Hey Guys and Gals,
My 21st birthday is coming up soon and I’ve been thinking about what I should do for my ’21st Birthday’. I’ve been praying a lot about what I should do, and how should I celebrate my ‘BIG DAY’. God answered my prayer through my friend Annie Carbonaro. She is an awesome woman of God, so young and so on fire for the Lord. She’s currently our church’s full time missionary and she’s in Ukraine right now running an Orphanage along with her team. I met with her few months back and told me what God is doing in her life and the ministry that God has put her in. Instantly, my heart was drawn to her story and to all the different testimonies of what God’s doing in Ukraine.
As some of you might know, missionaries need support, specifically in the area of finance. So then I thought, how about I raise $2,100 (or maybe even more) and give it to the orphanage instead of spending money to myself. How about I bless tons of kids and meet their needs instead of my needs.
A little bit about OPEN ARMS UKRAINE, it’s non-profit working with the lost and broken orphan children in Ukraine. The Orphanage houses about 100 children from the ages of 6 to 18. These fatherless children are desperately seeking hope in a depressed country within a suffocating system. Only 10% of orphans will successfully transition to adult life. The other 90% will do their best to try to survive with 60% of girls turning to prostitution and 70% of boys turning to a life of crime.
Open Arms Ukraine desires to change these statistics by working with orphans starting at the orphanage and walking alongside them in the years following the orphanage as they make the difficult transition into society. Through programs and individual relationships we seek to build trust, guide, and share the love of Christ in tangible ways with these forgotten children. Teaching them life and job skills that they can use as they slowly transition into society and to continuously instill Christ-Centered values so that they can be a light to wherever place they go.
I don’t know about you. But I feel so blessed living in America that I forgot there are guys and girls out there, my age who don’t have anything except the orphanage that their living. God has definitely put a burden in my heart to help these kids and to partner with this ministry. So for my birthday, if you wanna bless me and give me a gift for my 21st birthday, there’s 2 things you can do:
- Click the link below and send your donations in. Any amount would help really!
https://www.wepay.com/donations/markmuldez-open-arms-ukraine- RE-BLOG THIS POST AND PRAY FOR ME :)
And last thing before I forget, I have a VIDEO that I’m gonna put up soon about this whole birthday/ministry. If you have any questions, shoot me a message. Thanks for reading! love you all.
In Christ,
Mark M.
This blesses me so much. My sophomore year of college I had to write a paper on a foreign culture issue, and I felt God leading me to write about orphans, and I didn’t know what country to choose, so I prayed and was looking for a country that was hiding in the shadows. I discovered all the heartbreaking statistics about Ukraine and I remember sitting at my computer crying as my heart broke for the orphans. As a part of that, I got to interview a young woman from Ukraine and build a relationship with her, as well as talk to a man who had adopted two orphans from Ukraine. From there the relationships have continued and more have been created. I literally cannot express how much a ministry like this is needed, I’m so glad it exists! If God gave me the opportunity, I’d be a part of it myself! My heart is just so moved for these children and this country. I hope you all can pray as well for this with me and support this ministry! :)
