~ Life in Vladimir, Russia ~

Preevet family and friends!

First, let me apologize for doing a horrible job with the updates, no excuses here. BUT I am very excited to share with you what God has been doing in my life and the lives of the children we love and cherish here in Vladimir. My time in Russia is just flying by! This has been an exciting, yet challenging, year for me and God has blessed me with many unique opportunities to serve.

I am currently volunteering with a ministry called “Mercy Ministries” here in Vladimir. This Ministry was established by an American, Paul Lossau, and a Russian, Sergey Sokolov, in 1996. The Ministry is involved in many different areas of outreach but here is a little glimpse of my life here…

Juvenile Detention Center

Each week I spend time at the Vladimir  JDC – a place where children ages 8-16 live for 20-30 day periods as a punishment for crimes they have committed; these crimes include stealing, fighting, prostitution, and even homicide. Olya, Mercy Min staff, and I visit these kids on a regular basis. We seek to build relationships to gain their trust. Our time here consists of Bible lessons/life lessons, games, and crafts. This class time is mandatory for the kids and some respond well to that while others not so much. The kids’ schedule during the day is extremely strict, they’re not even allowed to talk to each other. But during the class time we give them some of that freedom and these kids want to talk, share, ask questions and they beg for you not to leave. Sometimes we are able to remain in touch with these children after they leave the center, through letter writing.

The staff, including the guards, is very friendly and welcoming…well…most of the time 🙂

Unfortunately, it is fairly common to see repeat offenders cycling through each month. This past year I have seen about 5 kids return back to the center.

       

Orphanage Outreach

During the week I also visit few other orphanages outside of the city. One of the places is called Barskoe orphanage/boarding school. Mercy Ministries has served at Barskoe since 1998.  Most of the children here have learning disabilities and many are from difficult family backgrounds. Every week, Olya and I spend the afternoon with a group of about 20 wild first-third graders. These kids crave for attention! Our time here also consists of life lessons with Biblical principles, crafts and games.

Every other weekend I teach Sunday school at the Emmanuel (Assembly of God) church here is Vladimir.  I have a great group of 8-12 year olds!

And when I don’t teach Sunday school, I take a little bus ride to a place called Lukhtonovo Orphanage!  I have been very blessed to be able to visit these kids as often as I have.  When I enter the orphanage I never need to go and look for kids, they already wait for me, but even more so, they wait for the letters I sometimes bring from their American friends!

I have been so blessed by these kids.  Sometime I get so wrapped up in the daily schedule of lesson planning, meetings, I get to the orphanage and I’m still stressing out about the week ahead or the week before and yet a little 10 year old girl is showing me all the poems she received from her teacher to memorize for an important event and says: “My teacher believes in me, she believes that I can do this. I don’t know if I can but God is with me. I know He will help me.”  This little one gets it and I’m struggling to trust that the Lord will not give me more than I can handle.  Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.

                 Тhis orphanage is sponsored through a ministry called Children’s HopeChest by Concord UMC in Beaver Falls, PA. I absolutely love this ministry! It has changed my life and it is changing the lives of many many orphans in Russia. If you’ve never come across this ministry I strongly encourage you to check it out at hopechest.org.

I have seen God’s work in so many ways this year. I have seen it in my life, as well as, in the lives of the children we serve. This year was challenging and tiring at times yet His love, His strength, His wisdom ~ His presence was always there.  I have been stretched out spiritually, physically, emotionally, and it feels great! It feels great to get out of the comfort zone and share a testimony in front a large crowd, become a Sunday school teacher, connect with a small group or to even tithe while struggling to make ends meet ~ yes, this feels great because with one shared Word, one sacrificial giving, just one step of faith I not only overcome my giants but I get one step closer to “Well Done My Good And Faithful Servant.”