This orphanage is about a 20 minute drive from the town of Johvi and where we were staying at Pastor Artur’s church. His daughter Liana and church volunteer Andre escorted us for the day to these places we needed to see.
After driving through a row of cottage homes, we turned and there nested in a forest of tall pine trees was this small orphanage for about 36 kids. Although the building is older the orphanage itself was begun in 2002. All the kids are Russian’s and range in age from 6-20 years old. Older children are allowed to stay longer if they continue their education. Like all other orphanages I’ve seen in Estonia, this one was based on a family setting as well. There are 4 family groups in this orphanage, each with about 7-8 kids in each group. Each group has 4 staff members that rotate on duty every 24 hours.
We saw a very large pile of cut wood near the orphanage and we were told they used the wood for heating the whole orphanage. I’m sure there is a lot of wood chopping that goes on there! They are also in walking distance of a small hill that they use for downhill skiing. There is no lift, so I’m sure one would walk up the small incline and then ski down. There was still snow on this slope!
I met with the second director of the orphanage, whose name was Mait (pronounced “Mite”) as the first director was on vacation. They were very open to us coming and sharing the Gospel and doing activities with the kids. They would be willing to do a cultural performance as they have a dance instructor. They even offered for us to stay at the orphanage for the week with our team. They even have wireless internet access that would allow us to connect.
I was very impressed by this orphanage. I could see a team of 4 making a great impact here during a week of ministry.
After driving through a row of cottage homes, we turned and there nested in a forest of tall pine trees was this small orphanage for about 36 kids. Although the building is older the orphanage itself was begun in 2002. All the kids are Russian’s and range in age from 6-20 years old. Older children are allowed to stay longer if they continue their education. Like all other orphanages I’ve seen in Estonia, this one was based on a family setting as well. There are 4 family groups in this orphanage, each with about 7-8 kids in each group. Each group has 4 staff members that rotate on duty every 24 hours.
We saw a very large pile of cut wood near the orphanage and we were told they used the wood for heating the whole orphanage. I’m sure there is a lot of wood chopping that goes on there! They are also in walking distance of a small hill that they use for downhill skiing. There is no lift, so I’m sure one would walk up the small incline and then ski down. There was still snow on this slope!
I met with the second director of the orphanage, whose name was Mait (pronounced “Mite”) as the first director was on vacation. They were very open to us coming and sharing the Gospel and doing activities with the kids. They would be willing to do a cultural performance as they have a dance instructor. They even offered for us to stay at the orphanage for the week with our team. They even have wireless internet access that would allow us to connect.
I was very impressed by this orphanage. I could see a team of 4 making a great impact here during a week of ministry.
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