Dear friends and family,
I don’t even know where to start in my thanks for sending me to Kerch, Ukraine for another summer to work at the Hope Center. As always, it was another life changing summer, and it’s all a result of the support, financially and prayerfully, of each and every one of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me return to a country that is so dear to my heart and love on kids that I have such a passion for. It means the world.
This summer, the word “intern” meant something entirely different than it did in the past. In years prior, it just meant being an extra team member, filling in where needed, and usually sporting the craft key wherever you went. This year however, it took on a much deeper meaning. This year it made us part of the Hope Center family in a more real and defining way than ever before. Receiving the opportunity to journey over to Kerch five weeks before camps started helped me to see a completely different side of camp and then entire country and culture than I had ever seen in all my six years of being there. I got to finally experience life in Ukraine, outside of the Hope Center. It was scary and beautiful and overwhelming and amazing all at the same time. It was the perfect way to start off an incredible summer of teaching and being taught by the kids that got the opportunity to walk through our front gates every week.
One of the best experiences of the summer hands down was kitchen duty. Although it was hot and sweaty and involved a lot of yelling in Russian, I was afforded the opportunity to really dig deep and get to know the kitchen staff on a much more personal level. I saw how hard they worked and how passionate they were about their jobs, and how even when they would be tempted to go to any other job that paid more money, they stayed at the Hope Center because of the amazing change that it had in kids lives, and they just loved being a part of it. The women that work in that kitchen day in and day out are some of the most humble, determined, and hilarious women I have ever met in my entire life, and I consider myself incredibly honored to have worked with them for an entire summer.
Like I said earlier, this summer was incredibly different than any other year I have ventured to the Hope Center. Because the mission of the camp is to touch orphans’ lives with the Hope that can only be found through Jesus Christ, we realized that to effectively do that, we were faced with the tough decision of not inviting some very special families back. While that was hard to swallow at first, God definitely put some extraordinary kids in my life that will always hold a very special place in my heart.
One of these special children is Kolya. Kolya is the brother is two girls that I have known almost the entire time I have been working at the Hope Center, two girls that also hold a very special place in my heart. I had med Kolya in years past, but something was different about this year. This summer he was quieter, more reserved, and more closed off than in years past. This summer, he really just needed a little special attention. From the beginning of camp, I felt God pushing me towards him. And as I branched out and really got to know this little boy better, I found out what an incredible young man he really is. Kolya has a smile that can light up his entire face and make everyone around him smile as well. He’s gentle, kind, and incredibly loving. This little boy was willing to give out more love to me in one night than I felt ready to give in the whole week. I was so focused on not seeing my special kids from years past that I didn’t even notice this little boy knocking at my heart until God finally convinced me to stop focusing on myself, and start focusing on the kid in front of me who desperately needed to be unconditionally loved. So that is what I had to do. I let my guard down and just loved on this little boy the best that I could. And needless to say, he loved me back. Saying goodbye to him was one of the hardest goodbyes in all my six years at the Hope Center. It was heart wrenching to say the least. As he gave me a kiss on the cheek, told me he loved me and gave me the tightest hug I think I can say I have ever received from a kid his size, he walked out of the gate and took a little piece of my heart with him.
So now all I can do is pray- pray that these kids will be alright, pray that God will take care of them better than I think I could, pray that I find peace with leaving them in their situations, and pray that God lets us meet again one day. One of the biggest things I had to learn from this summer was just simply that at the end of the day, I have absolutely no control where these kids end up. With 80% of girls ending up in prostitution and 70% of boys ending up in jail before the young age of 18 after they have gotten kicked out of their state run orphanages, it seems as though there isn’t really any hope left for them. They come into our camp broken and bruised and battered, and leave as new creations in God’s image, ready to face their worlds back home with confidence and hope that can only come from their one true savior. I can’t save these kids, but God can, and he has. He proved his faithfulness to me time and time again for an entire 10 weeks, and continues to prove it to me as I come home and find ways to communicate with some of the kids that hold a special place in my heart.
So last but not least, thank you again. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to meet these kids and be a part of their lives, and for the opportunity to have some of them touch my life as well. Thank you for praying for me as I ended up being sick just about the entire 10 weeks, and for supporting me even when I was feeling homesick and lost and like I didn’t belong in this foreign country. Thank you for accepting me despite my doubts and lack of knowledge of the Russian language. Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers in helping me experience another amazing summer in Kerch. I can only pray that God will allow me the opportunity next year as well.
Spaceeba (Thank you),
Sarah King
something beautiful 