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Welcome To Our Newest Board Member

Mike — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:16:44 +0000

We welcome Larry Heller to the Stoneworks Board of Directors. Larry grew up in suburban Chicago to Christian mother, atheist father with a Jewish upbringing. He became a Christian through the ministry of Young Life in 1972.

Larry moved to San Antonio in 1975 to attend Trinity University (BA in music), met his wife-to-be Kim the year after graduation, and married in 1982; they will celebrate 30 years of marriage this July.

Larry and Kim have five terrific children – three of which were adopted from Russia as older-age adoptions. Sergei, 18 (adopted at age 8), Olya, 21 (adopted at age 12) and Zhenya, 20 (adopted at age 13). Their oldest children, Tyson (27) and Max (23), are graduates of Rice and Texas A&M Universities respectively. Tyson will receive his M.D. this May.

Larry’s first mission trip to Russia (summer camp ministry) was in 1999, and he has been coordinator of missions to Russia for the Oak Hills Church since 2000. Larry has served on the boards of Springs Of Revival, MIR and Road of Life, a transitional living program for orphanage graduates in St. Petersburg.

As a result of 13 years of summer camp ministry, Larry dedicates one trip to Russia each year to advance the many strong and deep relationships he has with orphans, children, young adults, interpreters & their families and the Russian families of his own adopted children. Larry is blessed to serve as father, godfather, mentor, supporter, life coach, financial safety net and prayer warrior to several dozen people in St. Petersburg.

On Corruption in Russia

Mike — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:08:50 +0000

From Liz Sukhovskaya:

A recent article in the St. Petersburg Times gave an interesting look into the issue of corruption.

I found this quote especially interesting:

“Russian bureaucracy is such a giant beast that what is sometimes termed as corruption is just a misconception that actually has more to do with the heavy bureaucratic structure where there is an unwillingness to accept responsibility. It’s easier to say no than it is to say yes because saying no doesn’t carry any risk.” (emphasis mine)

There is no doubt about the existence of corruption in the Russian government, yet in day-to-day life I try to think the best of people and see them as humans rather as The Machine. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been a victim of corruption, and I’m not sure I would catch on if I were being encouraged to pay a bribe.

Who is corrupt?

I came across my residency permit honestly, although it took a lot of sweat, blood, and tears. As I look around at the other people in the Immigration Office, I see their sweat and tears (literally) as well, and it’s hard to believe any of them are offering bribes. Who is, then? I remember a couple of times when there were line-jumpers. Someone barges in with a baby or some other sort of diversion, and the next thing you know he’s in with the Inspector and doesn’t come out for an hour, while everyone else is still waiting out in the hallway. Did money change hands for him to get into The Room, or was it just a case of being pushy? Did the The Inspector act illegally? Hard to say.

Short-cuts: Corruption, or not?

Is hiring a lawyer to get your documents in order legal, or not? I’ve seen representatives of different companies waiting in line just like everybody else, to hand in their client’s documents. But I don’t know if all lawyers do that. People say the working hours are few because during “non-working” hours the officers are serving clients through the back door, so to speak. Or…they could be just doing desk work.

Whose problem?

Back to the issue of responsibility. As you know, I have had some issues with my case being unprecedented and the authorities “not knowing” what to do with me. In general, this is because of a lack of knowledge/ communication between different government outfits, as well as between the standards of different countries, especially when changes have taken place recently. Exhibit A: My FBI check. Exhibit B: My name-change documentation. All’s well that ends well…

I can tell you, it’s frustrating when they make up requirements just because they don’t know what to do with you. You so want to hear the words “Okay, we’ll let it slide” or “We’ll take your word for it.” Yeah right! Okay, I understand that they want to see things looking official. But why, if they work with people from dozens of different countries, do they expect everyone to have the same information? Do they really all think that all nationalities in the world use patronymics? Why do these things come as a “surprise”?

