April 2021

Clermont couple declaring war on trafficking of Ukrainian orphans

The plight of Ukrainian orphans facing grim futures motivated Shawn Sullivan and wife Amy to devote their lives to repairing shattered lives. The Clermont couple spent 17 years working with national organizations to help orphaned youngsters in Eastern Europe from falling prey to human traffickers, substance abuse, and homelessness. 

Three years ago, they formed their own organization, Mission 823, to focus exclusively on Ukraine. Unlike in the U.S., children in Ukrainian orphanages age out of the system at age 15. When that day comes, human traffickers swarm to orphanages like a flock of vultures descending on a carcass.

They prey on these children for profit, and more than 60 percent of girls are forced to become sex workers, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report. Children overlooked by human traffickers often become homeless after leaving an orphanage. Many live in sewers and drainage systems under city streets in an attempt to stay warm in freezing temperatures. Others resort to crime to survive. '

The name of the Sullivans’ organization was derived from the Bible verse at Psalm 82:3-4: “Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; rescue them out of the hand of the wicked.” 

“The other organizations I was part of have their own vision and global perspective,” says Shawn. “Our life calling is Ukraine. I really wanted to focus all my attention and remaining energy on what we can do to accomplish change in Ukraine for those kiddos.

I know I am in love with Ukraine as a culture, people, and language.” Today, 106,000 children reside in 750 orphanages across Ukraine. Approximately 80 percent of these children are categorized as “social orphans,” meaning they’ve been removed from their home after being abused, neglected, or abandoned by their parents. Through Mission 823, Ukrainian orphans experience what’s missing in their lives: the love and support of a family.

Shawn and Amy, who have been married 36 years, created a network of trained and licensed parents in Ukraine who welcome children into their homes and foster a loving environment as they help restore physical, spiritual, and emotional health. “Institutions cannot heal these children; families heal these children,” Shawn says.

He has seen it firsthand. One of the most egregious cases involved sisters Yana and Lena from a singleparent home with an alcoholic mother who routinely brought home men who physically abused the girls. In fact, Yana still bears a scar from a man in a drunken rage cut who her with a metal spoon.

Social services contacted Shawn and Amy, who arranged for the girls to be picked up and moved in with Vladimir and Nada Rezmer, national directors and adoptive parents for Mission 823. Living in a loving, stable home was life-changing for the sisters, both now in their 20s. Yana graduated culinary school and now studies English and German at a university.

She has her own apartment and serves in her church’s leadership team. Lena studies music at a university and competed on Ukraine’s Got Talent, the country’s equivalent of America’s Got Talent. Both sisters volunteer their time to help orphaned children. “When you experience the love of a family, it changes you as a person,” Amy says. “Both of these girls were saved and
given an opportunity they never would have had otherwise. To see them grow and blossom as people is amazing.”

Fulfilling a need

Shawn spent six years in the U.S. Navy and two years as children’s pastor of an Orlando church before dedicating his life to helping Ukrainian orphans. His path to missionary work started in 1995 when a church member asked Shawn to accompany him on a short mission trip to Ukraine. “I said, ‘Yes, where’s that?’”

The answer: Eastern Europe. With a population of 44.39 million, Ukraine is the second-largest European country behind Russia. Approximately 45 percent of Ukrainians lived below the poverty level in 2020, according to a study conducted by the M.V. Ptukha Institute of Demographics and Social Research.

After arriving, Shawn quickly learned another fact. Children were, as he puts it, “living in a humanitarian crisis.” He came to that conclusion after attending a “graduation ceremony” at an orphanage in the village of Komarivka for 15-year-old kids aging out of the system. He was appalled by their living conditions. The dilapidated dormitories had no running water or heat. Toilets and showers were not operational. Many children were sandwiched like sardines into one room and they often rotated clothing among themselves.

Orphanages in Ukraine are severely underfunded by the government. As a result, children become malnourished and sick and receive a poor education with little preparation for adulthood. Their emotional needs are seldom met.

Shawn saw something else that deeply troubled him. On graduation day, human traffickers descended on the orphanage to deceive vulnerable children into traveling with them by promising lucrative careers.

“They offered kids opportunities that didn’t exist,” Shawn says. “They tell a young lady that she’s beautiful and she can have a modeling career in the U.S. or Europe. They tell a young man that he has strong hands and he could become an engineer. They just blow smoke to get these kids into a van. Once they’re in a van, they’re done.”

Shawn, heartbroken, made it his mission to repair the shattered lives and minds of victims of Ukraine’s corrupt and inadequate orphanage system.

