Home / Testimonies

Testimonies

Testimonies from sponsored children

Stella’s heartfelt comments about this program

I would say that this program can be life-changing. When you are poor, you feel like the world has turned its back on you. However, here in this program, we learned there are people who care about you and your situation.

When I was little, I didn’t understand much. Yet, every time I saw my mother crying with joy when we were given food packages, this gave me hope that we were not alone; there are people who care and pray for us.

When we came to church, we realized that we would not be lost. We felt accepted and loved, which is very important when you live in despair and hopelessness. Our life story and all the changes we are experiencing are related to my participation in the Child Sponsor project. Stella

Anna’s letter to her sponsor

[A child’s letter to her sponsor after she was adopted into a family and, therefore, was leaving the program.]

Dear Theo! I am sincerely thankful to God for you. Thank you very much for your help and nice presents.

I had a good and peaceful life at the ARK Children’s Home with Aunt Liliya, where I had everything: good friends, delicious food, and the love of everyone who worked there.

I also loved Christian camps and holidays at lakes. I learned to read the Bible and know Psalm 90 by heart. I love Jesus, my God, very much. When I grow up, I want to serve Him. Now, I try to be obedient and attentive to what I am taught.

Recently, my mother lost her parental rights because of her alcoholism, and because of this, my brother and I cannot live in Ark anymore.

The Child Protection Services came and wanted to take us to an orphanage, but Aunt Liliya stood up for us and did not let us go.

She started looking for a family for us, and we all prayed. God helped us and provided a good Christian Aunt to visit us. She liked us, and we liked her too. So, my brother and I will now live with her family.

We miss the Ark orphanage. It was very nice to live there and that’s the place where I got to know you… and now we have to say goodbye.

I love you and thank you for everything. May God bless you very abundantly in your life, and I wish you all the best! With love, Anna.

Ivana’s letter to her sponsor

Dear John and Lydia, I would like to express deep gratitude to you for your kind and loving heart as well as for those long years of care, support and prayers for me and my family. I am also thankful to the program for introducing God and the House of Prayer (Church) to me and my family.

I am deeply grateful to this program for the monthly food packages, which rescued all of us from hunger, because frequently we had nothing to eat. For this reason this very support gave us a chance to keep going.

Thanks for the gifts for me and my family. My biggest regret from this great program is that I did not have a chance to meet my sponsor in real life, but I pray for them.

My most memorable highlights of the program were the summer camps. Those were wonderful days spent with new friends, playing games and doing activities, the food was delicious, and overall, we had such a great time. When a camp was over, we still kept in touch with one another and attended Sunday services at the church. This was such a memorable period in my life.

I would like to become a cook, and I dream of one day of setting up a café in my village, where you could find delicious coffee and various deserts and I would also treat poor kids who cannot afford to buy things in my cafe.

Because of our caseworker and God, I would not have participated in the project and realized that there are people out there who love and pray for you, even though they have never met you.

I would ask you to continue to sponsor Ukrainian children, especially in such difficult times. Families, like ours and many others, are in dire need of support, as there are occasions when there is literally nothing to eat. And for this reason, if you are capable of helping Ukrainians, please, keep pushing forward. Ivana

Maria & Mariana’s letter to their sponsors

Dear Verda & Henry,

We are grateful for everything we received from this program: food, presents, letters, and, more importantly, for our sponsors’ loving and sensitive hearts. They gave us so much throughout all those years. We truly thought they were our relatives. We were bitterly crying while reminiscing about those moments, since time went by so fast.

For us, the best part was summer camps. It was a lot of fun: games, various clubs and delicious food, especially snacks.

We were incredibly glad to receive presents from the sponsor. We thanked God for the best sponsor on earth. And when we were given a new fridge, our mother could help but burst out crying out of pure joy and happiness. Thanks for your good deeds.

We received fascinating letters from Verda, we were keenly awaiting to read news from her life. Then we wrote about ourselves, those were true fiction. We will miss our sponsor.

We are twins. When our mother gave birth to us, she fell ill, the medical treatment she required was incredibly expensive. However, God sent you to us, thus my family was more than glad for support that we received from God. We obtained food and clothes every month, we are immensely grateful to Him.

We loved the presents! Our sponsor Verda loved us so much and sent a lot of clothes, dolls and other things to us. My sister and I could never decide who goes for what, as whenever I picked something, my sister wanted it in no time. Therefore, oftentimes we argued about it. These are our wonderful memories.

Our relationship with our sponsor was warm, friendly and loving. Our sponsor is the best and was special. And our caseworker Maria was like our second mother. We all looked up to her, as she put her heart into working with children.

