The Russian President and I
December 31, 2010
from Liz Hulley —
Is it possible that I actually agree with Medvedev on something? (not that I watch his every move)
Every once in a while, I’m alerted to something in the media that gives me hope that Russian orphans are going to receive some justice.
A ministry serving orphans in Moscow published a translation of Medvedev’s recent comments to this effect.
“Unfortunately, in our country there are still 130,000 children remaining without family care. They have neither parents, not guardians, they are deprived of what’s primary – the warmth of the family. And there is still very much left to do to make sure that the very concept of “throw-away” children is removed from our life. There should be guardianship/foster organizations focused on placing children with families and supporting those families. In general there must not be children in our country that are “nobody’s”.
“The so-called ‘correctional’ children’s homes are faced with such a serious problem. They, unfortunately, work in such a way as to lead to the increasing isolation of children, rather than their socialization. Therefore not only public services, but also civil society must pay attention to what is happening here. At each baby house, in orphanages and in correctional establishments it is necessary to create boards of trustees whose work should be completely open and transparent.
“Finally, we need programmes of social adaptation and support for those who have come out of orphanages. It is not enough to train and feed children – they need to be brought out into a new, adult life prepared and self-assured. Here the role not only of teachers, but also of local authorities is great. They could pay, for example, the cost for those who have come out of orphanages to take courses which would prepare them to enter the system of higher and further education and vocational training.”
It sure sounds good. I appreciate the fact that Medvedev calls attention to the need for families (if briefly), and also the need for help with the transition to adult life. Yes, the orphans do need all this. Now, who is going to give this to them? They need a miracle.
He works it out when I have no clue how
December 28, 2010
MIR Executive Director Masha Oshkina traveled to the US with a disabled orphan for the hosting program. Here are her comments:
We thought Andrey wouldn’t make it to the States. It almost seemed like nobody would. The newly made regulations about orphans travelling abroad gave a good excuse to the municipal boards to say no to the hosting program this Christmas, but two orphanage directors really saw it as a chance their disabled children couldn’t miss, so we were getting fifteen through the border December, 13.
I didn’t know I was going to get stuck in Munich with Andrey. The flight to Chicago got cancelled and his host family was waiting for us in Denver.. Andrey didn’t know about delay too, so he kept running up and down the moving escalator, showing me tricks and not saving his energy for the many hours of wondering in the airports of Germany. We shared the yogurt with muesli and fruit and I didn’t have a joy of feeding someone from the spoon in a long time. He liked the whip cream on my latte and would make sure I got to try all the fruit in his bowl.
I should have known that the arrangements that a smart UA manager makes in Munich actually require a transit visa to get to Frankfurt. Well, Andrey had fun playing with my cell while border guards around us were getting him a transit visa.
I had no clue chewy teddy bear candy helps when ears hurt at airplane take off and land. I also didn’t know you need to do splits to pick something from the ground if your hands are not operating.
He wanted spaghetti at a Sheraton restaurant Luthgansa magic fairy ended up putting us. They usually don’t put passengers there for free with food coupons. But here we are enjoying our date among business men and dressy ladies. Andrey makes sure his plate is clean and loves to smile at the waiters every time they pass by. He wants to make the bed before we leave the hotel room because things need to be kept in the right order. Just as his care-giver taught him.
Andrey calls me every day first thing in the morning to report me on how much he loves going to the swiming pool and how the two dogs in the family are lovely and why the other boy in the family is sent to his room. He rememebers everyone by name. He still wants that pass from the Sheraton hotel room with his name on it. He said he’ll be back to that room once he is rich and famous. I won’t doubt it, seing how passoinately he follows things through.
I haven’t seen God at work so clearly in a long time. I want my heart to rememebr that as it makes my Christmas time real and meaningful. I wish the same to you!
Ministry Profiles
December 6, 2010
We have created a ministry profiles to give an overview of our various ministries.
Click on each image to download the pdf of the profile
Stoneworks Overview:
Spring of Revival:
Minsk Family Home:
MIR:
In Belarus — God’s Saving Grace
December 4, 2010
News from Olga Goncharenko at Spring of Revival —
Greetings from snowy Belarus. It’s +4F, but we are keeping warm. Here is some November news from us –
MINSK FAMILY HOME, by Alesya Kuleshova
The girls are doing really good at their schools. Thanks for all your prayers for Alona, she got into a college and she is learning to be a baker. She really likes it and sometimes she bakes us things that she is taught to bake at school. Katya, who is learning to be a shoemaker, now gets some training at Minsk shoe factory. It is a good experience for her.
It is Alla’s third year at college; she is half way through her studies. And it is Masha’s last year at college and then she will need to decide if she wants to continue studying or start working.
Also this fall the girls started attending Bible school at church, where they deeply learn the principles of Bible.
CAMP REUNION
On the 28th of November we had a Braslav camp reunion. We had 18 people and we had a great time. Boys and girls came from all different places. First we all went to church where we all heard God’s Word and then we had amazing time at our home.
There was a prayer time, then eating yummy shashlik (barbecue), fellowship time and games. We all had a great time, you can see at the pictures.
We hope to have such kind of meetings once a month. Our goal was to invite those teenagers, who came to the camp and are out of the orphanage now. It was great to hear all their stories, where they study and to let them know that we are there for them when they need help.
NADYA’S STORY. GOD IS FAITHFUL.
SOR has some young volunteers from the church, who sometimes go to Stankovo orphanage to do cooking classes or programs for kids. One of those volunteers is Nadya. She is 18 years old, a student of a Lingustic University, learning English and she expressed a deep desire to dedicate a lot of her time to work with orphans.
Last week I met with Nadya to discuss some future projects that we’ll do. As we were talking I asked her to let me know how she became a Christian, and tears came to my eyes.
When she was about 10 years old she came to camp Druzhba as a camper, where a team from the USA was ministering to kids. She heard about Jesus, she got her first Bible and she still has the T-shirt with a drawing of a bible story and the signatures of the team members. Then, about two years ago she came across our church’s web page and found the church.
Her testimony reminds me of my testimony a lot, but the main thing is that SOR was ministering in camp Druzhba from 2001 and we sent all our teams there. I was so excited to meet “the fruit” of the things we did years ago and truly wanted to say that GOD IS FAITHFUL and he does take care of all the kids we meet and minister to.
Let it also be an inspiration to those Americans who came to Druzhba camp and to other camps in Belarus.
Early Christmas greetings to you, blessings of our Lord,
Olga Goncharenko
Residency!
December 3, 2010
News from Liz Hulley –
In the end of October I received my temporary residency permit, which is valid for 3 years. This was the end of a 10-month process which began in January with a race to get in under the quota, and culminated in several back-to-back rounds of standing in long lines as my 90-day visa headed towards expiry.
I also came down with tonsillitis towards the end and I know it was the prayers of many of you and my church here that carried me through. It then took about a month for me to get my strength back. As you can probably imagine, it is quite a feeling to look at the stamps in my passport and remember what it took to get them.
Interestingly, my ministry has been focused mainly on one orphanage this fall. Although I had fellowship with some kids from other orphanages while my dad was visiting in early November, #8 has been my main destination.
The counselors are welcoming and take good care of me and I tutor some of them in English individually. The kids are dear despite their difficulties and I always look forward to spending time with them. A few that I especially prayed for are being adopted by American families.
One Russian woman from a local church is seeking custody of two siblings (a third is already graduating). Of course we pray for the doors to be opened for more local Christians to become involved so that more kids can experience having a family. Just the other day we were sitting at dinner and one of the teenage boys was being so goofy and I wished someone could see what a fun person he is and give him a home.
