Work with children on the street is one of the hardest and most responsible in our ministry. Weekly our department workers visit homeless children in the places where they live, provide firs aid and food. It has been nine years since our team started work with such children. During this time hundreds of children from the streets of Kiev received the aid and support. But the main thing we try to do for them is to show the way and bring the hope that is in the Lord.

The result of our work - many children have excepted the challenge to change their lives, have restored relationships with their parents, have returned to schools and orphanages. Some of the children have been rehabilitated now serve to other children like them were some time ago. During this time we have developed our own methods of work justified by time and results. At the same time, to be more affective we are constantly looking for new ways of work. The many years of experienced work with the street children shows us a low-effectiveness of just feeding them. In most of the cases it doesn't solve their problems but develops in them the attitude of consumerism and unwillingness to change something in life. Why, they have food and clothing without making any efforts. So, it's led us to, in the last few years, to pay more attention in solving children's social problems. It is restoration of their IDs, finding and establishing the contacts with parents and guardians as well as institutions where the children ran away from. For the last six month we've visited about 20 families providing them with spiritual, social and humanitarian aid. The IDs have been restored for 26 children.

Jointly with the department of juvenile service in one of the Kiev regions nine raids have been carried out as a result of which 50 families were visited. The Minister of youth and sports affaires, Yuriy Pavlenko, joined to one of such raids on the streets of Kyiv. There is an intensive cooperation continuing with the "Ukraine 3000" Fond, and we have a project of the Children's Crisis Center developed together. There were trips made with TV-channels "Tonis", "Magnoliya", newspaper "Today" and CBN company (Christian Broadcast Network).

The cooperation has been established with charity organizations "Look", "Savior's House", "Ezra Int." and "Open Heart".

The solution of the problem

The category of street children is very difficult. It's not easy to win their respect and acceptance. Behind the seeming friendly attitude, very often you can see hidden rejection and distrust towards adult. And it's understandable, cause every time children have to return to the basements or they are very passive and not willing to change anything.

As the way of motivation for children to change their lifestyle we have arranged trips out to have picnics with mall groups of teenagers. In a small circle by the fire is much easier to have children open their hearts, they are more sincere and friendly. In such environment both, children and adults sees the problem in different perspectives, the stereotypes in relationships are braking down. This passed summer jointly with Magnolia TV - television channel, we held one of these picnics where we've handed out presents and humanitarian aid to twenty children.
Sure, not every immediately decides to change their lives fundamentally. For many of them this decision requires a lot of physical and ethical efforts. For most of them it's not an easy thing to give up the life on the streets. That's why for us it is a great joy when a child responds to the call to change it's destiny. So, the last summer there were two children Anatoliy and Elona who used to live many years on the streets, have made their choices to make an important decision in life and start it all over. The teens went to a Christian camp on Asove see to recover their health condition. They have had a great opportunity to rest, to have a fellowship with other kind and to make new friends. After all, Elona have returned to her parents and Anatoliy was placed in a children's center.

We try to become real friends with children, not just visiting them during the work hours. We look for any opportunity to show that we are not ignorant of their problems and we try to be as much involved as possible. For instance, together with all of our team, we've celebrated a birthday of invalid-boy Volodya. He's never had a celebration like this in life. In his 19 years it was a first time he could celebrate his birthday without alcohol, drugs and among his true friends.

One of the most important stages in Street Ministry work is to prepare children for the Island of Treasures summer camp. In total for the rehabilitation in the camp was prepared 52 children.

Except for the direct work with children our team on a regular bases visits children in hospitals. In one of them we have met a little girl Zina - her parents passed away and a deaf-and-dumb boy Andrei who was in the hospital after he frozen legs where amputated. In the town Glevakha we've visited and orphan boy Sergey. There are 8 children were placed into different rehabilitation centers, 3 children (who ran away from homes 2 month ago) were returned back to their home town Armyanks, Crimea Peninsula.