| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
< BACK TO ARCHIVE |
| Date: From: Subject: | 6/6/2003 5:49:14 PM Home School Legal Defense Association National Alert Update--U.S. Homeschoolers Help Persecuted Families in Ukraine |
|
---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- June 6, 2003 Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, Last month, Home School Legal Defense Association sent out an alert asking homeschool families in the United States to help the homeschoolers in Ukraine. After the Ukrainian embassy reported they received over 1,000 calls and emails, good things began to happen for Ukraine's homeschool families. Specifically, HSLDA sought to help six, Odessa region, Christian families (the Krivosheev, Petrenko, Boboshko, Smirnikh, Kushnirenko, and Kasyanenko families) who chose to homeschool their children. Proceedings were underway to deprive these families of their parental rights and remove their children from their own homes. Your calls and emails made the difference. Our source in Ukraine has informed us that the Department of Education in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, wrote a letter to the families stating that their homeschooling is legal and that they are well within the boundaries of Ukrainian law. The families say that "it is doubtful that the government would have taken this step without your efforts." The homeschoolers, who all live in the village of Shevchenko, are committed to educating their children at home and now they can do it with the federal government's backing. This makes their position clearly stronger, although local authorities have not apologized. Andrew Okhotin, of the Russian Evangelistic Ministries, has traveled to Moscow and Ukraine to investigate the situation first hand. After hearing the results, he stated: "The Lord used the prayers and petitions of the families in the Home School Legal Defense Association membership to stop what was clearly becoming a dangerous situation which could have set tragic precedent. Thank you once again for your assistance and for lending a helping hand to the families who were clearly in need and in danger. May the Lord reward and bless those who answered the call." Although the cases have not officially been closed, they are not actively being pursued and no fines have been levied. Ukraine homeschoolers believe that there is no doubt the heat has been removed since the local authorities have come under the scrutiny of the federal government in Kiev. Andrew Okhotin explained to us that during one of the incidents when one of the local school officials was speaking to the families, she "pulled out a number of copies of letters and faxes and asked when the petitions will stop." The Ukraine embassy had been forwarding them all to the local authorities. Once again, homeschoolers have been used by God to assist a fledgling homeschool movement in another country. We are thankful for this result and hope to help establish a national Ukrainian homeschool association. At present, Andrew Okhotin is willing to serve as our main contact as he regularly travels between the United States and the Russian and Ukrainian regions. Thank you for helping us defend the rights of homeschoolers around the world. Sincerely, Chris Klicka HSLDA Senior Counsel {{JoinAd}} ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. Box 3000 Purcellville, Virginia 20134 Phone: (540) 338-5600 Fax: (540) 338-2733 Email: info@hslda.org Web: http://www.hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- How To Subscribe: - Subscribe to the HSLDA E-lert Service at our website: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp?Process=Subscribe - Or send an email with name and complete mailing address to: subscribe@hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscription Information: - You subscribed to the HSLDA E-lert Service as: {{Email}} - To unsubscribe from the HSLDA E-lert Service send an email from the email address you want to unsubscribe to: unsubscribe@hslda.org - To change your email address or make other changes to your subscription, visit the HSLDA E-lert Service account web page at: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------- POSTMASTERS: This message is being sent to the most recent address we have for our subscribers. If this is an invalid email address or you have other problems, please reply to webmaster@hslda.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: This is considered a private and confidential message from HSLDA to its bonafide HSLDA E-lert Service subscribers. HSLDA cannot attest to the authenticity of copies posted, forwarded, or sent by any party other than HSLDA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Please do not reply or otherwise use this email address; hslda@hslda.org is for broadcast purposes only and is not intended to receive incoming messages. We cannot reply to any email sent to this address. If you have comments or questions, please send email to info@hslda.org or call HSLDA at 540-338-5600. HSLDA members can also email staff directly through the Members website at http://members.hslda.org/contact.asp. Thank you for your cooperation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
