The Kids

We have a new work here in the Ukraine: to feed and house 200 children from the ages of 3 to 15 years.

Many parents simply cannot afford to raise families, so some children are blindfolded, and dropped off in a strange city to fend for themselves. Sevestovol (and all of the eastern coast) has more than its share of homeless children. In addition to that, many orphanages have simply closed for lack of finances, and the children are turned out on the streets. These children beg or steal just to get something to eat. They sleep on the streets, in dark hallways, in parks, or on city buses. Their ages range from three on up.

This project grew in the heart of a Ukrainian woman whose name is Tamara. The children, though very shy and fearful of adults, all call her "Mama."

She began to feed and clothe 10 street children (these are the children in the photos). As she fed these children, her twin teenage daughters became interested and started to help their mom in the feeding program. They are a Christian family, and a part of a local Church, but the local resources have been exhausted. The retired Navy dad has taken a job to help buy food. The daughters help cook the food and take it to the park to feed as many children as possible.

They are not always able to feed these children even twice a day. Sometimes they can only feed them once. When she does not bring food they just hug her and say, "It's OK, Mama". This would break the hearts of most mothers or fathers anywhere in the world!

How did we get involved? I was sitting in a McDonald's in Kiev one afternoon with some men when this lady came up to me and said that she had these children in Sevestovol in the Crimea area of Ukraine. She did not cry or beg. Tamara just presented the need of her children.

About a year after I met her I had the opportunity to meet her again in Eupatoria, a town about 45 miles from hers. At this time I met her pastor and his brother, who is also a pastor. These pastors confirmed her story, and invited me to come and see the children and the church for myself.

In August of '99 I was able to go visit the work and minister at the two Churches, and at some of their homes. While there I saw several of the children that I had heard about from Tamara, and helped with the food program myself.

In this group, there are three boys who are brothers. Michael, age 15, and his two brothers, ages 11 and 12, have lived on the streets for two years. The four of them, plus their big black dog, are a family unit, and always stay together for protection. These children have never been to school, and have their own language version of street Russian, which even the girl who works with us (who can speak Russian, Ukrainian, English, some German and Polish) found difficult to understand. They gobbled up their food, but Michael waited until he was sure the others had theirs first. They were dirty, their clothes torn, and were in dire need of haircuts. When asked where they would sleep because of the cooler weather, Michael said that they would either sleep on a city bus or near a large hot water pipe that ran through an alley. The 11-year-old is addicted to dope already! We need to get the gospel and a home for these kids!

Then there is Anya, a young girl of 14, who has short hair and tries to dress like a boy so she doesn't get raped. Seven years ago the mother of this girl brought her to this city and left her standing in the street. If we don't rescue this girl for JESUS the law of averages says she will be a prostitute before she is 15 years old.

In Sevestovol there are over 700 children who need a home, food and probably do not know JESUS.

God is starting to do miraculous things in this area for His Glory! Below are three pictures of a school building; the front of the building and two wings. The city government has told us that we can have this building RENT FREE, but we have to pay for heating, water and electricity. This will cost about $1,500 a month. We can house about 200 children here!

Then, a Christian man came to visit us, Denny Buehlmaier, and he fell IN LOVE with these kids. He has gone to America and Ireland and has raised some money to start feeding the kids. He is also excited about following God in starting programs in others nations like this.

Also, on October 20, 1999, I talked with a fellow who has found food packaged for starving children with extra vitamins and minerals. This food is available in the Ukraine at 20 meals for $2 at the time of this writing. We can get powdered milk by the ton at a low price, too!

This is only a quick view of what God has provided, and what He wants us to do.

From time to time we will show you more photos. We will give names and ages and let you get to know them and be able to pray for them by name. Why do we think this is important? This country has a minus population growth. What does this mean? Simply this. More people died than children are being born.

90% of the children born have some kind of a physical disorder. This is a country that needs help physically and spiritually. God has called us here for many tasks, and this is one of them. Please ask God what your part should be. Please call, e-mail, or fax us today at the numbers/addresses given on this web page. We will answer your questions the best that we can.

Thank you!

David and Carole Nicholson

Pastor and street kids eating by side of the road
Pastor and kids
David and Pastor's Son
Tamara and Dave's kids
Tamara and daughter who help feed the kids
This is home for some of the street kids
School we want to buy for an orphanage
School we want to buy for an orphanage
School we want to buy for an orphanage

Anyone who wants to send financial help for the street kids should send it to David/Tamara's Kids and mark it very clearly before sending it. This money is not for us in any way - it will go directly for the street kids! Please send it to:
ANCHORED IN ZION
REV DAVID A NICHOLSON
2715 HAM BROWN ROAD
KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA 34746-3415
Receipts are sent once a year for income tax purposes. We will put the names of all donors to the Street Kids Project up here on this web site each month (unless you request us not to).

Our phone/fax in the Ukraine: 011-380-44-266-0169