UKRAINE MINISTRY, PART 2

In 1997, I was born in Virginia to two young parents who just a few years earlier began their life together. We moved to Georgia and then decided to settle in North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains. Yet around the age of 3 years old, I was diagnosed with a condition called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Autism causes the brain to work differently; and thus oftentimes requires extra effort to interact / integrate socially with others. Thus began a long journey for both my parents and I in reckoning with this diagnosis and ultimately my path.

At first, I could not speak or develop many important motor skills. Yet my parents did not give up- and speech / occupational therapists began visiting me and my family. Throughout my younger years, this became a regular occurrence. Many of these people became good friends throughout my childhood- and gradually I gained the ability to speak. By the time I was in kindergarten, I loved to talk and was often seen as a "chatterbox". The journey continued. Although I grew up in the church, I really began to know the Lord in 2012 and follow Jesus. My autism became more complex as I navigated the high school and college social scenes. Yet as my mind oftentimes swirled with intrusive thoughts and reckoned with this condition, it provided me an avenue to rely on the Lord and grow in my relationship with Him. As I look back on how my family and I grew closer to the Lord because of this- I saw the hand of God through it all.

After extensive prayer, I committed to the World Race in late 2019. Prior to that, I had not been eager to share about and highlight my condition. This was because for a long time, I felt that the goal was to "become normal" and learn to live with society as a whole. Yet as I wrote my first blog posts, I felt led by the Lord to write about and share about my autism. Sure, it has been very challenging at times. Yet it has also been a blessing to embrace who I am; including being smart and also passionate about geography/ maps. Through the pandemic, my route and plans were dramatically changed and altered since the World Race commitment a little over 2 years ago. One of these outcomes was my team and I being sent out to Ukraine. Why were we going here? Yet the Lord had ministry laid out for us. We served in Odesa for the month and thus began our time with the Joy Centre for autistic children in Ukraine.

Wow- as someone who grew up with autism- I was now coming full circle to help with other children from the other side of the world with the same condition. Each Friday while in Ukraine, we were paired with one of the kids in the center during their afternoon session. We did exercises, worked on projects outside, and did crafts together. The dedicated volunteers helped with lessons for the children and group therapy together. We danced, played music, and had lots of fun together. It was not easy work at times though. Many of these children are challenged, and we had to be on our guard against any potentially harmful behavior. Yet deep down, I felt my heart leap for joy as we got to love and be there for these children.

As the month progressed, I got to know the helpers of the Joy Centre and share my story about growing up with autism. And I also learned about the reality of autism in Ukraine. Unfortunately, many of the families in Ukraine are not equipped to properly manage autism successfully. There are not as many support systems in place- especially as the government is increasing its focus on the war and potential escalations with Russia. Yet as I continued to share my story with them, I emphasized the importance of the parents and how my mother and father impacted me. One of the greatest things that shaped me was my parents being empowered to work with and to love me 24/7- especially picking up the baton from the therapists after they left (when a session ended). At the end of the trip, I found out that they are trying to establish a support group for the parents of these children. This really warmed my heart.

A number of opportunities presented themselves to work with the group of younger children with autism. Some of the team did this multiple times; I did this once when we all went to the play center in Odesa. This was one of my most intense ministry days on the entire World Race, but it was so worth it. We were again paired with children and played with them in the center throughout the afternoon. As a child, I loved "ball pits"- filled with plastic balls to jump around in and play in. They had them at this place, and getting to hop in them with the children was an absolute blast. A stroll down memory lane- yes- but a beautiful God-given opportunity in Eastern Europe to love and care for children who are like me and are going through similar struggles and joys that I went through.

We also served with a Boys Club while in Ukraine. These children come from at-risk / disadvantaged backgrounds, and we did some crazy stuff. Full-contact basketball, catapulting, axe throwing, and foam weapon battles are some of the great things we got to do together. Yet it was amazing to serve the Lord in this way also.

Thank you again for lifting up our time in Ukraine. We are now serving in the Middle East- and please continue to lift up our squad. Excited for what takes place- and stay tuned for updates!

Update: I've been keeping track of the number of guys named "Vlad" that I have met since being on the Race. Currently- after Ukraine that count is at 9! So here's to the 9 Vlads that have graced my life these past 4 months- and excited to see if any new Vlads emerge!

Photos below (the ministry host gave us permission to post pictures on social media):