Wild Goose Chases

The result of made-up requirements is that when you go to wherever you’re sent, nobody there can help you, obviously, since this service does not exist. I was directed to go to Moscow for a document that doesn’t exist (a phone call saved a wasted trip), and I was sent all around St. Petersburg searching for something that even the people requiring it could not describe.

This was all because they were afraid to just say “Okay, your country does things differently. We’ll think of something.” They were afraid to take responsibility and get in trouble for not being rigid enough, I suppose. What confirms this suspicion? The fact that the Boss didn’t seem to see a problem at all. Sure, he wanted some stamps, a nice format. But in general he was willing to listen to a logical explanation and make a fair conclusion. Something his subordinates either couldn’t or didn’t want to do.

Interestingly, I started writing this post before elections came into view. Now there is corruption for you. I’ll address that in another post!

Yan and Nadya: What We Do

Yan and Nadya — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:54:46 +0000

Weekly Orphan Outreach:

Our passion is to reach orphan teens, making relationships, building trust and sharing our lives with them. We spread the gospel and study the bible with many of them in creative ways.

We have been praying to expand this work through Russian churches, building teams of volunteers to help orphan kids to know our loving God, His commandments and blessings in Jesus Christ. I (Yan) also use my barber skills and eight years of studies in soccer school in the orphanages so that helps me to find new ways to get teens to open up.

Special events and birthdays:

We prepare birthday celebrations for each of the orphans we work with. We try to create events that bring more personal fellowship to the individual.

What would stay in orphan’ hearts? Perhaps the fact that they are loved and someone rejoices with them on this special day.

New Start for Orphan Graduates:

We continue our fellowship with kids after they graduate from orphanages. They like to come to visit us.

We have several young mothers as well that we came alongside to mentor and encourage, teaching them life skills. Ministering as a couple we have a great opportunity to show them how to live their lives differently then they have experienced in their dysfunctional families.

We share with them what God has done for us and how He has been changing our lives and relationships.

Summer Camps and Mission teams:

We bind our efforts with different mission teams and church volunteers to minister to kids during summer.

Nadya also works with ladies that she trains throughout the year to help them with their summer camp outreaches. She also volunteers to work in different camps as a creative director and teacher of the children.

Creative workshop seminars:

Nadya teaches evangelism through different craft projects to ladies of the church so that they can use it in orphanages, summer camps, Street centers, Sunday schools etc.

We travel to churches outside of the city that want to host theses events with women from their region. Nadya coaches and mentors the leaders of these outlying churches on how to set up the event effectively, speaks and teaches workshops at these events.

I work with Nadya to assist her with the seminars and coordinate with pastors and volunteers to make special preparations before and during the seminar.

If God leads you to Support HEART FOR ORPHANS read HERE

More picture of Summer camps

Yan and Nadya — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:02:04 +0000

Writing a prayer to God

GOD is LOVE

Worship time, So good to praise Him!

Story time and songs

Craft time

Smores and Fun time

Teens Fellowship

Lesson about God’s creation

Free time Games

Circus Day for God’s Glory

Story about Jonah

Welcome to Yan and Nadya Boldyrev

Mike — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:57:18 +0000

Yan and Nadya Boldyrev have been ministering in St. Petersburg, Russia for many years. They’ve been on staff with a US ministry named CASMI, and are now expanding their work to include a closer relationship to MIR. Their new program is called Heart for Orphans. We’ll be hearing more from them in the future. Here’s a little introduction:

Yan and his wife Nadya Boldyrev are a Christian couple with a daughter Anastasia who is 8 years old. In 1995, they came to know Christ as their Savior. The Lord put a desire into their hearts to serve and spread out Gospel for the glory of God as they were growing in Christ.

In 2002 Yan graduated from St. Petersburg Christian University with a Bachelor of Theology degree. Nadya has State University degree and also she finished Christian counseling course. From 1995 to 2004 ministred in church and summer youth camps.

After they gave their lives to Christ they began to share their faith with their family members; as a result Nadya’s mother and brother and Yan’s sister and cousin all become Christians. God has used them to share Gospel with their friends and other people, some have become strong leaders in the Church ministry.

