(In part 2 of this story, the writer describes her recent visit to the Good Samaritan Children’s Home as part of a short-term mission trip. Last year, the children’s home relocated from Mariupol, Ukraine, to Germany to escape the Russian invasion. In part 1, she focused primarily on the history of the children’s home.)
By Laura McKillip Wood
In 1993, I was a college student and made a life-changing decision to go on a summer internship to Ukraine. That summer I met my future husband, and I also met people who would become lifelong friends. Our lives became intertwined in ways I could never have imagined when I stepped off that airplane in Kyiv 30 years ago. Later, two weeks after I graduated from college, I moved to Ukraine to teach missionary kids. I stayed for five years.
PRESENT TIME
This summer, I found myself again embarking on a short-term mission trip. This time I went to Germany with a group from Mulberry International to work with Ukrainian refugees at Good Samaritan Children’s Home. Mulberry’s ministry focuses on people affected by the war in Ukraine. They provide humanitarian aid to internally displaced people, and they sponsor Good Samaritan, which relocated from Mariupol, Ukraine, to Germany at the beginning of the war.
Our group went to lead a camp for the children and to give the staff some rest. Staff members have been caring for the children for over a year now without much of a break, and we thought we might be able to provide some respite. We also hoped to help with trauma healing for the kids and the workers.
But honestly, what were we thinking? Of course, no one responsible for 29 children can just close up shop and go take a nap! The children’s home staff knew better than we did that a big group of Americans really could not run a children’s home on their own without guidance and help from the ones who do it every day. So, as do all well-intentioned short-term missions trip participants, we ended up needing a lot of help from the experts, and we probably benefitted as much, if not more, from the experience than they did.
FLEXIBILITY
A friend of mine always says, “Flexibility is the key to good mental health,” and we tested this on the trip.
I traveled with Beverly, a massage therapist at the children’s hospital where we both work. We almost missed two flights due to delays, and we arrived in Germany to find that our bags had not. Others in our group experienced similar obstacles, and three did not arrive until the conclusion of the first day of camp. Never mind that one of those three was camp director and had most of the supplies with her!
Despite a rocky start, we found our footing. Part of the group implemented plans for the camp, and the others were therapists who hoped to provide trauma healing activities for the kids and staff. Three of our members spent the entire time procuring and preparing food, along with some of the children’s home staff. Beverly filled every day giving massages.
In our communications with the kitchen staff, we heard their stories of fleeing from Mariupol in the midst of fighting. They had a harrowing trip across the width of Ukraine, with 29 children and the staff and their families packed into vans, uncertain where exactly they were heading and how they would live once they settled somewhere.
CONNECTING AND RECONNECTING
My favorite parts of our short-term trip involved seeing people I had not seen in years. I reconnected with one of the Ukrainian translators. We talked about our lives, sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly. I looked at her, thinking about our friendship, and said, “How have 30 years passed, and it feels like we have never been apart?” I have raised three children almost completely to adulthood since those days!
I knew her story of leaving Ukraine and resettling somewhere new, and she knew my life’s story, too. But being there together, actually looking each other in the eye—that was valuable.
Those on our team who worked with the children told stories of making connections with them. Natasha Reimer, a Ukrainian living in America who serves as CEO of Mulberry, described a conversation she translated between our teammate Josh and a boy named Alyosha*.
Alyosha’s alcoholic mother was neglectful and lost custody of him. He came to the home to live. Through Natasha, Josh described the many positive qualities he saw in Alyosha. Josh told Alyosha that God loved him and had plans for him. Natasha recalls feeling the emotion between them as Josh talked; his words were going straight into Alyosha’s heart. The boy burst out crying and grabbed Josh, hugging him tightly. Josh hugged him back and continued pouring positive words into this boy’s life. That was valuable.
Beverly, our massage therapist, had not traveled much internationally, so this was a first for her. One day she asked for my help in speaking with one of the staff members who was bringing her daughter, Masha, for a massage. When the girl arrived, she resisted, and begged her mom not to make her get a massage. Her mom explained that massage therapists in Ukraine who had treated Masha’s scoliosis had been very rough with her. As a result, she feared massage.
Masha did not understand English, but Beverly’s soothing tone and soft touch served to calm her. Beverly offered Masha her phone, and the girl began playing games on it. By the end of the massage, Masha said, “Now I want to take a nap!”
Masha’s mom brought her daughter back every day, and by the end of the week, Masha, her mom, and her dad were all taking selfies with Beverly and communicating despite the language barrier. That was valuable.
Did we change the world on this trip? No. Did we accomplish even half of what we had planned? Probably not. Despite this, God gave our team a better understanding of the situations many Ukrainians are going through. And God worked through these servants to inject his love into their lives.
I pray that God uses whatever experiences we all had to change our lives just a little, to make us all more sensitive to what he is doing in the world, and to help us feel connected and loved.
*The names of the Ukrainian children have been changed.
Laura McKillip Wood, former missionary to Ukraine, lives in Papillion, Nebraska, and writes about missions for Christian Standard.
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