March 31, 2003

Dear Friends in Christ,

Lately our work has drawn our attention to the needs of orphans in Russia and Belarus. The orphanage system in both countries is overwhelmed by the sheer number of children coming under its care. Too many have been utterly neglected. Alcoholism and drug abuse are taking a terrible toll on the family structure.

Recently, I (Ellen) visited an intake facility where children picked up off the street are brought for evaluation and placement. The intake officer shared with me the categories of children they see. There are the wanderers—children who like to hop trains and travel. These children are simply sent home. Children picked up for petty crimes are also brought to this facility, as are children under 14 charged with more serious crimes. The majority of these will go to a juvenile detention facility. Other children have been abandoned in the city by parents who can’t or won’t care for them. Some children are simply forgotten when the parents return home in a drunken stupor. Often these children have never seen clean sheets and don’t know how to use a fork or spoon. The state tries to reunite these families, but too often the parents refuse to take them back. At this point, the children enter the orphanage system. Sometimes the authorities must find placements for large family groups. The intake officer had tears in his eyes as he described the scenes he must cope with when such families are divided into separate orphanages. The children are crying and screaming, and he has to go into another room and cry himself. The children are not divided because of indifference. It is simply a question of where places can be found for so many. The children remain in the intake facility for only a month. During that time, they are cleaned up and given both medical and psychological evaluations and care.

I also visited three regular orphanages. Caring people work in these facilities trying to prepare the children to live in the world, but the task is daunting. All three orphanages are large—up to 300 children. Family-style orphanages, which are recognized as being better are emerging in both countries, but they are not the norm., since it would take time and vast sums of money to transition to tha system. In the large orphanages, the children attend school and often have camp opportunities in the summer. Their physical needs are met (though sometimes only barely), but the lack of personal attention and family responsibilities is crippling them for the future.

When the children come out of the orphanage system at 18 or 20, they must return to those families they were removed from—families still steeped in alcohol and drugs. Too soon they are drawn into the cycle.

Those who have no parents are given an apartment by the state, but they don’t know how to care for it or themselves. They have no idea about budgeting and often earn very meager wages. Their low self-esteem holds them back as well. They have difficulty bonding, and the girls often end up pregnant, too often abandoning their infants. I met one young man who says that he wants to go to prison because that is what everyone in his family has done. He was born in a prison.

How will the cycle be broken? In the face of very grim statistics, we are uplifted by the efforts of our partners—churches that send out ministry teams, not just at holidays, but every week. They cannot reach every child, because they seek to make a significant difference by working with the same children in order to develop a bond. They teach Bible lessons, play games, sing songs, and spend time with the children. Many children are coming to accept Christ as their Savior. Coming out of the orphanage, these children will have someone to turn to for advice and counsel when the going gets rough, and they will have the rock of Christ to stand upon. Several of our partners work with intake facilities. In the short time that the children are there, they try to help the children look at their problems from another perspective, a Christian point of view. For a child returning to a difficult situation, they try to help foster the faith and courage needed to face their problems.

The churches are also helping with the physical needs of the orphanages—helping with repairs, collecting clothing and school supplies, and locating funds for medicines. The orphanage directors are grateful for this help. When state funding is limited, they often have no place else to turn.

We are able to find some funding for their projects through the Russian Orphanage Extra Commitment Opportunity. Partner churches in the Twinning Program are also involved. We are very thankful for the understanding that we see, and we are amazed at the energy people summon for tasks. Most of these volunteers are working full time at one or more jobs and caring for their own families. We seek to strengthen them in their efforts.

As we write this letter, we are keenly aware of the fighting going on in Iraq. We feel helpless in the face of this crisis, but we pray and we immerse ourselves in the work here. Working together with our partners, we hope to make a difference for those who suffer in our midst.

In this difficult and uncertain time, our prayers are with you as well.

Peace and blessings,

Ellen & Al

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 94