A young woman asked me if I would help her to spread the word about a fundraiser she was doing at her church in Denver.
While I get requests like this all the time, this young person’s tenacity and love for others impressed me and her essay below about what this experience meant to her is sure to touch your heart and hopefully help you to open your pockets to some young people who never make it to the news but who deserve a hand.
Fundraising for Odessa Orphans
Saturday, Jun 4 2011
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Ralston Valley High School (MAP Below)
13355 West 80th Avenue
Arvada, CO 80005
Call: 720-984-1002
What do you wanna be when you grow up? A crocodile hunter? A space explorer? A princess?
If you’re anything like me, you want to leave your mark on this world. To leave a legacy. To be remembered. To change the world.
But time is quickly slipping through your fingers and you have yet to write a book, invent something brilliant, rescue those dying of AIDS in Africa, run for president or even be the super parent your kids deserve.
Mother Teresa once said, “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”
Last year, fifteen teenagers decided we were gonna travel to Ukraine, to a forgotten little orphanage, at the end of a dirty little street. We did garage sales, sold cookies, knocked on the doors of corporate businesses and churches until finally we had enough to pack fifteen suitcases of presents and board a plane.
Once there, we were heartbroken over the things we saw, the children we met and the stories we heard. We saw a run down building with barred windows. We met little boys who had stolen to survive, been accused of assisted murder, seen their fathers kill their mothers before their very own eyes. We met twelve-years-olds who had watched their friends die in front of them and re-live it in their nightmares. Some had been separated from their siblings. Most had been completely abandoned by their parents, all had been stripped of any semblance to a normal childhood. We listened to their stories. Gave them toys. We played chess with them. We taught them songs and dressed up in costumes to do a play for them… small things, but done with great love.
And now, a year later, we, the youth group of Bethel Russian Church, are going back to Ukraine, back to the little orphanage and back to the little boys we met. But this time we’re rescuing them from their monotone lives and taking them to the Black Sea, to give them a summer camp. To allow them to play and be normal children for a week.
So what does this have to do with you?
Mother Teresa seemed to think that life wasn’t about changing the entire world, but about the little things. Volunteering. Giving the waiter a nice tip. Taking your child to the park. Buying your spouse flowers. Mailing your mom a card. And its interesting that showing great love in the small things is in fact the great thing that we can do in this life.
In July, we will be doing a small thing for a few little boys with great love, yet we need the plane ticket to get there.
And so we offer you, your own opportunity to do a small thing with great love by helping us raise money at our Fundraising for Ukraine Mission Trip on June 4th at Ralston Valley High School 10-3pm. It is more than just a fundraiser. Check out our F event here:
Ukraine Mission Trip Fundraiser event on Facebook
KLove is supporting this effort as well... so why don’t you help these dedicated young folks get to the Ukraine to bring some light into these children’s lives so far away from our relatively easy lives here in the states.
Fundraising for Odessa Orphans
Saturday, Jun 4 2011
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Ralston Valley High School
13355 West 80th Avenue
Arvada, CO 80005
Call: 720-984-1002
Bethel Russian Church: Odessa Ukraine Outreach from Sean Hagwell on Vimeo.
Bethel Church is taking a 2 week mission trip to Ukraine! They go every summer, this being their 3rd year, and this summer is a bit more difficult financially due to higher prices for plane tickets. There will be 16 adults and youth going to bless underprivileged children with gifts, meals, games, and love!
There will be 30 vendors at this event and each one of them will be donating at least 10% of their profits to the mission trip. There will also be a GARAGE SALE with all proceeds going to the Ukraine orphans!
Please come shop in support of the orphans in Ukraine! You will be able to taste, touch, and experience the vendors services. You will also be handed a bag when you walk in the door. The bag will be filled with information and/or discounts and deals from each vendor that is present and some coupons/deals from outside vendors such as free 5oz. frozen yogurt from FroYo. Event vendors and outside vendors have donated items to be raffled at the event, such as a one night stay at The Curtis Hotel.
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Enjoy the photo gallery below from past years mission trips.
Photo Credits: Sean Heather Hagwell
What an amazing effort on the part of this young woman. Such a worthy cause!