LOOKING FOR JUSTICE

You often hear statistics thrown around about orphans and prison. It is most often estimated that 70% of boys who grow up as orphans in Ukraine will turn to a life of crime as a means of survival. But, there is something that changes when that statistic stops being a number and becomes a name, a face, a story, a life, and a kid you deeply love. 

In light of this, we bring you Slavik. We first asked you to pray for him last Thursday and promised details. The truth is, Slavik grew up without the love of parents, was sent out on his own from an orphanage after 9th grade, and found himself living with his older brother. This older brother had a similar story, but was already immersed in a life of crime with 4 stints in prison behind him. He quickly put pressure on Slavik to join him, but Slavik's sweet nature kept him out of harm over the past 3 years. Last week, Slavik gave in to the pressure (and subsequent abuse from his brother) in a big way and joined his brother's gang in attempting to steal goods from a warehouse in Sumy. 

Slavik at this years Spring Grad Camp

The police were alerted and all the guys involved ran except Slavik. Out of fear from his brother, our gentle-giant (with an incredibly tender heart) was ready to take the blame for the entire group, but thankfully an actual lawyer got involved by way of Slavik's girlfriend. He made it clear to Slavik that with no past record, cooperating with the police, and his character, Slavik didn't have to face a heavy prison sentence (if any sentence), but if he foolishly took the fall for his brother and the other men, he would face years in prison. 

He quickly realized he would "never survive prison" and began cooperating. He was put on house arrest outside the city in order to remain out of harm's way. His older brother was doing all he could to find him and pressure him to take the blame. Luckily, his brother was caught the other day and now a trial awaits. 

We see this situation as a major opportunity share love and grace with Slavik. He hasn't asked for anything (except our company as he sits alone in an empty apartment room) but we are hoping to help cover the costs of a lawyer ($150). The reality is: as an orphan, he is already considered a doomed criminal. We hope to give Slavik the chance in life that wasn't offered to him by his family circumstances, a fair and just trial with actual legal representation and the grace God so freely gives to change. Stay tuned for more as we approach his court date at the end of the month. 

The apartment where Slavik is currently under house arrest. 

If you do feel led to give, please click the donate link on our homepage and leave a little note "for Slavik". 

Hoping for justice, compassion, grace, and eternal change in Slavik's life. Thanks for the prayers!!! 

***Update***
We are so grateful to say that we received enough donations to cover the cost of Slavik's lawyer and buy him some things for while he's on house arrest. Thank you to those who have donated! Please continue to pray for Slavik and his court date on July 26th.

A FAMILY IN NEED

Losha. He has been a part of Open Arms since the beginning; never seen as the "most likely to succeed", he was pegged as one who would be lucky to stay out of prison. Losha left the orphanage in 2007, finished trade school, lived in the Open Arms home, finished a second trade in another city and is now a father with a home outside that village. Losha is overcoming odds and working hard to provide for his little, beautiful family. 

Just the other week, we were lucky to make our way up to their village for some good times with one of our favorite families. They always welcome us with the epitome of hospitality. Like, many village homes, they function without running water = outhouse, and not a fancy outhouse at that. 

A few days ago, Losha's brother caught the old wooden outhouse on fire. Couldn't have been a pretty sight for so many reasons. Thanks to so many of you, we are able to send them the financial help they need to remove this burden from them. It is amazing to witness God's body come together in time's of need. Thank you all so much for all the support you daily give to our ministry and these children. 

A DAY IN THE SUN

Summer camp is probably one of the most anticipated events of the year, for grads and for leaders. Just this week, we had multiple kids ask us when camp would be. Sadly, we had to tell them that there would not be a camp. Ukraine has had and is still in much turmoil, which has caused there to be many families displaced all over the country. We searched for places to have camp but all were full with refugees who had to flee their homes.

Camps are such a huge part of our Post Orphanage Ministry. We may not be able to have camp but we plan to still get these kids together, have some fun, share about Jesus, and feed them some good food. We are going to have a lake day on the 4th of July. This will include games, swimming, a bonfire with s'mores, a bible lesson, fellowship, and fireworks. It may not be the camp we were planning for but we plan to pack a lot into this day. 

If you would like to help cover the cost so we can shower these kids with some great food and lots of memories, then click the donate button below. Any amount will help. Thank you so much!

ORPHANAGE LOVE

We are so excited about this weekend's orphanage program! We have literally packed as much as humanly possible into 2 days of goodness with some of our favorite children. Games, crafts, skits, Bible lessons, worship, bonfires, s'mores, glow sticks... the list goes on!

Help us make it happen simply by clicking on the "donate" button below:

OR

Send checks to Open Arms Ukraine, PO Box 277, San Lorenzo, CA 94580.

Thanks for joining with us through prayer and support! Can't wait to share all that God does through this time.

THE CHALLENGE

Want to make an impact on the world? Here's your chance. It is as simple as giving $10. It may not seem like much, but when you join the challenge, $10 can make a massive difference in ministry in the lives of orphans in Ukraine.

We are looking for 10 people, everyday, for the next 10 days who are willing to give up just $10! That's 100 people over the course of 10 days and a total of $1000. So simple, but it is amazing what can happen when a few are willing to give up a little.

The big question is: are you willing to join the 10 today and rock the challenge? Simply click donate below:

Or send checks to Open Arms Ukraine, PO Box 277, San Lorenzo, CA 94580.

