Project Description
CHILDREN’S OUTREACH
Pastor Alexander was a charity worker in Donetsk Region. Due to the war in Eastern Ukraine, Alexander and his family had to leave the area in 2014. He at one time hid for one week in a basement as he was on a hit list of Pastors that would be put in prison. Some Pastors were killed and some wounded.
Many families lived in fear and along with Alexander and his family they escaped in their cars at great personal risk to themselves.
Pastor Alexander first moved to a place called Poltarva, across the border. In the occupied area many people did not receive a pension for 6 months and 16 people died of starvation. Money donated from Door of hope was used at this time to bring food to people in this region.
For many years in the so called red zone between the occupied and unoccupied areas, Alexander ran the Angel of Light Centre in a village called Zhelannoye, along with a team of church volunteers. This centre provided safety and support to children and young adults who fled the areas where conflict happened. Many of the children lost family members as well as parents because of the violence and the devastation that happened in their home village. With many children fleeing into devastated areas of Ukraine, local councils were picking these children up and placing them into children’s homes where on many occasions were subjected to abuse.
In March 2024 we sadly had to say goodbye to the wonderful “Angel of light” centre because of the invasion of the Russian Forces within Zhelannoye. Pastor Alexandr and his family moved to Poltava and set up a new project for the children, this time called the “Kids of Light”
In a small village just on the outskirts of Poltava, the “Kids of Light” sits proudly, caring for children who have been mentally scarred by the sadness that has happened to them. The children wanted to change the name so that it reminded them less of what still hurts.
There are many poor families in the Poltava region, with a large number of refugees. Many of the children that attend still come from broken homes but due to the ongoing Ukraine conflict, many are also orphans.
With the ever growing number of children and families now attending the centre, Door of Hope is seeing a rapidly growing need for centre’s such as these.
A LIFE LINE WITHIN THIS COMMUNITY
The “Kids of Light” Centre is a life line within this community not only offering support and wellbeing for the youngsters suffering these atrocities but also being involved with outreach work for the elderly and people with disabilities, taking food parcels and aid when needed to people who struggle to leave their homes.
Door of Hope continue’s to support the ongoing work that our long term friend “Pastor Alexander” and his volunteers achieve for the lives of these children and families. – Love and Prayers