When Nadya and Yan came to know Christ as their Savior they began to dream of the day when they could minister together. Beginning in 2004 God gave them a great privilege to do God’s work in St. Petersburg Russia among orphans and orphan graduates. They have a passion for those kids, to save these orphans from a life of crime and hopelessness and help them to know the loving God, His commandments and blessings in Jesus Christ.

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 1:27

Nadya

Nadya oversees all aspects of the ministry and coordinates all of the creative projects and workshops. She has been on staff with Come and Sew Ministries International, overseeing and directing their programs in St. Petersburg; she continues to manage their programs. She has a degree in accounting and has been sewing for many years for all of her family. She was instrumental in launching and refining the evangelical zipper purse project in 2006.

Nadya has deep passion to help the older orphans and graduate girls who have become pregnant. Nadya founded the New Start program for these young graduate orphan moms in 2009. She understands the need for the body of Christ to take responsibility for the orphans and has established both a professional training program for volunteers from local churches and a monthly Servant network where believers come together to encourage and pray for one another.

Most of all she loves the Lord, her husband and daughter and has a delightful sense of humor — a must in order to serve God with joy in Russia!

Yan

Yan joined the team in 2009, to help grow a weekly orphan ministry and train church volunteers to minister to the orphans. He has a bachelor of Theology from Christian University in St. Petersburg, Russia and is an excellent teacher. He teaches and mentors volunteers on how to reach out to the orphans and prepares outreach materials for the ministry.

Yan has been very involved in the New Start program for the graduate moms leading many construction projects to improve living conditions for these orphan families. Yan is a skilled barber and he uses his professional skills to build relationships with the orphans and inspires them to seek a career path. Yan’s athletic and musical gifts are also a big part of his ministry to the kids each week. He leads soccer teams in orphanages and uses music and any other kind of current media as a way to reach the teens.

He does not miss an opportunity to share the gospel or God’s word with the orphans – his passion to save these orphans from a life of crime and hopelessness is overflowing in all he does. We are so grateful to have his leadership.

The Youth at My Church

Mike — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:41:07 +0000

From Liz Hulley Sukhovskaya –

When I moved to St. Petersburg I was focused on children’s ministry since I had just been ministering in the summer camps. But my church that I settled into had just a few kids on Sunday mornings, and no teenagers. I didn’t really have anywhere to bring the teenagers I’d met. We did a few McDonald’s outings and such. One girl and I went to the zoo. But really, what teenager wants to hang out with a random 20-something American lady? And furthermore, what Russian parent wants his or her children hanging out with a stranger from the U.S.? At least, that was what I worried about. The good news is that now a lot of those teenagers are grown-up now and it’s not as awkward to go out for coffee. But I remember one boy who took his own life. You only have so much time…

Doing ministry in a big city is different in that local churches don’t necessarily gain a reputation in the neighborhood. “Oh, I know that church, we went to a Christmas program there.” Nothing like that. Parents can’t ask around to see if other parents have sent their kids to such-and-such VBS. The Protestant churches aren’t really known around town, and the Orthodox churches are known more for their location/building than for fellowship opportunities. So it really takes a friend leading a friend for new people to be able to discover church life.

That brings us to the present. A few people in our church are involved in summer camp ministry, which is great. Our pastor talked about presenting the Gospel and all those little hands shooting up in the air because they wanted to receive Jesus. That brings back so many memories for me. Of course it always looks slightly questionable to an outsider, but I know what it’s like to be there and watching a person’s demeanor changing as the Holy Spirit works. Children are fully capable of understanding the need in their own hearts!

After coming back from these adventures, one young man in our church is totally broken over the future of our teenagers. Kids are in Sunday school now; then they sort of “age out” as Sunday school gets boring. After that we have Small Groups, which they could technically come to, but it would be a little hard for them to travel to a different neighborhood and stay out that late on a school night.

