NEWS FEATURE: Missionary couple spearheads drive to aid Ukrainian teen

c. 1999 Religion News Service HUNTSVILLE, Ala. _ A shy grin spreads across the round face of Mykola “Kolya” Chobey, his brown eyes lighting up when he hears the word”Coke.” Kolya, a 14-year-old from Zarichya, Ukraine, enthusiastically nods his head up and down when asked if he likes Coke. He is a typical teen-ager when […]

c. 1999 Religion News Service

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. _ A shy grin spreads across the round face of Mykola “Kolya” Chobey, his brown eyes lighting up when he hears the word”Coke.” Kolya, a 14-year-old from Zarichya, Ukraine, enthusiastically nods his head up and down when asked if he likes Coke.

He is a typical teen-ager when it comes to interests such as playing soccer and computer games, eating French fries and, of course, drinking Coca-Cola. Unfortunately for Kolya, that is where many of his similarities with other teens end.


Although he has the mind of an eighth-grader, he only has the body of a 6-year-old, weighing just 50 pounds.

Through the generosity of many people, especially missionary couple Jan and Perry Lindberg of Madison, Ala., Kolya is in Huntsville with his mother and uncle in hopes of getting medical treatment for his condition, believed to be human growth hormone (HGH) deficiency.

Although he weighed a little more than eight pounds at birth, Kolya had difficulty breathing, and doctors told his parents, the Rev. Dima and Galla Chobey, that he would not live very long. The Chobeys were told it would be “a waste of their time and money” to seek medical treatment and it would be better if Kolya died.

However, they refused to believe the prognosis and said they had faith God would allow their second child to live.

He did live, but a month later they began noticing he was not growing at a normal rate like their first son, Andrew, who was 3 at the time. They carried Kolya to several doctors who suspected HGH deficiency, but offered no hope to the distraught parents.

Tears welling in her eyes, Kolya’s mother, speaking through her brother and interpreter Vasyl Vatsyk, said,”My heart is always squeezing from pain and grief seeing him. Inside of me, I can’t accept that he stays so small. I was praying to God and I believe my prayer has come true.”

Galla Chobey was seeing an answer for many years of prayer as she, her brother and Jan Lindberg sat anxiously in the waiting room of Dr. Rose Schneier, a pediatric endocrinologist with Huntsville Pediatric Associates.


Kolya, lying curled up in a chair, had just had a sample of his blood drawn for the second of three times to determine if he has the disease that prevents children from growing at a normal rate. “I think he has a growth hormone deficiency, but we’re not sure why, and these tests will confirm it,”said Schneier. “I’ve never really seen any condition the extent of this because children in the U.S. don’t usually have this problem. And if they do, it is treated at an early age.” Schneier also said getting the supply of medication and the fact that Kolya has to be monitored will be difficult, but she and her colleagues are actively working with Upjohn Pharmacy Co., which produces growth hormone medicine, to try to secure the necessary supply for him. The total treatment could cost around $100,000.”It does hurt,”said Kolya, holding his arm where the blood was drawn,”But I am excited and ready to do this.”

The story of how Kolya ended up in Huntsville, halfway around the world from his village of 5,000 in Ukraine, actually started five years ago.

Jan and Perry Lindberg, members at Wall Highway Baptist Church in Madison, are also missionaries with Precept Ministries, based in Chattanooga. In 1994 they traveled to Kiev, Ukraine, to serve as supply teachers at St. James Bible College. While teaching there, the Lindbergs befriended Kolya’s uncle, Vasyl Vatsyk, and his wife, Olga, both graduates of the school.

Last April, during the Lindbergs’ fourth trip to Kiev, they made the 16-hour train trip to Kolya’s hometown to meet Vatsyk’s family. It was there they first met Kolya. They said their hearts broke at what they saw and what they were told.

“Kolya was so small for his age that our hearts went out to him,” said Jan Lindberg. “They were so desperate to help Kolya, they even said they would come to America to be slaves for anyone who would help their son. God just never let us forget their cry for help.”

Kolya’s father is pastor of the small village church that was founded by Baptist missionaries in the early 1970s. About 70 or 80 people crowd into the tiny building each week for worship services. Neither the church nor Kolya’s home has electricity or plumbing.


The Lindbergs returned to Madison determined not to let the cries of Kolya’s parents go unheeded. Not knowing where to begin, Jan said she started praying for guidance as she embarked on an Internet crusade to enlist enough support for Kolya to come to the United States for possible treatments.”The Bible says that unless the Lord builds the house, they who build it labor in vain,”she said.”I didn’t want to do this in my own strength because God would not have blessed that.” She began soliciting prayers and financial support on the Internet. The e-mail list quickly grew to more than 200 people, including many members at Wall Highway Baptist Church, as well as people from as far away as California.

Her daily updates and requests to those on the list soon resulted in three airline tickets for Kolya, his mother and uncle to fly to the United States. While here they will spend most of the time with the Lindbergs, but will also stay with another host family, Tammy and Kelly Wheeler, who are members at Wall Highway Baptist, when the Lindbergs are out of town.”It was difficult last summer when I first began to enlist help because the obstacles seemed insurmountable, and the enormous cost seemed impossible for any one person,” Jan said. “However, once my husband and I decided to step out in faith and let others know, it all came together.”

She thought the most difficult part would be finding a doctor who would treat Kolya. That, however, proved to be one of the easiest, once she had a name _ Dr. Rose Schneier. In telling others about Kolya’s plight, at least two people had mentioned Schneier’s name, and Lindberg took that as a sign she should contact her.

She called Schneier and told her about the situation. She then carried some photos of Kolya for the doctor to see. Schneier, a member of the Jewish synagogue Etz Chayim and mother of a 15-year-old son, agreed to see him for tests and possible treatment.”Being a parent, it really made me empathize with them,” said Schneier.”Also, as part of my faith, it is an outreach to others which I can share.”

DEA END WHITE

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