Posted by Dragos Bratasanu on Jul 11, 2018
A while ago, I watched on TV a documentary about a monk in Ukraine who, although he had nothing, he had a dream of building a monastery where he could care for the orphans, the sick and the abandoned children.
 

 

This monastery is only a few hour's drive from my wife's home in the mountains of Romania, and one day we packed our passports (Ukraine is not in the European Union and the queues to cross the border still stretch for kilometers) and drove to Banceny in Ukraine to visit this place. We've heard stories of people who've gotten healed here, and even two children being raised from the dead.

 

For us, living in the modern world, these stories seem impossible, but for Mihail Jar - the father of one of these children that came back to life - they are the living reality. The medical records proving it are still in the hospital's archive in Cervinski, Ukraine.

In 1994, there was nothing on this site. In twenty years, a few monks together with hired laborers, built monasteries, a center for caring for the elders, several orphanages, a hospital for the sick children, and a pilgrim's house to welcome people from around the world. They built everything on the widow's mite (i.e. secret donations made when nobody is looking).

 

Father Mihail, one of the founders of this place, has adopted to his name, more than 400 orphan children, most of them suffering from debilitating diseases. In his own words, he "adopted the ones that nobody wanted." He says that the center at Banceny was built with the grace of God, and to do the works that Jesus Christ has committed us to do: love and care for each other.