Help us bring God's love and hope to the children of the Sumy region.

Spread the word.

Join the challenge.

May 21st - May 30th.

BUY A CANDLE... LIGHT THE WORLD

We are so excited for this unique opportunity to help support the kids in Ukraine. 

Let's be real, who doesn't love candles?! Not only can they make your own house smell amazing, they are great gifts too!

Third Bear Candles is teaming up with us May 1st- May 14th to help us raise funds for Summer ministry opportunities! For every candle bought during those two weeks, $5 will be donated to Open Arms. It is that simple! Buy a gift, enjoy a candle, help bring home to orphans in Ukraine.  

Check out their website at thirdbearcandles.com to find out more about these all natural soy wax candles. Every, single one of their candles smells amazing!

Be sure to like them on Facebook as well! facebook.com/thirdbearcandles.

Many thanks! 

SPRING CAMP UPDATE

WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?

You may have read our theme for camp and wondered, what exactly does that mean? We first came up with this theme due to the political unrest in Ukraine and all the talk of being for Ukraine or for Russia. But the deeper underlying meaning and goal was to get the kids to understand their choice of living with God or against Him. Our speaker, Pastor Valentyn, spoke on character, integrity, and choosing to live a life of conscious decisions and values - either for or against God. Camp was full of thought provoking discussions and games that had to do with the theme, crafts, soccer, baseball, and free time. The kids even painted different banners symbolizing the two sides and their understanding of what each side means to them.

ALINA

Camp was the first interaction 18 year old Alina had with any ministry of Open Arms Ukraine or our local church. She's currently dating one of our regulars and we are so thankful he wanted to introduce to Open Arms through spring camp. It was amazing to watch God work through camp as we began a relationship with her there. She expressed how much she loved camp and how glad she was to meet everyone. By the end of the weekend, she already said how excited she is to start coming to our weekly Wednesday night meetings. We can’t wait to see where God leads us in our relationship with Alina and what He will do in her life.

OVERVIEW

This camp was run by the smallest team of Ukrainians and Americans we’ve ever had, and we were a little worried of how it all would go. In the end we were lucky to have such a great group of kids who were so excited to be at another camp. God gave the leaders the necessary energy and resources and our unified team was able to run everything smoothly and successfully.

We are so thankful to all of our sponsors and those who prayed for our camp! Every kid at camp received a bag of hygiene items, socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, shampoo, and lotion. Thank you to Temecula Hills Christian Fellowship for all the hygiene items and to the Church @ Clayton Crossings for all the socks! The kids were blessed by the gifts. Again, thank you all for the role you played in our camp! We could not have done it without your faithful support!

To see more pictures of camp, please check our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/openarmsukraine

MINISTRY UPDATE

As many of you already know our American team is currently in the states due to the unrest in Ukraine. We appreciate everyone who has been praying and are hoping to make our way back to Ukraine in the coming weeks with safety plans in place. At the same time, you are probably wondering what is going on with ministry with the current situation so here are a few updates...

Post Orphanage Ministry Update:

First of all we just want to say thank you so much for sponsoring our grads for camp! It has been such an encouragement and blessing for us to see God using each of you in this way. With that being said, we want to let you know that camp will still be happening. We are praying, praying, praying that we will get to be back in Ukraine by then. However, if for some reason we can't, our amazing Ukrainian team will be running things from there. 

Things to pray for:

- Camp planning would continue to go smoothly

- Our American team - that we would be able to be back in time for camp

- Our Ukrainian team as they continue to help with the planning; for the pastor as he prepares the messages 

Orphanage Ministry Update:

We are excited to be in the process of preparing summer ministry plans with both the Pravdinska Orphanage and the Ulianivka Orphanage. Our Ukrainian team is rocking the preparation for camps and continuing the connection with the kids there. Being in the states, we were able to get 4 boxes of shoes and goods for the orphanages donated by Neighborhood Church Castro Valley's Junior High group shipped off to Ukraine. Right now is a period of preparation for all that May and June hold in ministry! 

Please join us in prayer for:

- Department permission documents to be approved quickly and easily for ministry

- Volunteers to be available for camp programs in the month of June

- Ways to bring in more humanitarian aid due to the recent troubles in Ukraine. 

SPRING CAMP SPONSORSHIP

Snow is melting. Temperatures are rising. That can only mean one thing: SPRING CAMP IS COMING!!!

These kids have been chomping on the bit since the day fall camp ended; continuously asking "so, when is the next camp?!". Well, kids, it is on its way and we are so excited for what awaits. 

This April 4th-6th we will round up as many kids as that little camp can hold and host a camp focused around the theme "Whose Side are You on?". Games, Bible lessons, crafts, discussion groups, impromptu dance parties, soccer galore, worship, meaningful conversations, and ridiculous amounts of laughter are guaranteed to make this camp incredibly memorable. 

BUT, before any of that happens, we need YOUR help! We are looking for sponsorships to cover 28 kids and 5 leaders at $70 each to attend this rock solid camp. Whether you can sponsor a child in full or in part, every little bit helps us make the magic happen and bring God's love to these beautiful, yet broken kids. 

Use the link below:

OR:

You can make checks payable to Open Arms Ukraine and send them to: PO Box 277, San Lorenzo, CA 94580

Your prayers are also greatly appreciated as we prepare for the all that God has in store!!!