Caring for
ORPHANS
Our work is focused on showing the love of Jesus to orphans in Ukraine. We work with orphanages to meet children's basic needs while building loving relationships with them.
Renewing
FAMILIES
Most Ukrainian orphans we meet are connected to relatives who often live in challenging circumstances. We try to engage with them to renew their faith, by providing practical and spiritual support.
Growing
COMMUNITY
God wants us to live in community. We connect children & families with local Cherkassy camps, schools and churches so they can build a relationship with Jesus and the Christian community.
Julie almost lands herself in a Ukrainian jail!
Here I am on the airplane from Amsterdam heading home to Atlanta, and I want to write down a little memory of camp before I forget it. It’s so hard to think of individual moments because the entire week at Kompas Park was momentous.
A piece of my heart remains in Ukraine
When I think about my time as a volunteer at Kompas Park camp, it is very difficult to narrow my thoughts to one event that would describe my experience. I could have never expected the connection I would make with each of the children in my group in such a short period of time as well as the impact we would make as a group.
Charlie comes back for more at Kompas Park!
Volunteering at Kompas Park has yielded two of the most eye opening and life changing summers of my life. When Cyndee Knight brings a team of Americans to Ukraine with her, our job is not to show the kids the gospel and love of Jesus through our words, but through our actions. So even though I could barely communicate with these children, I was able to form bonds with them that could only be brought about by God's grace and love.
Remembering God’s Perfect Love in a World of Broken Love
As Valentine’s Day draws near, our grocery stores, social media feeds, and homes are filled with pink and red. Flowers, heart-shaped chocolates, cards with cute puppies, and love songs fill our senses. Discussions on love surround us and some of our favorite romantic movie quotes come to mind – “You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love you” (Pride and Prejudice, anyone??). In the midst of all this, how do we think about love in light of what John says in the verse above – God IS love? What does that mean for us, and specifically, how does that affect the way we serve orphans and families in Ukraine?
Hope Now Ministries in Ukraine - Sponsor Orphans from the US
Hope Now Ministries is a USA based Christian charity focusing on the orphan community in central Ukraine. We continue the work that our founder and missionary Rev. Vic Jackopson started in 1992. Again and again, God shows His deep abiding love for widows and orphans throughout scripture. In everything we do, all of us at Hope Now aim to bring glory to God while serving His most precious ones. Our attention is centered around orphans, families and community.Over the years, Hope Now USA has a developed a special relationship with Shpola Orphanage – including the Directors, as well as the 140 children who call Shpola home. We partner with the staff, in their own words “to help them realize their dreams for the orphanage.” Together, we have improved the physical living conditions of the children by sponsoring several building projects and implementing a school uniform program. Our teacher training curriculum was greeted enthusiastically and continues today. Our volunteer teams are welcomed anytime, especially for our regular Sunday School Days and numerous camps. Our child sponsorship program offers Hope Now donors a unique way to connect the love of Christ to His children in Ukraine.
We all need a loving family to thrive. Frequently, Shpola families have been broken apart by life's challenges, but some of these families can be renewed. Hope Now cares for many families of orphans who struggle to live a full life. The Lord guides us to mothers who desire to raise their own children, but who need the loving support of Christ, a mentor and a hand up.
Children graduate from Shpola at the end of 9th grade and their life at the orphanage comes to an end. Hopefully, with encouragement, most continue on to Trade School education but this means moving to a new city, living in a public dormitory and being assigned a social worker. With the help of several talented and dedicated seminary students, Hope Now Ministries has developed a thriving Youth Group for Shpola graduates that meets each week in the town of Cherkassy, where many graduates relocate from Shpola. They can relax with familiar faces, share each other’s burdens, form relationships with Christian mentors, all while learning about God’s great love for them. Here, they are eased into a caring Christian community.
To facilitate our efforts, Hope Now USA partners with local churches and charities in the Cherkassy region. Each organization offers opportunities for orphans and families to connect with their local community. Christian leaders are active in the organizations we support and they bring the strength of community to the lives of the lost.
