“What a blessing to make [a child] feel accepted, loved, cared for and protected”

Seven years ago, Helen Nagovitsyna’s church started a ministry in a children’s hospital in order to reach out to abandoned children. The ministry soon developed into a center for social development and adoption and is now officially registered to provide care and education to children on a 24 hour basis. Helen says her days are filled with ministry work: “I feel that my life is not in vain because somebody needs me, and I can be helpful.”

The center’s team includes nurses, teachers, a psychologist and a lawyer. Helen thanks God for the unity among the team: “All of us are from seven different churches, but we praise God that He unites us for the sake of His mission.” The team praises God for His hand in the process of placing children with families through adoption. During the last four years, “70 children have gone through our center, and almost all of them have been adopted by good families.”

Helen says older children are sometimes challenging because they can be “closed and reserved.” However, she says as the result of their work, “What a joyfulness to find a smile on their faces….What a blessing to make someone feel accepted, loved, cared for and protected.” She says the center is one big family that rejoices with “every first step taken, every first word spoken and every first smile brightened up….Our God is a great God, and His mercy endures forever.”

Helen is a student in the part-time theological program at Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary (UETS).

A few testimonies from the center:

• One child was under the care of the center because her mother was a drug addict. The mother recently went through a Christian rehabilitation program, and as a result, her family was completely restored, and she reclaimed custody of her child from the center.
  
• The center picked up a homeless man and paid for his treatment at a rehabilitation center. He asked Jesus to become his personal Lord and Savior and is actively pursuing employment now.