With love, Maria and Mariana

Testimonies from caseworkers

The Child Sponsor project is successful in Ukraine, because it not only speaks about God’s love, but shows it. When a person is hungry or doesn’t have clothes to wear it is difficult to tell him/her “God loves you”, but when we offer our help through this project and at the same time tell them about God’s love, people’s hearts open up, because they feel sincere help and support and not only nice words. Lena

When we invited a little girl, Inna to become a part of CSP project, I saw a spark of hope in her mother’s eyes; she said: “Praise God that there are people, who do this kind of good work. I was in depression, and I didn’t know where to turn. My Inna is often ill, and we don’t have money for her medical treatment. When you told us: “There are people (Sponsors), who are eager to help you,” I thought, “There is a God and He didn’t forget about me and my little girl! Oksana

The Child Sponsor Program is unique, because it gives us a possibility to visit families every month and bring them food products. These packages are like a passes for us to the family. They give us an opportunity to get acquainted with many families, to make friends with them, to talk about Jesus Christ, to help them to solve their problems and tell them about our Lord, who changes lives for better. Oksana

This project changes the lives of many families for better. Even closed and hardened heart opens and softens because of love and care it gets thanks to this project. Olha

The CSP project is special, because it works through the church, allowing the members of the local church to take care of other people and tell them about God. The project helps us to pay attention to needy people. It encourages us to visit such families regularly, spend time with their children and help guide them through life.

Many guardians and parents, who are parts of CSP project say: “This project saves them.” After receiving their food packages, they start crying. The families pray for their sponsors and thank God for opening hearts of those people and for giving them a desire to help others. Serhey

The biggest joy is that some of the kids and parents accept Jesus Christ into their hearts and become members of the church. It is a pleasure to see how the child is happy to receive a letter from you, how his or her eyes are twinkling with happiness while receiving a present from you on Birthday or Christmas. Mariya

Greetings to you dear Sponsor! I am grateful to God for the opportunity to be the part of “HART” ministry. Thank you for your love to Ukraine and Ukrainian children. We work together with you in Jesus Christ’s team. We follow his commands to spread God’s Word, take care of widows, orphans and those who need our help. Iryna

Testimonies from sponsors

Glenn and Valerie A. (Vancouver, Canada)

Our thanks are not enough to express how grateful we are to HART. They provide the foundation, infrastructure, and an amazing team built by its founder. We could have never imagined this opportunity to become involved with changing hearts and lives in Ukraine.

Michael & Svitlana from Canada

Michael & Svitlana from Canada after meeting their sponsored child in Ukraine:

Svitlana and I were able to visit Iryna and her family this last Saturday, October 25th. We drove from Ternopil and Pastor Volodymyr met us just outside the village to guide us to the right place, as now I realize we would have never found it on our own.

It was a beautiful and sunny day, and the surrounding countryside was amazing. Although the drive was not that long, it seemed to take forever as our anticipation was so great. We did not know what to expect and hundreds of thoughts were going through our minds.

Nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to experience. It was absolutely amazing! Iryna’s mother came out to greet us. She was just about in tears as she could not believe that we were coming from so far away to visit them. She was truly humbled.

So was I frankly, when I saw the conditions this family lives in. But they are truly an example of gratitude! We did not realize that there were so many children in the family, 7 altogether. The girls were so well behaved and polite. They showed us their chickens and ducks and little dog.

Luckily, we brought enough little gifts that there was enough for everybody, along with some groceries. We stayed and had tea and cake and got to know them. It was truly a delight, and I think they were very happy to have met us.

I must say that this meeting has had a profound effect on both of us and we look forward to an even deeper and more meaningful relationship now that we have met them in person.

Iryna is certainly a wonderful girl, and we feel honored to be a tiny part of their lives. Thank you so much for making it possible for us to meet with them. We were able to take some wonderful pictures that are wonderful keepsakes for us.

Ruth was an 80 year-old Sponsor from the USA

Ruth was an 80 year-old Sponsor from the USA, who traveled to Ukraine to see her sponsored children:

“I have just arrived back from Ukraine. What an experience to visit with two of the boys we have sponsored for over 10 years and the mother of the third boy. We were unable to see him since now he is very ill with cerebral palsy.

The thrilling part of our visit was to see their happy faces as we exchanged hugs, and to know they love Jesus. I am so pleased to have had a small part in these boys lives through HART which not only helps provide for their material needs but for their spiritual needs as well.

Now that I am no longer able to sponsor the boys due to their age, I have the joy of sponsoring two other little boys who I was also able to meet.” Ruth

From Kathy Jo (Ruth’s daughter)

“A year ago, my mom expressed an interest in travelling to Ukraine to meet the boys she and my late father sponsored. My first response was doubt; I doubted my 80-something-year-old mother would enjoy such a long and difficult trip, I doubted I would be able to organize the flights, hotel, language barrier of an international adventure, and I doubted we would be able to connect with all the boys, considering their age differences and geographic locations.

All of my doubts began to melt away as I emailed and communicated with the HART staff in Canada and Ukraine. I was provided concise answers to my questions and before long, the travel plans were finalized.

From the planning stages to our final day in Lviv, we felt very supported and loved by HART staff and volunteers. They took care of all the details of our meeting the boys and even helped us overcome language barriers so we could enjoy some Ukrainian culture while we were there!

Thank-you, HART, for all the time and effort you put forth on behalf of the less fortunate children in Ukraine!” Kathy Jo