people come there every year (75% of them REPEATS!)  What if each person who attended that ONE retreat center for ONE year gave ONE quarter each for the camp in Odessa?  That would be more than enough to replace the tents.

That's all that they ask for----new tents.

I want to challenge you Christians out there.  We seem to think that we can get closer to God by going to camp; but, camp has nothing to do with it.  If anything, it's nothing but an emotional, peer-driven false-sense-of-the-Holy Spirit.  Here's what this camp says of itself and spirituality:

Blending great facilities, good food, a beautiful outdoor setting, and excellent service, we want to make your next camp or retreat the best ever.  Whether it be senior adults, women, couples, singles, college, youth,school, children or any group you are a part of...come have fun, find a place of solitude, fellowship with one another and most of all ...Experience God!

But, I have another idea for experiencing God.  Let's forget about ourselves and our comfort and serve the way Jesus did, to the lost, broken, downtrodden, widowed, orphaned, sin-laden and poor.  Let's start with the tents.

Got a quarter, anyone?

 

The Lost Boys

We've been home almost a week. Neah slept very little the first several days, and for seven days straight she ate nothing but bananas. But, yesterday, she did something really marvelous. I ran to the grocery store for a few minutes, but when I came home there was a princess waiting for me by the front door. Donning a crown, pink tutu, high heels and plastic jewels, she was bouncing with joy and delight as I came back home.

My princess has found her castle.

However, though my life is currently full of pink tulle, today I was reminded about the Forgotten Boys (see post from December 2.) I received word from my friend, Alyona, that she and her family, and their ministry team made it to see these boys for the very first time. Here is what she said:

Today we have visited Ananiev orphanage for the special need boys. It took us 3 hour drive since it snowed a lot today and the road was very slippery. Thank you very much for your alls prayers, it encouraged us a lot.

There are 110 boys int he orphanage. Most of them are diagnosed with Down Syndrome, polio, cerebral palsy or other 4 th level (stage) of sever special needs. Their age rate s 3 to 35 years old. Today we brought them 2 big boxes of tangerines, 2 big boxes of bananas, 4 big cases of soda (the director told us that the boys LOVE sweet water - soda), 2 boxes of cookies, 3 boxes of different sweets all of this donated by Joe and Janelle Fuentes of Fort Worth, Texas, underwear and 6 000 medical syringe which were donated by some Ukrainians and wonderful Christmas gifts for the boys that were given by Brooke and John Newsome.. We do hope that we will build up our relationship with Ananiev orphanage and with your all prayers and support will help the boys not just survive but enjoy the present life some...if we can call their existence in that orphanage life at all....They need a lot of support and help and most of all love and care.

OH, these kids, these kids, these kids!!! They tear my heart out---ALL of them! We don't have such circumstances in America; trust me, we don't. But, the rest of the world does and I honestly believe that we MUST respond to the needs that we are told about. I'm telling you about these boys in Ananiev , Ukraine. They need you.

You see, my little girl was recently taken out of a pretty bad situation, and is now living like a queen, but millions more are still out there, and they will never find their castle.

Please help.

The best way to help orphans in Ananiev, or in Odessa Ukraine, is to help Alyona and Slavik Puzanov. I can't see myself taking my day off and spending six hours driving in snow to see lost and lonely boys. But, Alyona and Slavik did that very thing. Alyona and Slavik visit the boys' prison and buy them soap. Alyona and Slavik have camps for lost kids and adults. Alyona and Slavik do all kinds of things that you nor I would ever think to do.

But, we can help Alyona and Slavik do these things. First of all, I need someone who will help Alyona with a better way to accept donations. Can anyone help her with a PayPal button? I can send you her email and phone and you could help her get it set up. I'm no good at such things! My email is: manymusic@gmail.com

There is also probably a way to give and get a tax receipt; that would have to be through Harvest International. Who can help out with this? It will just take learning the information and sharing it, I believe. Alyona and Slavik work with Harvest International and I believe that it is possible to give money directly to Alyona and Slavik through giving a designated offering to HI.

I see that you are asking me about sending packages to them. To tell you the truth, I have sent only somewhat small packages to Ukraine. I have sent gifts, even a little valuable, and have never had anything taken. If you send a package to an Ukrainian's home address, and do NOT specify anything other than it being a gift of clothes, there should not be any problem. I do not know, yet, what the best way to send the clothes is, yet. I'm about to find out, however, because I have already started filling a box. There's just no need for boys to sit in prison without clothes when I am constantly filling Goodwill bags with clothes that aren't being worn!

For those of you who didn't get Alyona's address to send clothes for boys (any size from 3 up, by the way, they can go to the prison boys or to Ananiev boys):

Alyona Monzhay
Puzanova Olena
Lesi Ukrainki 64 a
Odessa 65086

The title of this blog is just copied and pasted from an email from another American who has been to this orphanage. She has been praying and praying for a way to find help for these boys. By a miracle, she found my blog, and noticed that when I wrote about The Forgotten Ones, that I was actually writing about HER LOST BOYS!!! Today, after hearing of the trip made by Alyona and Slavik she wrote me. These lines were in her letter. I don't know how it could be better said about God.

He cares. He cares about the boys.

Now, it's our turn to care, too.

Needed: Used, Dark, Clothes! ASAP!

That's not exactly true, I don't need new clothes, I need used clothes (new ones will get stolen.) And, I don't exactly need my size, I need any size that might fit a 14 to 18 year old boy. And I'm picky, I only want dark colors because these clothes won't get washed very often. Oh, and I guess I should tell you, I don't need the clothes at all, but there are 50 somebodies who do.

