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People despair. Alcoholism and drug abuse are taking a terrible
toll on the family structure. The Chernobyl disaster still haunts
Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. In Belarus, 20 percent of the population
is affected by the radiation. Add to this an HIV/AIDS epidemic
that is growing faster in this region than any place else in the
world.
Olga came and spoke to the gathering. She is an ex-prisoner and
she is HIV+. She told us about conditions in the prison. Those
with HIV are kept isolated from the rest of the prison population.
They eat separately, they sleep separately, they have separate
facilities. When their shower facilities broke down, they were
not allowed to use the facilities elsewhere. They had to wait
and wait. When the guards search their belongings, they wear rubber
gloves.As bad as the isolation is for the women in prison, things
get worse when they are released. Olga said, "I see people's
backs, I don't see their faces." They cannot find places
to live, they cannot find work. They are not welcomed like the
prodigal son. One young woman tried to go to home to her family.
When they saw her coming, they did not run out to meet her. They
called the police and said that she did not have registration
there any longer and was not wanted.
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother
of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found
(Luke 15:32).
Rembrandt's painting,"The Prodigal Son," not only captures
a moment of repentance and forgiveness. It captures a life-restoring
moment. What if the father had barred the gates and refused to
see the prodigal son? Would he be alive again? The son did not
find his way on his own, but in seeking, was found.
A phrase from a movie keeps running through my mind, a Christmas
movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." George is standing on
the bridge shouting, "Help me Clarence, I want to live again."
Olga and others like her want to live again too, but as long as
they are outcasts, cut off by the stigmatization associated with
HIV and AIDS, they cannot.
Our partner, the Belarussian Round Table has begun a project,
a workshop for HIV+ women. They have acquired a piece of land
with a house and barn in a small village inhabited almost entirely
by elderly pensioners. Here there will be accommodations for five
women, training, work, and spiritual care by a priest. They are
going to turn the barn into a sewing workshop. They already have
orders for folk costumes from another country. The women will
also be making work clothing for HIV+ men who are building churches.
They hope that the village will learn to accept these women as
whole human beings as they haul water for the pensioners and help
with odd jobs. These women are shattered and vulnerable. The project
seeks to restore in them a sense of community, of fruitfulness
and of value to others, that they might live again.
Through funds in the ECO for Belarussian Partner Churches (E051630),
we have been able to help start this project. The PC(USA) has
donated funds that will allow the Round Table to finish the renovations
on the workshop and buy sewing machines, as well as raw materials
for the sewing projects. It is not enough to get them through
the first year, but we hope that more funds can be found. With
time, the project will become more and more self-sustaining. With
time, it will also be able to expand and serve more people in
more places.
We ask for your prayers for Eastern Europe as it faces so many
difficult challenges.
Peace and blessings,
Ellen & Al
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 94
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