Stuffies are essential when the sirens sound, rockets explode, and family is not around.
If you’re a child living in an orphanage during a war, you need a stuffy, a bomb shelter, and your friends to huddle with you.
And ice cream.
Kids are kids all over the world and these precious children love good ice cream as much as any Canadian kiddo.
Bomb Shelter
A team of church volunteers engaged the kids with hugs, high fives and tasty treats while the director toured us through the facility. The first stop was the bomb shelter. An underground bunker is a must when kids’ lives are at stake. Neat, single beds, each with a stuffy on the pillow are at the ready when the sirens sound. Sometimes the kids spend all night in the shelter, huddled in one corner, holding each other. 
If there is a daytime alert the children can continue their schooling at desks in the shelter. Fresh water is stored for these emergencies as well as well as a toilet. The orphanage can accommodate up to 70 children.
Jocelyn and our translator couldn’t hold back the tears as they listened to stories of the trauma experienced by these precious children.
When a child leaves the orphanage they are given the stuffy so there is always a demand for more. Kids spend up to 90 days here and then they are moved to another orphanage.
Canadian Help
The first question a child is asked when they arrive is, “Are you hungry?” Children are aged 3-15 and are housed in age-related units. The assistant pastor of the church we are working with pointed to mattresses purchased with money donated by Soul Sanctuary in Winnipeg.
There are bright, beautifully maintained, rooms, well supplied with age-appropriate toys, games, and books The children use art therapy as one source of healing. 
Eleon Church in nearby Lutsk has supported this orphanage for twenty years. Volunteers hold weekly programs as well as summer day camps. They are a bright light in this area.
Pastor Oleg was born in northern Russia and moved to Lutsk in 1987 with his aging mother because she was from Lutsk. He started a business in 1991, became a Christian in 1995, and started to serve in Eleon church in various roles. He was ordained as the lead pastor in April 2025.
Pastor Oleg and Luda from Eleon Church, Lutsk.
The kids wouldn’t let us leave without hugs. I think someone left a piece of their heart in this place.
Ana is 14, the same age as our eldest granddaughter, Quinn.
No Safe Place
Lutsk is in western Ukraine, about two hours from Poland. It’s about as far away from Russia as you can get. But distance is no obstacle for threat in 2025. Just days earlier, a rocket attack took out a hotel and residential buildings killing a young couple about to get married. We drove past the evidence of ongoing terror against civilians.
Friends
Along the way we have met new friends. Our translator, Maria, is married with three children. She and her husband work with YWAM. As you can see, there are break times for us and Jocelyn found a lavender morotcycle to go with the colour in her hair.
And her hair is a popular subject of conversation in Ukraine.
I added to my collection of cups. We are better together! Thank you for your prayers and support. We are better together. Your support means so much in Ukraine.
Please join the conversation and post a comment below. Thank you.
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