To put it simply, we want to establish a home in Ukraine where God can form a family.
In Ukraine, thousands of children are still living in institutionalized care. Thousands more are at-risk as the western region of Ukraine has the highest death rates among children in the country. Yet by the year 2026, Ukraine plans to do away with institutionalized care so that every child may be placed and grow up in a family home environment.
We believe it is God who puts the lonely in families. It is our heart that the children within the One Life Matters home would know the extravagant, unending love of their heavenly Father. Our aim is to provide each child with a strong support system where they would not only thrive, but know they are loved, cherished and belong.
In partnership with NGO Nehemiah, a Christian ministry with operations in western Ukraine, the children within the One Life Matters home would have access to quality, inclusive, Christian education, medical care, social and enrichment activities, and more. The vision is that over time this model of home would be multiplied as more local Christian parents are encouraged, supported, and trained to take in children– until by His grace, every abandoned and orphaned child has a family and a home.
We have experienced, firsthand, the difference quality medical care can make in the life of a disabled child. In Ukraine, there is a dire and urgent need for medical and rehabilitation services. As a result of little and/or nothing being offered or available, many parents have lost hope that a bright future for their disabled child exists. Many parents are even encouraged by their doctors to abandon the child upon birth.
Yet, for these children, God has a future. His plans for them are good and filled with hope. This is why we are passionate about establishing a pediatric therapy center where every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential. We aim to bring medical professionals from Europe and the USA to train local medical professionals in some of the most effective and cutting edge therapies and treatments being offered in the world today. We also aim to provide special needs children and their parents with the equipment, training, and support they need in order to reach their full potential. Even as we pursue advanced medical treatment and therapy for these children, our prayer is that this would be a place where hope and faith are alive in Jesus Christ, the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. At the center of it all, we want every child, every family, to be reached with the life-transforming message of the Gospel.
In 2012, NGO Nehemiah Ukraine opened the region’s first early childhood education center based on Montessori pedagogy methods. Today it has developed into the region’s first inclusive Montessori based primary school. Here children ages 2-9 years old learn the following:
One Life Matters is coming alongside Nehemiah to help support and further their work in educating and raising up the next generation. Furthermore, our aim is to help plant and establish more schools in Roma villages in western Ukraine in partnership with NGO Nehemiah. We believe that quality and fair education is key in seeing people groups lifted out of poverty and into the bright future God has for them.
The western region of Ukraine has the highest population of Roma in the country. The majority of the Roma live in shanties in isolated villages in third world type living conditions. Poverty, hunger, joblessness, disease, corruption, exploitation and abuse often run rampant among the Roma. Men frequently succumb to alcohol while the women bear child after child – usually having their first child in their early adolescent and teenage years. The majority of the Roma do not finish school and therefore cannot read and/or write.
Yet while these might be hallmark traits of the Roma, we believe that God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of His kingdom (James 2:5). We are alive with vision and hope that God will holistically transform the Roma communities within Ukraine as we come alongside them to provide physical, emotional, and spiritual support. Not only do we have vision to help facilitate evangelism, discipleship, education, and medical outreaches within the villages – but we also want to build long-term relationships with families and help form successful and self-sustaining businesses in order to break the poverty cycle.
Discover how your life can make an eternal impact in the lives of children and families in Ukraine.
