Patty helped plan the zoo excursion for Ukrainian families as part of her role as kids director of Josiah Venture. “She said it was such a privilege to give them a day where they could just be kids and families.” “Claire said the moms were crying because they said their kids hadn’t smiled for a month until that zoo visit,” said Elizabeth Smith, one of Patty’s professors at Moody Bible Institute, who stays in touch with her. and a rush of emotions from their mothers.
#VENTURE CHURCH LINCOLN ROAD CAMPUS SERIES#
This devastating series of circumstances explained why the zoo trip that Claire Patty ’16 helped organize elicited such unbridled happiness among the children. No one knew what the short-term or long-term future held and when-or if-life would ever return to some semblance of normal. They had lived the last month in complete survival mode-hiding in bomb shelters, traveling by any means available, and waiting for hours and even days to cross the border. They left behind their homes, extended family, friends, possessions, neighborhoods, churches, schools, and even their dads, whom the Ukrainian government mandated to stay and defend the country.
These children and their moms were forced to evacuate Ukraine at a moment’s notice. Russian forces had begun a full-scale military invasion of their homeland that eventually prompted nearly seven million Ukrainians to flee to safety during the first three months of the war. These kids were Ukrainian refugees who had undergone unimaginable trauma and chaos for four chaotic weeks. The children’s exuberant reactions to everything they experienced made total sense when placed in context.
When they spotted a petting zoo, the kids were so thrilled that they sprinted inside and hugged each of the goats. The children ran from exhibit to exhibit, chattering and fawning over encounters with lions, zebras, monkeys, and every other animal in the park. But the scene on this particular afternoon in March was anything but typical.įrom the moment the boys and girls entered the zoo, they acted like first-time patrons to Disney World. To the casual observer, the sight of a group of children and their mothers enjoying a trip to the Ostrava Zoological Garden in the Czech Republic was far from unusual. Claire Patty, a 2016 Moody Bible Institute graduate, is kids director with Josiah Venture, a missions organization serving 16 countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
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