2013 Summer Camps! This is our 21st year of working with the orphaned and abandoned children in the former Soviet Union. 

We will begin our 21st year of Little Lambs Summer Camps in just 6 weeks! Our first team will be traveling from the U.S. to Ukraine at the beginning of June.  They will be working with our Ukrainian partners and helping to run a Christan camp for children in one of the country's many orphanages. 

We will be sending two other teams from the U.S. and there will be an additional six teams of Ukrainians holding camps in orphanages throughout the summer. 

Please pray for our teams and consider helping to financially supporting the camps as well!

Every summer we hear similar stories from each of the children: they have alcoholic parents, there is abuse and neglect at home so they are either kicked out or choose to leave home and the orphanage takes them in. Their stories then conclude with each of them saying in one way or another: "I want to have a family." By working hand in hand with local evangelical churches and individuals from around Ukraine we hope to reach out to these children - show them the hope and love of Christ and help them become self-sufficient, contributing members of society.

"It pays to go and cry, and be tired, hungry, and suffer disrespect.  It pays to give up the comforts of our homes and be laughed at.  It pays to give your all so that those who have not known any joy could laugh and those who are hungry may be fed God's truth.  You do this so children will realize that they are unique and special to God and so they will become bearers of God's Salvation to at least one needy soul."  - Sasha, orphanage graduate who attended Little Lambs camps as a child

We are still hoping to ship our 64^th Humanitarian Aid Container in the coming weeks.  Initially the container was scheduled to be shipped in the fall of 2012.  However, the shipping date for this container has continued to be pushed back for months now, due to new regulations that have been introduced concerning all containers that are shipped into Ukraine.  There are over 500 containers that have been held at the border of Ukraine or have not shipped due to the process of instituting these new regulations. 

Please pray with us that the Ukrainian government would look with favor on Little Lambs Ministry and our partners in Ukraine, and would approve the shipment of this humanitarian aid container. 

Pray also for the timing of the shipment’s arrival.  It may occur during the Summer Camps, which is the busiest time for our Ukrainian partners.

We will continue to collect relief items until the Summer of 2014! 

We will need the following items for our container shipments:                        

• Care Packs: 1 bar of soap, 1 large 4.6 oz tube of toothpaste, 1 toothbrush, 1 washcloth, 1 comb, 1 small toy
• Shoes: New or slightly worn sneakers, gym shoes, and flat leather shoes. (child size 13 - adult 11)
•  Socks and underwear: (NEW ONLY)                                              
•  Backpacks and school supplies
• Children's Clothes: new or slightly worn jeans, t-shirts, shorts, sweaters, fleeces, jackets, etc. (child size 6 to adult medium)     

During the months of June, July and August LLM and the Bible League of Canada have been working together with many church planters in Armenia, Romania, Belarus, Russia, Serbia and Moldova helping them organize VBS camps. We were able to help our partners in Eurasia to organize 289 camps with a total attendance of over 12,000 children. The thrilling thing is that the children not only had fun, but many of them met their Savior Jesus Christ in the process.

Pray for wisdom for the church planters and hundreds of their assistant volunteers as they organize the on-going discipleship programs during the following months for those who started to attend churches as a result of this program now.

Last summer was our second year working with village children in Moldova.  Even though we did not have a team for Moldova our Moldovan brothers and sisters did not give up the program.  We helped two small village churches with their VBS program.  173 children participated in the programs last summer and many families received needed clothing, blankets and, carepacks.  In one of the villages, during the final celebration of the week, many of the children's parents attended as well as the village mayor.  The mayor publicly expressed his appreciation for us and promised his support for this ministry in the future!

We are planning to grow and expand this important ministry to help the church planters inthe small villages reach more children during next summer in Moldova, Armenia, and beyond.  We would like to send a few teams to help next summer and if you are interested, please let us know.

A few years ago the Ukrainian government recognized the need to financially support and promote foster families and family homes.  This has created a great opportunity for Christian families to take in children from orphanages and start a home for 6-8 children.  Hundreds of Christian families have already taken orphans into their homes and hundreds more are willing, but do not have what the government would consider sufficient housing. 

In the last three years Little Lambs has taken on the role of helping families with certain housing projects so that they will have sufficient housing in order to be government approved to take children into their home.  We have helped several families expand their living space by adding on a bedroom or turning a garage into a bedroom. We have also helped families renovate their kitchen or bathroom, and other families we have helped financially so that they can afford to move into a larger apartment that could accommodate more children. 

What an amazing opportunity it has been to help provide a home and a family for so many children!

These are our Current Housing Projects:

Sergey and Natasha have fixed up half of the building they received from the government in Sherbinovka and have already taken in 5 children.  Little Lambs helped them to buy a heating system for their home.  Right now they need help purchasing a van for their family. 

Oleg and Sveta in Zolotanosha need to add a bathroom and addition 2 rooms.  They have taken in 5 children and want to take in 5 more.  They need $2000 for the plumbing and drywall. 

Maxim and Tanya have taken in 6 children and would like to add 2 more bedrooms for more children.  They need $3000 for the construction.

Oksana and Vladimir have adopted one boy and would like to take in 4 more boys, but they live in a 2 room apartment.  They have found a house for $12,500 and are praying for God's direction. 

We are so excited to help these families provide a home for orphaned children.  It is absolutely the best for these children to be in a good home and have a family that loves them.  These projects range from between $1500 - $12,500.  Together we can help provide a home for a child!