God's Hidden Treasures
Youth and Orphan Ministry
Within two weeks of arriving to Ukraine, Nita Hanson went to her first orphanage, Veloshka, where God broke her heart for the plight of the orphans. She discovered a system which is the same throughout the former Soviet Union. Children are housed in different facilities depending upon their mental and physical conditions.
Nita visiting the orphanage Veloshka
While there are countless thousands of “orphans” in Ukraine, the vast majority of these children are social orphans. They have parents, but have been placed in the orphanages due to parental abuse, economic need, or simply because they are handicapped.
God's Hidden Treasures visits and gives financial aid to numerous orphanages around Bila Tsrekva, Ukraine. Every week we teach the Bible, sing worship songs, and do crafts and games with the children. We run a Vacation Bible School every Summer for the children, bring Operation Christmas Child gifts in winter, and do special events throughout the year. We've taken the kids on excursions in Kiev to the Water Park, Chocolate Factor, Dolphin Show and much more. Here are just a few of the photos from the different orphanages.
God's Hidden Treasures also ministers to children with special needs. We host two summer camps every year. Our social workers work with a group of young people, hold meets every Friday. We have special celebrations at major holidays like Christmas and Easter. In 2018 we hosted our very first prom for people with special needs called Night to Shine, with the Tim Tebow Foundation. Many of the children attend worship services at our Church of Hope with their families. Our camp has an incredible impact on the lives of those who attend. Some of our former campers have now become volunteers at our camp. Some have gone on to be lawyers, nurses, teachers, we even have some who've won gold medals at the Special Olympics in wheelchair fencing. Check out the video about our camp below.
Please pray for God's continued blessings on the lives of our youth. For more about our camp from last year. Visit our blog!
https://godshiddentreasures.wordpress.com/2017/06/28/vbs-camp-2017/