Orphanages in Russia

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August, 7, 2005

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your prayers for my trip to the United States in the beginning of 2005. I was able to speak at 6 churches and meet many pastors to share about orphanage ministry. It was so great to come back home and get straight to work. Summer months are passing by quickly and I am praising God that His kingdom is expanding in the orphanages in my region. Below are some news from the ministry.

=PROMISED LAND TEAM AT KOLOSOK:
The first mission team this year came in May from Promised Land Church to minister at Kolosok orphanage in Bagrat. This church in Georgia had already been supporting this orphanage for a couple of years. The Lord's hand has miraculously provided great needs for Kolosok in small windows of time through this church...a commercial washing machine, a new ventilation system for the orphanage's kitchen, numerous pairs of boots, coats, clothes and shoes for the children. This year they funded a weight room renovation project for the boys. There was much prayer lifted up for the mission tea and for the orphanage. And the Lord answered the prayers, opening the doors to the hearts of the children and the staff and connecting them together in His love. Valentina, the assistant director, an elderly lady, gave her heart to Jesus and is now reading Bible. One of the interpreters, Venera now goes to Kolosok every other weekend after she felt the call from the Lord to continue reaching out to teens and staff. Please pray that the Lord blesses her ministry and meets her financial needs. The mission team also visited three orphanage facilities in the town of Gusev and sowed the seeds of God's love.

=LIGHT FOR THE PEOPLES TEAM AT GUSEV ORPHANAGE:
Right after the PLC team left, the Gusev orphanage hosted the team from Light for The Peoples mission in Stockholm, Sweden. This Christian mission is reaching small people groups in Europe and Asia. Per Andersson, the team leader and a staff worker of the mission read about Kalinigrad in a magazine10 years ago and had been wanting to come to the region since then. Fund Pchyolka became his first opportunity after Per and I met in 2003. This was Pchyolka's first non-American team. They renovated a large playroom which made the director very happy. Now it is the best room in the orphanage. They need more renovation and I pray that Fund Pchyolka is able to help again soon. Every afternoon the teens from a local church held Christian programs for orphans. Most of them had received Jesus before. On Sunday four of the orphans came to church service with Swedes but they had to do it secretly because orphanage teachers do not allow them to come to a non-orthodox church. This orphanage is located next to a Russian orthodox temple and the priest has easy access to the children. He teaches that protestant churches are cults. But what can stop our Lord? Several children shared that they read Bible although the teachers discourage them from doing it.

Also this orphanage received a new industrial washing machine that will serve for at least 10 years of non-stop use. The funds were raised by Angela Eanes' team in fall of 2004.

=CHILDREN'S CAMP:
My church (United Church of Evangelical Christians) ran their annual camp for children. The church completely funded the camp. Eleven kids from Kolosok and Raduga were able to come. It is amazing that the Lord is raising up people in my church and I am no longer the main generator and the executer of projects. It is a great relief and a great blessing.

=PRAVDNISK ORPHANAGE:
The orphanage has a new director now. There was much prayer lifted up for Tatiana, the former director who had heart problems, and that the doors for the Gospel would not be closed with the coming of a new head. Tatiana is doing well and works as a speech therapist now. Yelena, the new director at Pravdinsk loves the children and welcomes Christians. Praise to our God that all chiefs are in His hand. If He opens the door who can close it?

=OSTROVOK SHELTER:
A family in Germany that adopted a girl from Ostrovok adopted the orphanage as well. Through their efforts the shelter has 2 new bathrooms. The next project is kitchen and a fence. The shelter was very poor when it started in 2002. Fund Pchyolka was one of their first donors and Yelena learned about the Lord's giving heart. She gives praise to Him for every small gift. Now they get more help that ever anticipated. And they would like to host a mission team in 2006 if there is one to visit them.

=GRADUATES:
In my December newsletter I told you about Vera Parfyonova, the graduate girl from Pchyolka orphanage. In June she finished the school with As and Bs and is now a certified elementary school teacher. As I shared with you before, she wants to study at a university. This month she will be doing paperwork and taking exams to become a part time student of the Russian State University in Kaliningrad. She is already renting a room in Kaliningrad with Katya, her friend who is already a student. Vera is looking for a job that could help her provide the living expenses in the city while she is a part time student. Katya and I are encouraging Vera in her plans. It is a great joy and praise to God to see an orphan child willing to study and build her future. Please continue to pray for Vera and her desire to know the true and loving God.

Sveta Susha, the first graduate from Pravdinsk orphanage graduated from a college in Sovietsk as a cook. She is married now and has a baby girl. She lives in Sovietsk and visits her orphanage with her husband. While she was gone for school, the house she owned as an orphan was sold by the farm in Sveta's village.. The orphanage found out about it this year and is now trying to help Sveta to get it back through the court. Please pray for Sveta to have her house back soon or to be given another one by the farm.

Thank you for your continuing prayers for orphanage outreach in Kaliningrad region. The Lord is good and He loves the 3,000 orphans in Kaliningrad region of Russia. To reach them with his love is possible only with prayer of saints.

PRAISE:
* Successful mission teams, from USA and Sweden
* Church summer camp independent of Fund Pchyolka funds
* Yelena, the new director at Pravdinsk and her openness to the Gospel
* Humanitarian aid projects accomplished by Fund Pchyolka in 6 months

PRAYER REQUESTS:
* Venera's ministry to teens at Kolosok
* Open doors at Gusev Orphanage for a local church to come in and minister
* A team for Ostrovok shelter
* The situation with Sveta Susha's house

May the Lord bless you.
Sveta Kliachina

Would you like to be a part of this ministry and make a donation? Please send your check to IFHAD, our partner fund in the USA. Your gifts are tax-deductible. Please attach a note saying the funds are for Fund Pchyolka in Russia. If you'd like to designate your donation for a specific projects or orphanage, please include that information on your note.

