11 June 2008                                               

Orphans Mentoring Orphans
Are you aware of the cycle of hopelessnessin the lives of orphans? By the time they have agedout of the orphanage, more than half of them willturn to drugs, prostitution, or suicide. Without a good solution, the problem persists with orphans creating more orphans. At Lifesong, with God’shelp, we are intent on changing that statistic to onethat gives hope: Orphans mentoring orphans.

Lifesong currently has 15 young adults living in our transition home in Kharkiv, Ukraine, with more than 20 children spending their weekends there. By summer, there will be 15 new residents living there full time.

The weekend programs are special. It is similar to a big brother/big sister program, but the unique thing is that these “big brothers” are orphans themselves. This enables them torelate to those still living in the orphanage because they havewalked in the same shoes.These weekends provide special bonding times byplaying games (ping pong,air hockey, etc), having Bible studies, making meals together, and mentoring. The relationships go beyond friendship;they become family, having someone to be accountable to, someone to care.

With Christian orphans mentoring orphans, the statistics will change. By God’s grace, these children will find belonging in the transition homes and more importantly, in the family of God.