4/16/2008

Departing for Russia on May the 2nd, we will arrive in Moscow. We will be picked up and driven to Ivanovo, known in Russia as "The City of Brides". We will be working closely with a local Church, doing construction and whatever may be needed to help the orphans. We have some projects planned such as making friendship bracelets to build little bridges with the the little children. Our goal is to continue to build a bridge of trust and friendship between the Russian people and ourselves so that we might share the Gospel with them. So far we have a team of six going, but we always welcome more. Ultimately as we build the bridge of trust, we are working towards raising the funds to build a family home for the orphans. It will take a coordinated effort between the Russians and ourselves to build this home and set it up with trained house parents to replicate a family in the most authentic and healthy way possible. How did all of this begin?

How did all of this begin?

In the beginning of 2007, we began to seek the Lord for a way to pull together the Christians in our community here at Greater Grace Christian Coffee House. Those who joined us were challenged to reach out beyond their comfort zones, asked to visit a Church other than their own, and to offer themselves in service to a Church other than their own. Finally after a few gatherings with a group of Believers from differing denominations, traditions etc. everyone was asked to work together with what we all have in common, and to reach out beyond our community. We began with prayer and God took us on an adventure that included a family adopting a son, new friendships forged in the fire of adversity, and miraculously opened doors to help orphans in Russia.

Can you put yourself in the place of these children?

I have been very excited about this opportunity. This has presented a huge challenge to me personally, to seek out every possible resource to effectively make a difference in these children's lives. Imagine a child with no parents, no family, in a dormitory filled with other children, all cold, all lonely, with very little hope. Imagine a child, with a beautiful smile, knowing that outside of his window, birds sing, the sun glimmers on the snow, the sounds of children playing outside echo off of the empty walls. Imagine the young girl dreaming of a family, a mother and father, a little sister or brother, music, and the smells of good food as everyone gathers around the table, but when she opens her eyes all she can see is the old wall, the same old wall.

Can you really put yourself in the place of these children...please? If it sounds like I am coming close to begging, its because I have seen these children with my eyes, I have heard their dreams with my ears, and I see Jesus in every one of their faces. Jesus humbled Himself, and came down as a man among men, because He knew that we were helpless to help ourselves. He was willing to have nothing so that we might have everything. He has given us mercy. He has given us love. He has given us hope. "Freely we have received", and let me reiterate the plea of scripture, "freely also give."

Current State of Russia

Now, I ask you to join me as I put myself in the place of these children. Do I feel particularly humble begging? No, because these children, upon their release from the orphanage at 15 to 18 years old have almost no living skills, no transitory housing, no supervision, no proverbial net to catch them when they fall, and no family to go to for help. They beg. They experience rejection, they experience a lot of "No's" as well as dirty looks, name calling and bullying by peers, and recruitment by thieves, pimps, and drug lords. And they beg. They beg for help. They beg for food. They beg for mercy from the bullies. They beg God to stop the pain, to stop the suffering. And their desperation in a huge percentage of the cases leads them to the only end they can control, suicide. The girls, often as young as fifteen, turn to prostitution and loose any sense of dignity. The boys band together and steal what they can, often turning to drugs and alcohol.

Putting myself in these children's place I feel desperation, humiliation, fear and hopelessness. And yet this is Christmas. With all its song and good cheer. For those of us who are fortunate enough to enjoy it, I am sure it will be very special, but what about those less fortunate than us? The feeling that usually accompanies such reading is not good. We have been overwhelmed with images of starving children, stories of genocide, never ending wars and sometimes we feel as if it is like pouring money down the drain if we were to give. What can we do? Really, we would all like to do some good, make someones life a little better, maybe even change the world. But more often than not we feel that we are too far away, too distant to be of any real help. Well that is not the case.

You can make the difference...

These children need you! You can make the difference in whether these children live or die. The odds are dead set against them. But you can change the odds! We have developed a plan to build and demonstrate a prototype of what is commonly used in countries such as Poland that have gone through the same transition that Russia is going through. This includes building a home with eight bedrooms that may house between ten and fourteen orphans. A married couple will live in the home and act as "house parents" The children will experience life much more like a true family than their current dormitory lifestyle. There will be other extremely important differences in the lifestyle, that will affect their development as they mature into young men and women. Responsibility will be taught and shared. Education may involve attending a local public school as well as training in a trade school. This probably sounds just normal, but at this time the children who are orphans do not attend outside schools. Attending a school outside of the home/orphanage will help the children to be a real part of their communities.

We are working with church leaders, government officials, and concerned citizens of Russia. With the political conflict between our governments it is easy to write the entire populace off as "the opposition." But, I can assure you, they are not our enemies. The Russian people are beautiful, sharing, compassionate, and yes patriotic just as we are. They have a wonderful culture, a rich history, incredible artists, writers, athletes, and musicians. They love freedom, but can hardly relate to freedom as we do because they have never really tasted it the way we have. Imagine living here in America and having our entire government as well as the current way of life completely thrown out the door, no employment, no method of confirming or establishing ownership of private property, no system of law and the whole world expecting you to prosper in your new "freedom."