They are in Odessa, all 50 of them locked away in a boys' prison. They have no heat, almost no clothes, not much food, no coats. Slavik has just recently purchased them soap. Finally, they got soap! They have nothing. They need soap, toothbrushes, deodorant, sweaters, shirts, coats, black socks, jeans, undershirts, etc

I know of enough extra clothes in my house to fill a couple of boxes. I'll be mailing them over. So, to church groups, Bible study groups, Awana groups, or you at home, how about it? Can we fill this need?

Let's do it!!!

Send package as a personal package to; (Do not at any time say this it is humanitarian. You'll have to say it is a gift of clothes to Alyona)

Alyona Monzhay
Puzanova Olena
Lesi Ukrainki 64 a
Odessa 65086

Want to make her smile? Throw in a note and a Snickers bar!

About Tents

Last year, I bought them one tent. That was about 1/9th of what they needed, and they did eventually get all of them. This brings me back to the Alyona-Slavik subject.

Tents. These things are huge! They sleep nine kids/adults. When Alyona and Slavik host camp for lost adults and kids, they don't have a facility to rent. They all stay in tents on a plot of land at the edge of town. They cook their food over an open fire---three times a day. I sat and watched a video of these camps and it was fascinating! Wow! Slavik plans a theme, the kids make costumes, they kids play-act Bible stories. It was ingenious!

But, as I was watching the video of their Bible-times city built of bamboo and straw, their activities, and their bazaar, all of a sudden something extraordinary happened. It was an act of God, BUT, it wasn't really the kind any of us look forward to. It was an Ukrainian hurricane!!! Everything was destroyed within a short time! Almost all of those tents that they had worked so hard to get were completely destroyed. Camp had to end early!

Discouraged, but not downtrodden, they start over! Now, they need nine new tents!

Who will hear the call? Who will help them, literally, by being a tent-giver? And, here's a question for someone knowledgable out there....tents are cheaper in America. How could we buy them in America and send them to Ukraine? Could we purchase them and have the company deliver them? Know any good companies that sells big, strong tents?

Oh, I almost forgot, we need the money for these tents too!

Is anybody willing?

By the way, if you want more info about this, or pictures of the tents they had, please write Alyona at: ,

Please Tell Them

We pushed our chairs back and began to enjoy our after dinner tea. Slavik looked at me and began talking. With an unspoken understanding, Alyona automatically began to translate for him. So, our conversation began:

"Marsha, I know you know people. Please tell them, please tell them we need help."

An hour and a half later, I was overcome with desire to come back to America and share, share, share the needs. This will be the second time for me to have this passion. Last year, I came home with the same passion after seeing all the work that Alyona and Slavik do. I encountered so many silences, however, that I eventually fell pretty silent myself.

So, now I'll start over.

Alyona and Slavik are Ukrainian. They are two of the most Godly people I have ever met. Slavik was raised in a Christian home, Alyona became a Christian as a teenager. They are dedicated to full-time Christian ministry, most specifically to The Least that I've been talking about.

They aren't content with going to church. Their lives circle around several ministries. Of course, they have one called Rainbow (thus this name: rainbowsinukraine.blogspot.com) which is a ministry to children, poor kids, lost kids, orphan kids, and even church kids.

But, their hearts belong to "The Least of the Least." They actually seek them out. They want to help those who have NO ONE ELSE helping them.

I wrote "The Forgotten Ones" after learning about them from Alyona and Slavik. How did they find these kids? Well, a family from America came and adopted from this orphanage. They started spreading the word about these boys, Alyona and Slavik heard and thought, "Wow, these are kids who have no one helping them, so WE want to."

They already have a team scheduled to start going there. They asked me to tell you about them. They asked me to tell you that they have the people to go, and to go on a regular basis, but they don't have the money to pay for the gas. The very best thing would be for churches in America to take up this banner and let it fly! WE can pay the gas!! And how much better can we get it? We get to stay home, yet know we are doing something super important by sending some money to Alyona and Slavik so that they and their team can make it there. These boys, by the way, live in Ananiev, in case you want to look it up on the map!

That's one of the new needs Alyona and Slavik are needing help with, but that's only one.

Of course, those 50 prison boys are a high priority to them. I was able, because of great Americans who have been sharing with me, to give Slavik a little money. (Thank you J and J!) Within hours, he had bought soap and toothbrushes for them. A little money can go a long way in Ukraine.

Alyona told me, "We have the desire to help and minister these prison boys and the Ananiev boys (The Forgotten Ones); but, until God provides the money, it is only a desire." They have the workers, they just don't have the money. I guess that's our job.

There's more....plenty more. Story after story, need after need.

And now, I'm telling you.

The Forgotten Ones (aka The Lost Boys)

Alyona and Slavik heard about these boys. They are in the beginning stages of finding ways to help these boys. Please, won't you help?


Somewhere, about 200 kilometers away from Odessa, Ukraine, lives a bunch of boys from the ages of 5 to 18. I use the word 'live' but I don't think they really do live much at all. They aren't quite up to snuff---they are special needs boys.  They sit.  They sit all day. Then they go to bed.  They get up.  They sit.  They sit all day.

Oh, I forgot.  They do get some stimulation.  Every once in a while someone turns some music on so they have a little time to use their brain.

That's it. That's all they do.  And, they do it in squalid conditions.

Somewhere, a long way from Odessa, Ukraine, lives a bunch of Christians who go to church. They sing with musical instruments in pretty buildings.  They get into nice cars and go home to nice houses.   They look at their to-do list and wonder how to get it all done.

Oh, I forgot.  They do give some things away. They give their tithes and offerings and attend the annual Crises Pregnancy Banquet.

That's it.  That's all they do.  And, they do it in the very best of conditions.

If the forgotten ones are ever to be 'not forgotten' anymore, it's going to take more than giving our tithes and offerings.

It's going to take more.

A lot more.