Do teens need a separate ministry? I remember being motivated to serve as I attended youth group and had fellowship with other teens who were facing similar life issues, growing up Christian while attending a secular school. But I’m not sure if it was the fact that they were peers or just the fellowship itself that helped me feel like a part of the Church. I know that I would have been terrified to speak up at a Small Group if there had been people of all ages…but then again, I always enjoyed the Russia team, which was mixed ages.

People argue that Youth Group needs to be “fun” to attract youth. I’m not sure how I feel about that. It’s fun to play games and unwind, but I’m not sure if they affect a person’s reaction to the Gospel. If he’s interested, he’ll keep coming regardless. If he’s not interested, he may keep coming just for the social aspects. But I agree that a person needs to be able to feel relaxed and safe in order to share about deeper topics.

There is also the idea of a shared commitment…doing something together. From a parent’s point of view: my child is going somewhere to play games with some religious fanatics. It doesn’t seem to have hurt him. But wouldn’t it reach a parent’s heart to see a child getting involved in volunteer work, getting priorities straight, maybe learning some practical skills? And the youth is getting more than a feel-good experience; he’s contributing to something bigger than himself.

So back to our church. Pasha pleads in a choked-up tone: We have to reach our teens before they’re gone. In a few more years another group of them will be teenagers, and then the others, and they will all gradually slip through the cracks and leave the Church.

What is more important? For the youth to have a program just for them, or for the youth to be included in the life of the church? Should they just patiently listen to the sermon and tag along to events with their parents, or should special attention be given? I feel the urgency too and once again I don’t have a solution, but I can see hearts being set on fire to reach the youth. The desire is being channeled into prayer, and surely the Lord will provide a way.

I’ve seen some discussion around the Internet about integrated churches, where there is no division of ministries by age. Again I cannot say what is best, but I love when ages are mixed, as long as no one is left out. While we don’t have a youth program, why not work with what we have? I’d really like to get some of the girls helping out with Sunday school. Other Sunday school teachers could be mentors and the teens would get a chance to serve. Of course they are helpful as it is, but having an official responsibility would be a chance for personal growth.

I realize that this was more of a personal meditation and not so much a response to a Bible passage or other body of text. Maybe I’ll come across some confirmation later as I read. Any thoughts?

Liz Hulley Sukhovskaya

Mike — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 07:30:11 +0000

Liz married Andrei yesterday. It was a lovely wedding at an old Finnish Lutheran church in St. Petersburg. Many of her family members were able to attend including David and Anne, Liz’s parents. Their honeymoon will consist of a few days in Pskov, an ancient Russian town south of St. Pete, before going to the USA for two weeks.

Liz: Family and Orphanage News

Mike — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 09:10:33 +0000

From Liz Hulley Sukhovskaya:

Hello, everyone!

This is just a quick note to share a little bit about how orphan ministry is going. There are some needs that are pressing, and it’s wedding/honeymoon time soon for me.

Orphanage #27 in Kolpino

Many of you know of this orphanage or have even visited there, or met the kids at camp several summers ago. This is where Nastia and Masha (Hulley) spent their early years.

It had been increasingly hard to organize any sort of continual ministry at this orphanage. Contact decreased as kids graduated and counselors grew distant.

After a visit in the fall with my dad, it didn’t seem like there were open doors, and I stopped going.

Meanwhile, through the Russian online social network “vkontakte,” a woman contacted me who had been visiting the orphanage. We confirmed that we were both Christians and seeking to reach the kids for Jesus.

There is a new director now and this woman (Irina)’s church isn’t allowed to visit anymore, but they are still in touch with many of the kids.

Now I know that at the times when I was praying, there WERE Christians setting their feet in orphanage #27. Pray with me that God would be working there now, even when there seem to be a lot of dead-ends.

Becoming a family, Part 1

Maybe you recall my newsletters from a few years ago when I was actively working to promote foster care/adoption among Russian believers. Where are the families for these kids? Surely they aren’t only in America? Don’t any Russian families want to open their homes?

Having caught a glimpse of how tedious and exhausting it can be for local people to take any sort of step forward in foster care/adoption, I’m now quite inspired when I hear of anyone who has risen to the challenge.

