We are about to start the mutual project with the school Svitoglyad (Worldview). From September 1, 2022, the Christian school Svitoglyad will be launched in the facilities of our mission. This school was founded three years ago. This is a proper time for the formation of a new Ukrainian school, the foundation of which is based on strong values – Christian moral virtues.
The great advantage of the school is that from a young age, the correct life values based on the Scriptures are formed in students. Mornings with the pastor, as well as lessons on Christian ethics, are held every week in Svitoglyad. Children and teachers are united in prayer for Ukraine, school, and families.
Last academic year, 50 children received the necessary knowledge at the Svitoglyad school, and at the end of the year, students from ten cities of Ukraine, where active hostilities are taking place, joined them.
The school created a wide variety of opportunities so that everyone would be able to realize their potential. There are art and music studios (tuning forks, bells, music band), a chess club, IT classes, robotics and Lego clubs, and the Art Attic Studio. Our students have already had the opportunity to present their creative works at the exhibition Local History Museum in the Rivne.
The distinctive feature of the school is the camp Svitoglyad on Suitcases. Not only do students love it but also teachers. Why “on suitcases” though? Because it is not limited only to school classes. Even this year, we had the opportunity to travel and have fun together: we visited the zoo, played sports games, tasted delicious pilaf in the Hive (orphanage), took part in master classes, etc.
The director of the school, Iryna Kurchenko, created a team of 20 dedicated workers who love God and the work they do. Together, we got more courageous, gained new experience, became flexible in school programs, generated new educational ideas, admitted our mistakes, paved a new, not yet traveled path, worried about each other, and learned to smile and teach children during the day, when at night we ourselves sat next to anxious suitcases, sincerely rejoiced at Zoom-meetings, took a prayer shield in our hands every day and stood in the gap for our country and its brave defenders as much as we could, supported Ukrainian soldiers who are fighting for children’s right to childhood and education. In the first days of the war, we hosted in schools’ classrooms more than 300 refugees who fled their homes under the artillery shelling… So, we got a chance to revisit, re-evaluate, and revise everything… The main thing became the main thing, and what is of value became even more valuable!
When each of us looked back on these three academic years, we noticed that only in the very first semester were we lucky enough to live in peace. And then… new experiences, new life lessons, and intermediate exams that life itself had in store for us!
But, regardless of all the odds, we managed to persevere! Because we believe that the Lord God was with us during the difficult three years! That is why we completely trust our “tomorrow” to Him! After all, the Lord was already there! And He Himself said, “For only I know the intentions that I have for you … intentions for good, not for evil, to give you a future and hope.”
Today, we continue to build a school where everyone is valuable and needed, where students can get proper knowledge and realize their full potential. Today, we continue enrolling children in grades 1-5. And we believe that the Lord will help us in this challenging task.
Pray that in the future, in times of challenges and struggles, we will continue to work, developing the school where not only the children from Rivne but also from Kharkiv, Mariupol, Donetsk, and other occupied cities can study. Pray for God-fearing and creative workers, because the harvest is great. Pray that the material and technical support of the school will be innovative and accessible to the modern student.
Nastya Gospodarysko
