Missionaries Arrive from Camp
The missionaries arrived mid-morning on Monday road weary and physically and mentally exhausted. As they each stepped off the bus I saw face after face wearing an expression of fatigue. But then there was Arusik and Elizabeth, smiling at me. Arusik is an Armenian woman who had to leave her country because of a devastating earth quake and now lives in Ukraine. She is the lead mentor for the missionary team, a language expert, and a woman of deep faith. Elizabeth bounded off the bus wearing an enormous smile and grasped my hand in greeting. I knew then I had just met a friend for life. She is a South Dakota girl living in Moscow, teaching English. She joined the Ukraine missionary team not only because of her passionate love for Christ, but also her love for children.
There were 5 Ukrainian mentors who worked along side the 14 American missionaries in the camps. They served as language and cultural translators. Three of the mentors were believers when the mission began and over the course of three weeks, the other two saw examples of Christ’s love poured out on the orphans and children of Ukraine. They joined the team in order to practice English, but came away with much, much more. They also made an indelible impression on the missionaries themselves, and lasting friendships were formed.
The nine Americans came from a variety of places but were led by Joel Butts of Donelson, Tennesee and his niece, Jessi from Georgia. The three weeks working with the children of Ukraine presented many challenges and obstacles including injuries, spider bites, government inspectors, a duplicitous camp director, culture shock, and extremely adverse living conditions. Only the team themselves know the full extent of these challenges. But they will also tell you in the same breath about the intensity with which they fell in love with the children. They taught the children about Jesus not only from the bible stories, crafts and skits they did every day, but also by the unconditional love they gave to the kids all day long. And in turn the children and their stories touched their hearts more deeply than they had anticipated.
These fourteen people had just experienced an incredible three weeks serving the Lord together side by side under extreme conditions. Many of them were strangers when the journey began, but they were united by their love of Jesus and their love for children.
