08/21/2026
Planting Seeds That Last: Stara Basan 🌱
Children and teens who attend boarding schools and specialized schools often need more than the right educational approach.
They need support.
Many of them face difficult life circumstances and have limited opportunities to build relationships outside their schools.
That is why it is so important for them to learn how to trust others, build healthy relationships, feel like a valued part of society, and discover that the church can be a place where they are accepted, supported, and loved.
One of the areas of work for Victoria R., Children & Orphans Program Director at Music Mission Kiev (MMK), throughout the past school year was ministry in three specialized schools serving children with special needs: one in the village of Stara Basan, Kyiv Specialized Boarding School No. 22, and another in Denyshi village.
"We traveled to Stara Basan once a month together with the youth team from St. Paul’s Youth Church. We worked with students in grades 4 through 9, leading interactive activities and talking about friendship, responsibility, the future, life choices, and faith in God. Every visit became another step toward the changes that were slowly taking place in the lives of these children."
At first, they were suspicious of us. Some of the older teens would joke during prayer or avoid conversations about God altogether. But over time, things began to change.
The children started looking forward to our visits. They opened their hearts, shared their dreams, asked for advice, and requested prayer.
The young people from St. Paul’s Youth Church became much more than volunteers. They became friends and examples of responsible, purpose-filled lives.
Through those relationships, the children began to believe in themselves more.
They started to realize that their future is not determined only by their past or by their circumstances, but largely by the choices they make and the people they choose to surround themselves with.