IFHAD (International Fund for Humanitarian Aid and Development)
attn: Dennis McCaw, Treasurer
2460 Woodmere Dr. NE
Marietta, GA 30062

Or would you like to become a part of this ministry through sending a mission team to an orphanage? There are many orphanages that have never had a mission team. You can show Father's love and bless them with your friendship.

View pics from Kaliningrad

Scrapbook - 20 pages

The Mission

Our mission group flew from Oklahoma to NYC and then on to Moscow December 1995. We were transporting medical supplies, clothes, toys and gifts for the children in the Dietsky Dome and School Internat. That's my transliteration of the Russian terms for an orphanage (age 2-6) and boarding school (age 7-17). A dietsky dome (Children's Home) has about 30 children and 30 workers while the school internat (Boarding School) had hundreds of children and teachers/guardians and helpers. This was the trip of a lifetime and my expectations were EXCEEDED beyond belief (God's imprint was on the whole trip). Please do not construe anything you read here as negative. The children are given tender loving care by their house mothers and nearly all play the piano and recite poetry from memory. I am trying to be accurate and provide information to keep you from being surprised when you go, which should make the trip that much more enjoyable. I plan to return and do this again. By all means, travel to Russia!!

Oblast Kaliningrad

Our ultimate destination was the Oblast Kaliningrad (not Leningrad) which is an isolated province on the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Poland. It would be a good geography lesson for you to see where K-grad is.

The Trip

Yes, it is cold and snowy in December but the Delta Airlines tickets are cheap! Incoming customs was wonderful when we explained our mission to the guards. But do not go to Russia without the proper visas and inventories of your supplies. The Russian Army met us at the Moscow international airport with a truck to carry our 50 boxes to another local airport (clear across the city) where, after much haggling about excess baggage we boarded an Aeroflot plane to K-grad airport. Boy is that an exciting ride. Much better than a roller coaster and they serve cheese, a drink and a piece of meat to boot. Little did I know they would bring by a basket of bread later, I had already eaten the cheese and meat and drank the juice. You lift up your seat and put your baggage under it, and stuff the overhead racks full. Everything else goes in the aisle. Nobody checks baggage in Russia. They carry everything on. There is no chance for a quick exodus from the plane. I looked out the window and saw another Aeroflot plane going the opposite direction not more than 500 feet away. We had to circle K-grad for an hour in the fog before finally coming in for a landing. Pretty exiciting. On the way home we tried out the Moscow subway (I wouldn't recommend it) and strolled on Red Square - absolutely-anytime it was wonderful! We showed up at the airport three hours early for our international flight back to the US. A taxi ride to the airport costs $200, be prepared (or better yet call me for the number of a driver in Moscow). It took two hours to get through Moscow customs pushing and shoving the whole way. Nobody stands on line in Russia. Then the Delta agent told us our flight for today had been cancelled. It was no problem though, he put us on yesterday's flight because it had not left yet.

Snake!

So much for travel. Our Russian hosts Olya, Vladimir, Valentina, Larissa, Svetlana, Igor and many others were absolutley wonderful, taking us to the orphanages, feeding us and becoming instant friends. Vladimir asked the ladies and I if we would like a snake after our long flight? Everyone was calmer once we discovered that he was trying to say SNACK!

Project Hope

Let me tell you about Project Nadiejda (Nadya means "Hope"). We visited 19 of the 28 orphanages in the small province of K-grad with over 3,000 children being cared for. Children are here because they are orphaned or abandoned or their family cannot support them at the moment. This is not always a failure of the family. I met many people who had regular jobs but there is no such thing as a regular paycheck. Many people keep working even though they have not been paid in months. This includes government workers (and I'm sure many orphanage workers too). Of course Russia has 88 more regions, republics and federal cities and each has it's problems with caring for children. We "hoped" to survey these orphanages, play with kids, talk to directors and understand problems. The orphanages need very practical basic hygiene items like lice shampoo, shoes, vitamins, toothbrushes, blankets and towels. All of the boarding school directors asked if we had brought tampax for the girls. Children like books and toys. Coloring books, crayons and "connect the dot" books were very popular. Very few children have a toy that is their very own. Boys like small matchbox cars, girls like hair ribbons, small dolls, pretty brushes and combs.

The Orphanages

Please write to these kids. If you address a letter to: Kolya, Vladimir, Sergei, Nikita, Stas, Shasha, Vitya, Vova, Pasha, Katya, Nastia, Olga, Lyena, Natasha, Alena, Anastasia, Julia, Alexander, Alexei, Dimitri, Ura, YOU WILL HAVE A HAPPY kid in Russia. These are very common names and you may recognize some of them (but not when they are spelled with the Cyrillic alphabet). Just write in English. They will find someone to read it. Use the American Flag stamps. Everyone loves the American flag.

Mail

Addresses in Russia are upside down so start at the bottom of the envelope and work your way up. Address your letters like this:
Russia
236000 Kaliningrad Obl
Town
yl street name street number
Orphanage Name
Direktor

What can I do?

Please and Thank You

The Russian people are ever polite (except for the queues) and Pazhalasta and Spaseeba go a long way. Learn some more words to. American transliteration: Please come back soon and visit.

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