"A Memorial of the Unseen: Standing for Children in a World of Conflict"
A war damaged Land Rover in Ternopil, Ukraine
Last year, I stood in the main square of Ternopil, Ukraine, before a battered Land Rover—once an active vehicle in the war’s eastern front. Even now, if you were to stand beside it, you would see the bullet holes scarring its body, the shattered glass still clinging to its frame. It had been brought here, to this beautiful and peaceful square in western Ukraine, as a stark reminder of what war truly looks like—and why the fight matters.
At first, I wondered if such a display was even necessary. Surely, Ukrainians understood the cost of war? But then it struck me—when we are even slightly removed from suffering, it’s easy to forget its reality. Ternopil, though still part of the same country, was hundreds of kilometers from the front lines. Here, daily life continued, businesses opened, children played. Yet, just beyond the horizon, devastation raged. And if we don’t see it—if it doesn’t confront us—we can so easily look away.
This is true not just in Ukraine, but everywhere. Harsh realities often exist just down the road, but if they don’t touch our daily lives, they can slip from our minds. That’s why I’m sharing this—because I want to point directly to the work of Caminul Felix Family Villages.
Founder Lars Hornberg in 1993.
Caminul Felix was born out of crisis. After the Romanian Revolution in 1989, Lars and Linda Hornberg were shaken by the thousands of abandoned, orphaned, and vulnerable children left to survive in sewers and nightmarish institutions. They couldn’t turn away. They acted.
Eighteen years ago, in the wake of the catastrophic tsunami that swept across Southeast Asia, Caminul Felix Thailand was established, reaching children orphaned or abandoned—many left vulnerable due to HIV/AIDS or entrapment in the sex trade.
And now, as war ravages Ukraine, we cannot look away. Caminul Felix Ukraine is being built to provide a safe haven for children orphaned, abandoned, or left defenseless by this brutal invasion. It will stand, not just as shelter, but as a light against the darkness of war—a place where children will grow, heal, and one day shape the future of their country.
This is a ministry of the unnoticed—day after day, year after year—doing work that will never go unseen in the lives of those it touches. So today, let these words be a memorial to the unseen, the unheard, and the lives forever changed by Caminul Felix.
Our current villages in Romania, Thailand and the layout for our future village in Ukraine!
Do you want to learn more? Go to caminulfelix.org
Do you want to be part of this work? Contact me directly at bill@billfunk.life. If you’d like to give to the work unfolding in Ukraine, go to https://assistinternational.org/cfvi