“That sealed it for us,” Shawn says. “People were taking advantage of helpless kids and exploiting them for their own profit.”

The Sullivans moved to Ukraine in July 2001 and resided there for six years. They fell in love with the people and their work. “We enjoy making a difference,” Amy says. “These children have dreams and goals, and we can help them work toward those goals. That was never an option for them before.”

RAYS OF HOPE

Shawn and Amy returned to the U.S. in 2007, moved to South Lake County in 2013, and served as director for another organization recruiting college-age students to serve as missionaries in
Eastern Europe. The Sullivans started Mission 823 in 2018 to focus their efforts on Ukraine.

Shawn visits the country eight times a year with volunteer teams. Amy typically stays behind to manage the organization’s administrative affairs.

While operating an overseas mission can be challenging, their network of camp counselors, teachers, and medical professionals makes it possible. Financially, the organization is supported by churches throughout the country, as well as private foundations, businesses, and individual donors.

Finding adoptive parents and guardians is only one aspect of the program. Mission 823 conducts youth camps featuring games, team competitions, and field trips to “find reprieve from the hell they’re living in,” as Shawn puts it. Other times, doctors are brought into to treat children with various afflictions.

“One young girl had a growth problem with her femur being five inches short,” he says. “She had difficulty walking. We brought specialists in and now she has the same leg length. We also do lots of dental work. The dental situation among children in orphanages is horrific.”

Through all these programs, forever bonds are created. The children refer to him as “Uncle Shawn” and he enthusiastically refers to them as his “sons and daughters.”

“With most organizations, once you reach a certain age and have completed a program you step aside,” he says. “However, we stick with these children like family and support them until they
are completely independent and stable. I have relationships with them. I know their names. I know their life stories. I know their progress. I know their dreams. I encourage them just like I encourage my own kids.”

Business leaders who financially support Mission 823 have accompanied Shawn to Ukraine and are impressed by his work. One of them is Steve Landaal, vice president of portfolio
management of HIS Capital Funding, a real estate investment firm in Orlando. Steve, who has been on two Ukrainian mission trips, helps Ukrainian teenagers develop job skills.

“If we can teach them to work, we can put trafficking out of business because traffickers prey on the poor and desperate,” Steve says. On his first trip, Steve promised to buy the
children laptops if they learned English. Some accepted the challenge. On his second trip one year later, he gave away 17 laptops. He has since hired three young Ukrainians to work at his
company. Their duties range from marketing to handling home loan details.

“They can do anything from their smartphone or laptop,” Steve says. “They’re smart, they’re intelligent, and they’re amazing kids. We flew these employees to Florida and took them to
Disney so they could see what success looks like. We just have to give them hope. They think that because they live in Ukraine, their ceiling is low. That’s their mentality. We want to change that.”

McCauley Austin, pastor of Friendswood Baptist Church in Texas, has accompanied Shawn on three mission trips to organize camps, and also financially supports Mission 823. During
camps, children participated in “The Game of Life,” where they accumulate money throughout the week for completing assignments. At the end of the week, they can spend that money on school
supplies, toys, candy, and other items.

One boy purchased a lollipop and gave it to McCauley. That lollipop now prominently hangs in his church office, out of reach from his own children.

“The little boy did that because he was paying it forward for what we do for them,” McCauley says. “I’m amazed by these children and their character. They come from terrible home lives and have seen horrible things, yet they’re so thoughtful and caring. That’s why Mission 823 is one of my church’s primary investments.”

Such heartwarming stories are gratifying, but the Sullivans know there is much work to be done. The Ukrainian government’s annual anti-human trafficking budget is a measly $23,500. Moreover, the country’s seven-year war with Russia has resulted in an economic and humanitarian crisis. More than 1.5 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes because their villages or towns were destroyed. Of those, 600,000 are children.

“Every day, Russian troops cross the border, and young men and women are being killed by snipers, rocket fire, mortar fire, drone attacks, and land mines,” Shawn says. “Others who have been displaced are living with no food, no water, no clothing, and no heat. Trying to provide them with aid has been very difficult for us.”

That war rages on. So does the Sullivans’ war against cruelty and neglect in Ukrainian orphanages.

Please visit Facebook and Instagram pages and You Tube Channel and share them widely. We need a lot more voices and ambassadors actively participating so that we can have the greatest impact for the people of Ukraine.

Thank you and God Bless You!

Shawn and Amy Sullivan

CONTACT INFO:

Shawn - shawn@mission823.com - ph: 817-313-3656

Amy - amy@mission823.com - ph: 817-773-4758

Office - office@mission823.com - ph: 352-432-8587

Website: www.mission823.com

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