2007 Trip to Serve Russian Orphans
I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Leningrad Oblast (State) with Orphans Outreach and to minister to several hundred orphans at 10 different facilities. |
| I hope that this brief recount of my trip will provide you with a glimpse into the situation and perhaps an opportunity to become involved in someway in helping to change their lives for the better.
In order to set the scene, let me tell you these facts:
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| Before describing our first stop, let me share with you one of the most surprising facts that I learned: 80% of these orphans are social orphans; their parent(s) are alive, but have abandoned them to the state.
The very first facility we visited is called a Hospital, but in actuality is a processing center. This is where children are brought when they have been orphaned, which can range from finding babies in the trash to youngsters on the street to teens whose alcoholic parents are unable to provide for them. There are 3-4 physicians here who evaluate each child’s physical, mental and emotional health. We tried to interact with about 8 children who ranged in age from 6-10. Understandably, some of the children are very sullen and are initially uninterested in any interaction. But, as they see the other kids enjoying the games, toys, candy, face painting, etc., they come around so eventually we were able to love on each of them. |
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The people who led our trip have been going to this region of Russia for seven years and we visited some orphanages they have been involved with for that entire time and others for the first time. This was the first glimpse that I received that a little help can make a great difference in this environment.
One improvement I saw that had a huge impact was the replacement of the windows in a building. This one addition birthed a renewal of both the interior and exterior of the buildings. You can see in the photos below how the first building is still pretty rough while the second has a far better appearance. (And the surrounding neighborhoods are equally depressing in both instances.)
 Orphange with no improvements |
 Orphange with new windows. |
And inside the changes were even more striking, including brightly painted walls, flooring instead of painted concrete and far better temperature control. The new windows are just one project by Orphans Outreach and most of the needs are far less expensive.
Now let me show you another one of the precious little ones we’re doing this for. You can see by the first photo that the ‘sticker lady’ in our group got to her first, but I made sure that she had an appropriate face painting.
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(By looking at the background of the photos, you can see what a room with old windows looks like and the change in the room I was in.)
Many of these children are not available for adoption for various reasons. Often the birth parents won’t rescind their rights (although they’ve given up the responsibility), some are HIV positive and many are special needs children.
We visited one orphanage that specializes in the special needs children. The caregivers in this facility are truly angels. You can sense their love for their kids from the first moment. Unfortunately, they seem to be at the low end of the food trough and recently had their staffing cut in half, and those who stayed saw their meager wages ($200-$300/month) cut.
But this didn’t sway them from entertaining us with a Russian folk dance presentation.
Sometimes special moments occur that you couldn’t plan. This was one of them. As they finished the dance and were being seated, one of the little boys ran across the room into my good friend Doug Leib’s arms. You couldn’t wipe the smiles off of either of their faces!
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There is so much to share, but I have to take a moment now to speak about the young lady in the background of Doug’s photo above. She is one of the Russian missionaries who are funded from America to have regular contact with the orphans and their caregivers. (Her story is very representative of all six that I had the honor to work with.)
Leina is married and has one daughter. She is paid $200/month to be a full-time orphan missionary. They live in a 2 room (A kitchen & a bedroom that also serves as living room) apartment. T o help make ends meet, her father lives with them so that his small pension can be added to the household income. He sleeps on the kitchen floor.
Her love for these little ones is humbling for me. One orphanage we visited had artwork that the children had done. We had an impromptu auction for some of the items. By spending wildly ($40 for a doily, $100 for a teddy bear, etc.), we were able to raise $800 for immediate repairs to the orphanage’s crafts room.
All of these missionaries (who work for the same low salary) were thrilled to see this money go to help the children they love so much. When I consider that if I might be that poor and see 4 months income raised by my efforts going to others, I am truly humbled.
I’ll close with 2 stories about children. First the little boy you see me with on the right.. Three of us were assigned to a room with 2-4 year olds in the baby orphanage (ages 0-4). We walked in and they just stared up at us with blank faces. I didn’t know what to do. Then I remembered how a friend’s 4 year old son had enjoyed me lifting him up in the air. So I reached out my arms towards a little boy. His face brightened and he reached back. I scooped him up and put him over my head. He loved it! And every time I put him down, he squealed for more. I lifted him up and played ‘airplane’ with him until I was spent. I tried to pick another child up and hold her and he nearly pulled my pants down trying to climb back up. I did as much as I could with him before we had to leave. The on-site caregiver told the missionary with me that the boys rarely have an interaction with a man and this is why he was so excited. |
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If you’ve made it thus far and haven’t needed a tissue, don’t put them away just yet. I want to tell you about this young lady.
This is Sonia. She is 8 years old and my buddy Brian Hall and his wife have been trying to adopt her since they met her last year. Well, it appears that she is not going to be adoptable, for reasons that I can’t post on the internet. If she is going to have to remain in a Russian orphanage until she is 17, then I have learned that one of the best things that we can do to brighten her future is to help her through the ‘University’ years of 18-22. Unfortunately, many of the young ladies who graduate from an orphanage have nowhere to live and no way to support themselves. They often turn to prostitution.
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One of the terrific and very new initiatives that Orphan Outreach has begun to support is The Harbor, which is a ‘life enrichment’ apartment to orphan graduates who are in University or Technical School. This is making a true world of difference for the young people because not only do they have safe housing, but they are taught the life skills that we all learn in our homes; cooking, budgeting, balancing a checkbook, applying for a job, etc.
The challenge is space and funding. There are currently 8 beds for girls and 8 beds in a separate facility for boys. When one considers that there are approximately 4,000 orphans in the Leningrad state, the shortfall is obvious.
I asked the Lord to show me how, with my tight finances, to provide some support for Sonia's ‘graduate' care. The result was that I fasted on one Thursday each month through the end of 2008 and gave $20 for each day to a future-use fund. This little sacrifice enabled me to donate enough to pay for three months for Sonia in a graduate program run by Orphans Outreach.
If you would like to know more about Orphans Outreach, please click on the link below: