September 26, 2006
Dear Friends and Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of our risen Lord!
We have been enjoying the golden days of Indian summer after
a very cool August and early September. I am home for a little
while, after three very full and exciting weeks of travel. I want
to share it all with you, but can’t do it in just one letter.
Expect a second installment soon.
Meg and I returned from Riga three days after school began. As
other classmates were also late in returning, she didn’t
have too much work to make up. Al and Emma were already into the
school schedule, and Meg easily slipped into place. I spent the
last week of my summer getting ready for the fall schedule.
After our wild summer, I felt rather unprepared for a long anticipated
visit from Bob Ellis, coordinator of the International Health
Office of our denomination, but many prayers were lifted for us
and the Lord poured out His blessings bountifully. I met Bob in
Minsk on September 4, and our incredible journey began. The goal
of this trip was to share the work of the two Round Tables (Belarusian
and Russian) in the area of drug rehabilitation and the fight
against HIV/AIDS. Sadly, HIV and AIDS are spreading faster in
these two countries than anywhere in the world. The number of
people infected is not as high as in Africa, but the rate of transfer
is alarming.
Our visit in Belarus began with an overview of efforts in that
country with visits to government offices on AIDS, UNAIDS, and
an NGO working with those infected. Interestingly, we got three
very different pictures of the situation. With this background,
we set out to see projects, visiting two rehabilitation centers
for ex-prisoners infected with HIV.
Sister Pavla is an Orthodox nun who has been working with women
in prison for many years. Recently she opened a rehabilitation
center in the city of Gomel. She has years of experience, having
brought individual women into her monastery for rehabilitation.
She knows the challenges that she faces. It is more difficult
for women to break the cycle of addiction and to rebuild their
lives than it is for men. Few facilities are willing to work with
women. This is the only Christian rehab center for women in Belarus.
Bob and I spent the afternoon with Sister Pavla and her patients,
talking about the recovery process, the needs of the center, and
the women’s hopes and dreams. Sister Pavla uses animals
in therapy, teaching the young women to train dogs. She seeks
to reawaken their nurturing instincts. She has acquired a small
farm in a village outside of Gomel and hopes to expand the rehabilitation
program with this property, but there are challenges to this.
Neighbors often don’t want former drug addicts next door.
She also wants and needs to make the ministry self-supporting.
We talked about a number of possible projects that could bring
in income. Bob and I are both concerned for Pavla. She has too
few volunteers and carries most of the load alone. She knows that
she needs help, but few people will look beyond labels to individuals
longing for a new life.
Our second visit was to a project I have written about before,
a rehabilitation center for men in the village of Lyubcha run
by Igor Romanovski, a man who radiates warmth and joy. His boundless
energy turns his vision into reality. In the two years since my
first visit, Igor has added a dormitory for seven, a new barn
for a dairy, and a retreat center, which is nearly complete. When
the retreat center is done, they will finish work on a new dormitory
for 15. A third dormitory is planned. Early on, we helped Igor
buy a horse for plowing. Now they have a tractor, and Igor has
traded the horse for a cow. With two cows, they have begun their
dairy, but hope to expand so that the dairy can support the center.
Igor works in partnership with the village police. They work together
to choose from participants from the pool of applicants, to develop
the community, and to meet the needs of the community. Igor’s
wife and two small children also live at the center. Igor often
has to go into Minsk overnight. They know there’s a risk.
Some of the men have shown aggression in prison with rough guards,
but Igor and his family have never had problems. They see that
warmth and love heal people.
The Belarusian Round Table hopes to bring leaders like Sister
Pavla and Igor Romanovski together in a rehabilitation network
for sharing. Both of these centers are models that need to be
replicated. There are so many people here broken by alcohol, drugs,
and despair.
After four days in Belarus, Bob and I traveled by night train
to Moscow and jumped right into work, meeting on Friday with Margarita
Nelyubova, director of the Russian Round Table, for an overview
before leaving Saturday morning for the Ivanovo Region. Our goal
on Saturday was a drug rehabilitation center in a monastery on
the high banks of the Volga River. Because we missed the ferry,
Bob, Margarita, and I drove on to a village beyond Kineshma, where
we were met by Father Mefodii, abbot and director of rehabilitation.
Together, we traveled 15 kilometers upriver by motorboat to the
monastery. This in itself was the adventure of a lifetime. I cannot
describe the beauty or the profound sense of peace in this place.
The monastery is set in an abandoned village. Four monks live
here with eight patients (to have more than eight throws off the
balance of the community.) Each man stays at the center for six
to eighteen months. There are orchards and gardens, animals, work,
and worship. Father Mefodii uses film therapy to help the men
think about life issues, studying modern films from all over the
world. They look at the problems people face in films like “Kramer
vs. Kramer,” and discuss Christian responses to troubles.
They also have self-help groups and individual counseling. Father
Mefodii works to move people from nominal Christianity to real,
life-giving faith. Currently, they are building a refectory for
the center. The current dining hall is too small for all the visitors
and is poorly heated. This is a serious problem for people whose
health is fragile. Many are HIV-positive and 90 percent are infected
with hepatitis C. Once the refectory is complete, Father Mefodii
hopes to begin a series of seminars for others interested in establishing
rehabilitation programs.
The three of us spent the night at the monastery and then, reluctantly,
headed back down river to our car and the rest of our journey.
We drove back to the city of Ivanovo, visiting two more monasteries,
including a women’s monastery that has begun a hotline.
We traveled then to another village and a rehabilitation center
run by Father Sergei, who is also the head of the Diocesan Desk
on Drug Rehabilitation. He has also established a good model,
using the 12-step program to begin men on their journey to recovery.
Father Sergei asked us about models for half-way ministry. He
sees that the men in his care need a transition from the tranquil
village environment back to the cities they came from. Bob and
I have both tasked ourselves with finding such models in the United
States as a resource for Father Sergei and others involved in
this ministry. If you know of any, please let us know.
The three of us returned from the Ivanovo region and took a day
off before setting out again for the Bryansk region. Here we visited
another rehabilitation center (also set in a monastery) and a
Christian NGO involved in developing peer mentors and caring for
those infected with HIV. Father Diomede is the leader in both
the rehabilitation center and the NGO. He is a man of deep caring
and vision with feet firmly planted in the traditions of Orthodoxy,
but open to new ideas to help a generation spinning in the face
of globalization. We found hope in a group of bubbly young people
who have taken a pledge not to drink alcohol or take drugs. They
are one of several peer mentor groups in Bryansk schools.
We spent an evening with a self-support group for HIV-positive
individuals and their families. We listened to the heartbreaking
stories of rejection and isolation. Most cannot find work. Many
are afraid to tell their families. They seek hope. In the support
group, they have found some strength to carry on. Like others
involved in the ministry, Father Diomede seeks ways to support
the work. We discussed possible projects to make the rehabilitation
center self-supporting. Father Diomede also sees the need for
half-way ministry to help people make the transition to their
homes.
I hope that Bob has had a chance to rest and recover from a very
full schedule. We have felt richly blessed by the journey and
now look ahead to see how best to engage. Please pray for Sister
Pavla, Igor Romanovski, Father Mefodii, Father Sergei, Father
Diomede, and all those engaged in rehabilitation ministry. Please
pray for strength and endurance in their efforts to guide people
from nominal Christianity to life-giving faith.
May the peace and blessings of our Lord be with each of you.
With love in Christ,
Ellen
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 188
|