Here is an update from Alina, a foster parent who has worked hard and recently gained custody of two siblings, Danya and Nastia. Their older brother is of legal age and continuing with his studies.

Their last two newsletters [in separate posts] contain some specific needs. Alina mentions some tangible ways that you can help. Also, let me know if you’d like to be added to a separate mailing for her supporters.

Here are a few other prayer requests and news items that Alina asked me to share:

-Nikita (the older brother) has passed his entrance exams for the Polytechnical Institute, which will give him a full ride. The government has also given him a room, which is very close to the metro, and in a 2-rm apartment shared with another orphanage graduate.

-Their mom has schizophrenia and resides in Pushkin, a bit outside of the city. She lives with an elderly blind woman who attends a Protestant church regularly. Please pray for the children’s mom to visit this church also and to get to know Christians.

Becoming a family, Part 2

Andrei and I will be united in holy matrimony on July 30, 2011. We have just 2 weeks to go and virtually all of the planning has just gotten off the ground in the last few days.

But in the last few months God has seen us through our civil wedding ceremony and all the steps related to updating my documents. Those were no small victories! It is exhausting to even look back at that process at the moment, but you can read some more details on my blog.

Also, Andrei got a visa to the U.S. and I should have an exit visa by the beginning of August, so we’ll be able to make a little tour of my home country!

Thanks for all you do to support me and the work in Russia!

Love,

Elizabeth

Heartache

Mike — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:48:24 +0000

From Liz Hulley Sukhovskaya –

“We have sad news in the orphanage.” I felt like my heart stopped when Galina told me that today during our weekly tutoring session.

I immediately started thinking of the “older” ladies who worked at the orphanage. I hoped nothing had happened to one of them.

“It’s Liosha,” said Galina. “His parents are not coming to get him. The adoption is not going to happen. Liosha cried when he found out, and he went to camp yesterday.”

My heart was breaking for Liosha at this news. Out of all the wounded kids, his pain and loneliness gets to me the most. Galina said that when he came to the orphanage he used to just sit under a desk, afraid to come out.

He was afraid of me too, for a while. But nowadays I can get a playful smile.

Getting adopted seemed like the best thing that could happen to Liosha. He is so fragile emotionally, though he is a kind, smart boy. I just can’t picture his future after graduating from the orphanage.

A new life in California, on a farm, in a family…that sounded like the perfect answer to prayer. I want to believe that he still has a chance to find a family, but I am despairing.

You see, Liosha is 16. I’m pretty sure this is the cut-off age for adoption.

And I also wonder if he will be able to trust again, after this disappointment. My heart hurts for him right now.

Letting Go

Mike — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:31:34 +0000

from On Life in St.Petersburg by our own Liz Hulley Sukhovskaya

I got a new phone the other day because my other one was dying, and it took a certain amount of effort to transfer the contacts between the two. But I actually received an unexpected blessing going through those contacts, in the form of memories.

My tendency to accumulate things extends even as far as my address book, and I looked at the list and decided it was time to prune…why was THAT person still in there? Surely I could do a little pruning in this area of life, at least.

But it wasn’t so easy. My first year here was FULL of encounters with various interesting people. I was very prayerful about how I spent my time, and about each relationship. Perhaps it happens for many missionaries or any Christian servants, that they expect miracles at first and look at each day with such hope and anticipation…

No, I know it was hard. I didn’t know Russian as well then, and everything was new and strange. But I sought the Lord, and He was with me.

And I look at the names of people whom I don’t see much anymore, and I think…when did I stop praying for that person? Or seeking the counsel of that other one? The dear interpreters from camp; the former English students; an orphan or two who put me on their cell phones just for fun. What if I wanted to suddenly renew those relationships, and couldn’t call because I erased their numbers? What if they wanted to call me, and I wasn’t prepared to talk to them, not recognizing the number?

Maybe it’s just another time now and there are different individuals I’m meant to serve, with a different focus. But I felt God’s voice whispering to me not to give up. So I erased hardly anyone at all, and decided to leave the doors open to possibility.