The more we began to get to know our guys, the more we felt our lack of knowledge and experience in working with such needy teens. These kids had already gone through some really hard times in their young lives and their hearts had been deeply wounded time and time again. How could we help them find healing? Where were we supposed to find the time, attention and patience for each one…
My family and I are living in an adaptation center with anywhere from 10-16 teenagers. (This doesn't include our own four children.) As a leader in an adaption center, you feel the constant burden of responsibility for all aspects of this special ministry. Working with and training the teens; taking care of the house, outbuildings and garden; church ministry, all of this takes its toll. At times, when your strength and resolve flags, you feel like you're at the end of your rope, just wrung dry, inside and out...
Over the past 4 years, 10 Adaptation Centers for teenage orphanage graduates have been opened around Ukraine. These centers are staffed by committed Christians who desire to serve needy teens - Adaptation Center Leaders, people who have obeyed the call of God and accepted this difficult ministry as from Him...
From March 17-20 at the Nehemiah Educational Centre in Uzhgorod, Ukraine, Agape conducted the 3rd session of our Ministry School for Adaptation Center Leaders.
It was a time of studying, sharing experience, and fellowship...
House parents, adoptive parents and leaders of adaption centers openly shared of the real life challenges and victories of ministry, the tears and joy of their daily life with others who had also committed themselves a life of serving needy children and teens.
Despite the current unrest in our country, Agape Ministries continues to serve the Christian community in Ukraine through providing training for local believers. We are constantly conducting seminars, sharing new ministry ideas and distributing our curriculum for Bible lessons in orphanages..
From January 27th-31st, the third session of Agape's 10th Annual Ministry School was held at Lvov Theological Seminary in Lvov, Ukraine.
Over the course of the week, the students attended lectures on the topics of Conflictology and Psychology from a Christian viewpoint. The lecturers were Edward Sivets from Khmelnitsky and Oksana Malishuk from Kiev.
This was a very important set of lectures for our students, people who have committed themselves to ministering to orphans...
In March of 2013, Agape Ministries kicked off a new outreach project that we’re calling “Mentorship.”
The main thrust of this project is quite simple: to find Mentors, people who will take responsibility for one orphan child, being a friend, a teacher and an advisor who will faithfully walk with them as they grow up and move on into adult life.
From December 2-6, the 2nd session of Agape’s 10th Annual Ministry School took place in Uzhgorod, Ukraine.
The Ministry School is a special program designed to prepare Christians for orphanage ministry, and is made up of 5 week long sessions over the course of a year.
The subjects covered in this session were: working with traumatized children, psychology of traumatized children, types of child raising, and 4 steps to healthy personhood.
From the 18th-22nd of November 2013, close on the heels of Agape’s seminar in Volgograd, Russia, another seminar on ministry to orphans and other high-risk children was conducted in Russia. This seminar was held in ‘Blessings Church’ of Angarsk, a city in the Irkutsk Region of Russia and was a joint effort of Agape Ministries and The Emmanuel Association of Russia. The seminar attendees were from all over the Irkutsk Region, from Irkutsk and Angarsk as well as Taishet, Bratsk, Energetik and Erbogachon.
November 11-15, Agape Ministries conducted a Training Seminar in Volgograd, Russia for Christians who want to minister to orphans and other at-risk children. The seminar was taught by a team from Agape Ministries, Ukraine. The seminar was held in “Light to The World”, a Christian Cultural Center. More than 30 people attended, from Volgograd, Volzhsk, Kirovo-Chepetsk, and Saransk (Republic of Mordovia).