Youth pastor hopes to raise $10,000 to build orphan home in Ukraine.
TUSTIN – Andy Langeland and his wife, Jaimee, plan to take a 14-hour flight in two weeks to the Ukraine and launch "Operation Lazarus," a ministry to house teenage orphans who have been released from state-run orphanages.
The idea doesn't seem far-fetched for Andy, a 24-year-old Tustin resident who likes to ride his black beach cruiser around the city with his 1-year-old cocker spaniel, Latte, in the basket.
"I've seen a lot and I've been to a lot of places, but I'm just bawling over these kids," Langeland said. "I just knew I had to get involved."
At age 14, Langeland watched a video on the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, which contaminated much of the surrounding area with radiation.
A year later, Langeland made his first trip to Ukraine and spent two weeks helping orphans.
Langeland has visited at least 14 countries on mission trips, but it was Ukraine where he felt most at home. He repeatedly returned to the country to help in the orphanages and even began learning Russian to communicate better.
"I took one look at the huge farms that cover much of the country, and I started to cry," Langeland wrote in a recent Safe Harbor Church newsletter. "I wasn't sure why, but I knew I was home."
About a year and a half ago, Langeland was put in contact with Tom Benz, a missionary from Alabama. The two planned an eight-person trip to Ukraine this past summer to help build a congregation.
With Benz' encouragement, Langeland and his wife decided they would move to Ukraine and start the orphanage, a project with the Tustin-based Hidden With Christ Ministries.
Since late March, the Langelands have been raising funds to help give them a head start on their mission.
Langeland decided to use his 6-year-old, nine-inch red beard as an incentive to raise money after someone asked him what it would take for him to cut it off.
Langeland and his friends filmed a video and put it on the video-sharing Web site www.youtube.com. The video shows Langeland's friends chasing him with chainsaws to cut off his beard. At the end of the video, Langeland declares he will shave off his beard if he can raise $10,000 before he departs June 21. He is halfway to his goal.
"You don't need to take anything to an orphanage," Langeland said. "Just take your two arms and hug (the kids)."
Donations can be made at www.hiddenwithchrist.com or sent to Operation Lazurus, P.O. Box 3267, Tustin, CA 92781.
Contact the writer: 949-553-2918 or etorres[at]ocregister.com
