Igor says that when church and
police work together it makes a huge difference. Policemen tasked
with supervising ex-inmates often regard it as a chore. Here,
they are working as a team, and everyone benefits.
The center currently has space for five men, but they are getting
ready to expand. Part of the expansion will include a small house
so that Igor can move his wife and infant daughter out to the
center. She and the baby often visit, but space is very limited.
The one thing that the Belarus Round Table has asked us to provide
is a horse to help with plowing the 45 hectares. When we suggested
a partnership with the local church, they responded enthusiastically.
We will be looking for both a horse and a partner.
Our second visit was to Svetlogorsk, a city in the Gomel region,
the area most severely impacted by the Chernobyl disaster. The
city is infamous as the place where drug technology and HIV infection
entered Belarus. There are three colleges in Svetlogorsk and it
is on the main rail line between St. Petersburg and Kiev. Drug
abuse began in Belarus among students and spread rapidly. In a
city of 17,000 residents, 1,700 are registered as HIV positive.
The real numbers are probably much higher, closer to 5000. Al
and I set out for this journey under dark clouds and a forecast
of snow.
Two and a half years ago, I visited Gomel, the regional center,
and met a psychologist and three young people from Svetlogorsk.
The three young people, all HIV-positive, were working with the
psychologist to establish a rehabilitation center, because of
the desperate need. They had had success in getting parents involved,
but they needed a space to remove addicts from their environment
for treatment. Since my visit in 2001, the group has progressed.
They now have a strong group of mothers involved and have received
a piece of property for the rehabilitation center in a village
some 40 kilometers from Svetlogorsk—a great location in
many ways, but not without challenges.
We felt the weight of what they are trying to do, as well as
the urgency to move forward. We met with a group of the mothers
who are fighting for their children’s lives with love and
courage. But what a battle! They have been instrumental in acquiring
the property, and are now working on renovations and furnishings.
We traveled out to the site for the rehabilitation center where
a small crew was working in extreme cold. The building given to
them was in poor shape. One of the major problems they face is
an elderly neighbor who does not want a drug rehab center next
door. She has called the police on them repeatedly, trying to
find a way to have them ejected. Fortunately, the man in charge
of the center is a man of great courage and conviction who has
worked in other rehab centers. He will endure, but it is tiring,
and he worries about the young men who will come for care.
Sasha, one of the young people I met in 2001, is the leader of
the project. Time has taken a heavy toll on his health. His face
is gaunt. Looking at him, I kept thinking of Edvard Munch’s
painting, “The Scream,” but Sasha wasn’t screaming.
There was a desperate urgency in his eyes, but he wasn’t
screaming. I felt the trudge he walks, putting one foot in front
of the next in this fight against the ravages of drugs and AIDS.
They need encouragement, they need help to finish the renovation
and get the center up and running. We hope and pray that we can
find just some of the assistance needed. Our drive back to Minsk,
in the midst of a blizzard, felt slow and torturous, but it had
its beauty, not unlike the work going on in Svetlogorsk.
We thank you all for the prayers that have sustained us through
these months since our return to Russia. Please add Igor and Sasha
and their important work to your prayers. As we enter the Advent
season, let us prepare our hearts for His coming. May the peace
and blessings of our Lord be with each of you , this day and always.
With love in Christ,
Ellen and Al
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
182
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