Russian Street Children Documentary

Journeyman Pictures has posted a twenty minute documentary on Russian street children in St. Petersburg on their youtube site. It is well done and worth watching. The situation for street children in Russia parallels Ukrainian street children and I see the are grappling with the same problems in how to help them.

To see the video, click HERE.

Mother Arrested For Selling Her Son for $1500.00

Ukrainiana posted a news video (with translation) of a mother who tried to sell her son for $1500.00. This is not a rare or unheard of situation. Many mothers sell their babies for various reasons and for various things. I have heard that the going rate for a baby is $200. I have also heard that many children are sold for body parts or stem cell research purposes.

To see the video and post you can click HERE.

Hoping

Recently visiting the Rehabilitation Center for older children, I was pleasantly surprised to greet a dear and familiar face. A teenage girl that I had previously seen at the Day Center greeted me with a big smile, hug and some silly giggles.

I was happy to see her because she has been in and out of the Rehabilitation Center since I had met her about a year and a half ago. Sometimes living on the streets and sometimes trying life back at home. She floated back into the Day Center where she continued to be shown unconditional love and support and was constantly encouraged to get off the streets and come back and live in the Rehabilitation Center. Once at the Day Center she shared with us that she had been stabbed. (She was not seriously hurt, but still what a horrific experience for her.)

Teenagers who have been living on the streets have a hard time making the choice to leave the streets and it can take a long time for them to have enough confidence to take this step. It is imperative that those working with them show them constant love and support and help guide them in the right directly. Children living on the streets are actually addicted to this lifestyle and much like an alcoholic or drug addict, as much as a person would think they might jump to leave the street life, they also need to understand what they are doing and make the choice for themselves as well.

This teenage girl is very bright, easy going and extremely sweet natured. She herself confessed to me that she was not a strong person even though people think that she was because she lived on the streets. She told me she was actually weak because she had a problem with alcohol and didn't believe in herself.

I told her that God had opened a door for her to change her life and she might never get another opportunity to change her life for the better. I was not trying to be dramatic, I simply told her the truth, that not many street kids get the support that she will receive if she goes to the Center to live and that if she stays on the streets she may never get another chance.

I am hoping that this time around she will stay.

A Little Miracle

Yesterday I was at the center and met a new little boy who is about two years old. He was very friendly and was pushing toys around on the floor while he waited for his caretaker to take him to the Medical Center for a check up.

He needed another check up because he had fallen from the seventh floor of an apartment building. His parents are drug addicts and they were high and had left a window open. It was a miracle he was not killed and apparently he survived the fall with no apparent injuries. He spent some time at the Medical Center for observation and now is living at our Rehabilitation Center.

Cherkassiy Rehabilitation Center

Here are photos from a new Rehabilitation Center that we are opening in Cherkassiy. Cherkassiy is a city about three hours from Kyiv by car. This center currently has about twenty four children living in it and it will be run on the model of ministry we use in Kyiv.

These photos are not so great and I wish I had some of the kids that are living there. These photos were taken with the specific idea of giving people an idea of the major remodeling work that needs to be done in the center.

To Inspire......

Future Sports Center

We will soon be adding a sports center to our ministry. It wasn't a planned idea, but the facility was available for a low price and God opened the doors for the details to fall into place. The proceeds from our tennis tournament, "Strokes Against Hopelessness 2008" will go towards completely remodeling the facility and turning it into a place where street children can get involved in sports.

When I first heard the words, "sports center," I imagined a gym like facility but this is a little bit different. This small sports complex is located in the basement of an apartment building and was indeed used as a sports center before we acquired it. Here is the front door.

The inside is badly run down and needs major remodeling. As it is underground, the ventilation is poor and needs to be redone.

Here is one of the two large gym rooms. There is some equipment that was left behind. You can see at the top of the photo the work that needs to be done on all the ceilings. There are leaking pipes which have damaged them.

Here is the second entrance that opens up to a field/playground area.

Here is the entrance to the field area. The gates and blacktop area will need to be remodeled as well.

There is a lot of work to be done but there are lots of possibilities as well! Thanks again to all our tennis tournament sponsors and participants who are helping us get a good start on remodeling this center. I will definitely post photos "afterwards" and show the results!