I am an eyewitness to this. I went to Russia on mission trips and interacted with the people on many levels. City people, with their fast paced life, dependant on public transportation, lines forming before dawn at the bread store, the formerly beautifully landscaped streets and boulevards neglected and dirty, all waiting for the promised benefits of this wonderful dream called "freedom." Country people, dependant on agriculture, accustomed to communal farming, heavy handed delegation of duty, ownership of a tiny plot of land and a small "summer home" called a Dacha where each family raised their own food, often one family member would work at a factory that was built in the center of the community such as a bottle making factory. But the communal farm was now abandoned, the factory only barely functioned because the materials needed to make the bottles no longer arrived on time, if ever. The employees did not receive any pay because the government no longer owned the factory. Out of desperation the government began to sell literally everything, after all, this "privatization" is what the West recommended for a successful economy. Well, the new owners weren't Westerners and the legal system didn't protect the workers, and the government didn't have experience in taxation so they had no way to fund any welfare assistance. It wasn't long before the people became desperate, the fledgling government was made up entirely of people raised under Communism, and though many were eager for change, they were just learning to swim, so to speak. Often it appeared they were drowning, and anyone who tried to help would get overpowered and go down with them. Since that awful time, change has come, oil has begun to fill the governments empty coffers.

Freedom and Restoration

President Putin has restored a sense of dignity to the office which Yeltsin had tainted with carelessness and foolish behavior, much as Bush restored dignity for our office of the presidency after Clinton had his affairs. We as Americans do not see an overbearing domineering leader as a positive thing, but from a Russian perspective, the American dream of "freedom" wasn't such a great thing, and this "great leader" saved them from utter desolation. I can imagine being in their shoes and thinking "so what�s so wrong with a good strong leader if we aren't starving to death?" In actuality the people as a whole have worked very hard to create jobs, they had no choice. Like here, some businesses make it and some don't. I know young Russians who took up being interpreters, opening grocery kiosks, doing construction, selling their own art, many work two jobs, some even three. Education is highly valued and many continue to improve their standing through education. There are some other things we have in common that are not so positive. We, like they, have a media that the majority of citizens do not trust, or believe are objective. They, like us, are quickly becoming a consumer society and this will ultimately lead to a trade imbalance. They, like us, fear for their future and the prophets of doom abound. We really have a lot in common, more than any of us would imagine just watching the news. Now, you probably feel closer to these people, maybe even identify with them in a personal way that has you cheering them on, hoping for their success and sharing something of their reality. Now you can understand that being born under the flag of an oppressive government wasn't their choice. Now you can understand that forming a new government from absolutely nothing is a lot like feeding 5000 people with a few fish and a few loaves of bread, it takes a miracle, and the only one that does those sort of Miracles is Jesus, our God and Savior. He did it for us in the infancy of our Nation, and I personally believe we have forgotten His love for us, forgotten what He did for us in founding this country that we are so very blessed to live in. So we have something else in common, Americans and Russians alike need to look to God for a secure future.

Freely Give

You, whoever you may be, need to know a couple of things; first, you are just as good as anyone else and don't ever forget it. God created you and He loves you just as you are; second you are loved, God showed His love by sending His only Son to die so that you could have life, that means both in the eternal sense and in the abundant sense, Jesus really loves you; third, you are accepted, Christ died for all of us while we were sinners, he knew just exactly what you were and He paid a price that you could never pay, and he accepted you right where you are; fourth, you are forgiven, in the heart of every man, woman, and child is a keen sense of guilt when we fail, and God offers and in fact promises to forgive you, all he asks of you is to believe that and trust Him. This precious message is the truth that Jesus came to earth to bring. Will you open your heart and believe and trust that whatever you can do to help, that God can take your gift and change lives with it! Water to wine is impressive, death to life is amazing, but from hopeless and lonely to happy and loved is beyond words. A home, a future, independence, maturity, purpose, these are the gifts we hope to give. And hope. Maybe now you understand why I am willing to ...beg? I would like these children to have the same opportunity to live and enjoy life that I do, and that you do. I am asking for your help. To build the prototype facility, and get it furnished, and pay a reasonable salary to the house parents we have estimated the need to be 250,000.00 dollars. We won't start until we have the means to finish, because we cannot give these children false hope. There are many other opportunities if we succeed first at this, a trade school, and an arts school especially designed and staffed with people who specialize in the care, instruction and development of orphans.

The Word of God tells us, "Freely you have received, freely also give." I am asking you today, if God has brought this to your attention or put it on your heart to read this, please help these children.