Lake Pointe Hosts Angels for Vacation Bible School

By Jenny Pope
Buckner International

A rodeo. Swimming. Riding scooters. These are all new experiences for a group of Russian orphans, but the learning curve hasn’t fazed them a bit.

“I think they adjusted immediately,” Yulia Malenko said with a laugh. Malenko is one of the social workers at Orphanage No. 2 in St. Petersburg, Russia, who traveled with the children across the world for the Angels from Abroad program.



“It’s good for them to get into a new environment. They live in such a closed world. They see the model of a family environment, and they can feel the good attitudes of the families. This is great for them.”

On Wednesday, Aug. 5, the Angels experienced another new American tradition – Vacation Bible School, hosted by Lake Pointe Baptist Church in Rockwall, Texas.

Lake Pointe’s adoption ministry began five years ago and they have already grown to more than 200 families. They provide support groups for families, host an annual adoption conference and help to raise awareness about orphan care and adoption issues in their church and surrounding community.

“We support families who are thinking about adoption, who are going through adoption and all the way to post-adoption support,” said Kim Johnson, who directs the ministry with her husband David. She added that many of their adoption activities are in partnership with Buckner International.



The Johnsons also have a personal adoption connection. They adopted their youngest daughter Abby, 3, from Russia.

“We see that there is an increasing need for older adoptions,” Johnson said, “so we wanted to help with the Angels program to get them the exposure they deserve.

“There is a ministry behind all of this. Biblically, we’re called to care of orphans. It’s relating physical adoption to our adoption into the family of Christ.”

Natasha Votyakova, Buckner International’s director in Russia, said this year’s Angels program has been the smoothest to date.

“This is our fourth year, and every year we get the hang of it more and more,” she said. “We have so many orphanages in Russia who want to participate. We could easily do this two or three times a year.”

Votyakova said the program has built a lot of trust between Buckner and the Russian authorities. “It’s done a lot of good for the kids, too” she said.

Nearly 90 percent of all children who participate in the program are adopted, she said. The host families help to advocate for the children in their homes and most of them will eventually be placed with a family.

“And for those who aren’t adopted, it’s still a great opportunity for them to experience living with a family and to visit the United States,” she added. “It gives them hope.”

Former Russian Angels who have been adopted in the North Texas area come back to participate with the program. Many of them are helping to translate for the children.

“It’s a blessing to see them here,” Votyakova added. “They are all doing so well.”