Missionaries in the Midst of Crisis  — Reaching Orphans in Ukraine

Around the globe, there are over 140 million orphans. Up to 60-70% of these orphans end up as victims of human trafficking.

 

Roughly 30,000 orphans age out of the orphan care system every single day in Ukraine alone, with nowhere to go. Legacy Refuge is a missions organization that works with Ukrainian orphans to see every orphan saved, adopted. The vision is to see these children live healthy, productive lives, empowered by God to and reach their full potential.

Founders, Justin and Alaya Hayslett, have a true heart for orphans and are currently in the process of adopting a daughter from Ukraine themselves. They have four amazing boys and their entire family is involved in this ministry.

When they were sixteen, Justin and Alaya took a mission trip to an orphanage in Ukraine. There, God began a work in them to develop a heart for orphan care. However, there was one specific event that truly sparked their passion for orphans…

At one point, they began showing some of the children pictures of their families from back home in the USA. As they were doing this, a 13-year-old boy with rotting teeth and ragged clothes drew closer and actually recognized Alaya’s adopted brother who was now living in the USA with the rest of her family. He said that they had been in an orphanage together and that they knew one another well.

As Justin and Alaya thought about this, they began to see the massive dichotomy between these two boys and their stories. One had been adopted and was now living with a loving family, with endless opportunities laid before him. The other was alone in an orphanage facing grim statistics in Ukraine. Their hearts began to ache for the pain that these children go through. In the following years, their passion continued to grow — a passion to see orphans in Ukraine saved, adopted and empowered.

Fifteen years after this initial mission trip, Justin and Alaya began their own adoption journey. They decided to partner with an orphan organization to host one girl over the summer and ended up hosting a second girl last minute as she needed a place to go. Immediately, Justin and Alaya had such a love for these girls, which increased their passion for orphans in Ukraine on a larger scale.

 

“…all of this came to a stop in February of 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.”

At the end of this hosting experience, Justin and Alaya received a visit from Homeland Security who was launching an investigation into the organization that they had hosted through. Within a few weeks, Justin was on a plane to Ukraine to try and sort out what was going on and see these children protected and provided for.

Through this experience, God provided connections and opened doors for Justin. His love for orphan care grew more than he could have ever imagined. During his time in Ukraine, he learned how dire the orphan situation was. He began to recognize the deep need for more organizations to step into these children’s lives and offer them hope for the future. This need became the foundation on which Legacy Refuge would be built.

Justin and Alaya realized that if they only put up their hands and did something, they could impact orphans and change everything.

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