VISITING ORPHANS IN THE U.S.

A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to visit my friends in the United States. It was a wonderful trip to the wonderful State of Florida. During my short time there I was able to attend a men’s conference in Orlando, get aquatinted with  Southeastern University in Lakeland, and visit several families that had adopted orphans from Zaporozhye, Ukraine. While I was in Florida God revealed to me so many things about Himself, His Church, and His people. Most of all I was impressed and moved by what I learned about orphans.  This is what I would like to share with you now.

New Hope Center is a ministry that focuses on helping orphans who have aged out of orphanages. Being the Center director, I see orphans, hear about them, and deal with people who work with them every day. After doing all of this for four and a half years, do you think I know much about orphans? Do you think I understand their needs? Do you think I know how to help them change their lives for the better? I thought I did! Then God showed me something during my trip to the US, something I had not clearly seen before.

Family is the best place for an orphan to be. No doubt about it! This is God’s plan for children — to be raised in a loving family, not in an institution such as an orphanage. And blessed are those kids who have had a chance to be adopted into a family, even more – a loving, Christian family in United States! What morecould an orphan dream about?! Loving parents, their own room, healthy and tasty food, clothing, education that promises a good future, a safe environment, and so much more than they could ever imagine growing up in an orphanage.

However, orphans who get adopted, feel like they have missed something in life. They cannot figure out what it is exactly that they are looking for, but they began to search for it. “Search” is a soft word I am using for misbehavior (even this one is too soft…). Quite often these “misbehaviors” have very serious consequences for both the kids who were once orphans and their parents. We are talking now about lost money and health, lost trust, broken relationships, physical and emotional damages and hurts. Yes, it hurts! It hurts to see someone you love not trusting you or listening to your good advice. It hurts when you try to build relationships again and again and just cannot succeed. Finally, your hands go down and you ask yourself if you can really make it work.

Visiting families in the U.S. who have adopted children andhearing what both the parents and their new family members have to say, I learned that both the parents and their children have the same challenges as the ones here in Ukraine. It isn’t because the parents are not trying hard enough, nor is it because the children are being disobedient and do not appreciate their parents’ efforts. The challenges in these families that have adopted from the U.S. are the same as a family who adopts locally, and the same that we face in our group homes in Zaporozhye.  The challenge is the same because orphans are the same.

Orphans are the same whether or not they get adopted. They are the same whether they have a chance to live in a country with a better economical level or not, whether they are 16-17 years old or ten year down the road, because of one major reason — I call it a broken heart. Yes, an orphan’s heart is broken by abandonment or loss, wounded with an unsatisfied deep loneliness, and full of suffering and pain. As people of grace and love we do our best to love and care for orphans in a very real way. But unless God touches an orphan’s heart, it will continue to be broken. Unless God heals, the wounds will continue to produce pain.  This pain will not allow orphans to enjoy the great abundance of blessings they have in families that have adopted them. What shall be done? How can parents or any one else help orphans be healed?

As simple as it seems, prayer is the answer. Helping orphans learn the life skills they need to succeed is necessary and very helpful. But the most important thing of all is asking God to heal  their broken hearts. Do you believe God answers prayer? Pray for orphans! Become an intercessor for orphans who pray constantly asking God to touch their hearts and heal them.  We all know that often God chooses to work His miracles through His people, letting us be a part of and witness His miraculous work.

God says that as Christians we need to visit orphans in their distress (James 1:27). After visiting orphans who now have parents, after seeing that they still have lots of distress, after God showed me the brokenness and need for healing, I want to pray for orphans now more than ever. I want to urge you, who care for orphans, to do the same. Let us become intercessors for orphans following our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Great Intercessor! And may God bless all of us to be able to see His miracles of healingin these orphans’ hearts!

Maxim Oliferovski

P.S. I want to thank all the people and families who let me stay at their house during my trip. You became very dear to me. May God bless you abundantly and fill you with His joy that does not depend on circumstances and never ends! See you later, alligator:)

Read more about my trip to the U.S. by visiting my TRAVEL BLOG at maxtravelings.blogspot.com (Sorry it’s in Russian — Google translate might be helpful:)