PDF file - Mission Possible

Bringing Help and the Gospel to the People in Eastern Europe.
Always
Together
Daniel and Kamilla are two of the
youngest children in our Yekaterinburg
shelter home, but they remember the
circumstances they were rescued from.
They rejoice for what they now have.
3 / 2011
Infants Off
the Street
Word from
the president
Ignat Ivanov
“Dear Lord, Give
Kamilla a Turtle!”
- Family Patrol helps young mothers and
babies rescued from the street
I was recently visiting our shelter home in Yekaterinburg. The children were
standing in a circle holding each other´s
hands, ready to pray with the teacher.
Daniel, 4 years old, was holding the hand
of his best friend, Kamilla (their photo is
on the front cover). He wanted to pray
first, so after kissing Kamilla’s cheek he
said, “Dear God, thank you for this day
and the food! I pray that you give Kamilla
a turtle!” He had seen eggs in a toy store
that “hatch” turtles when placed in water.
Every evening I was at the shelter home the police brought a new child – beaten, filthy, hungry, and timid. That is how
Daniel and Kamilla showed up about a
year ago. Now a couple from the Church
is preparing to become a foster family for
Daniel and his older brother.
There is never a moment without action at the shelter, with constant reasons
for both for joy and sorrow. Due to child
care legislation one of the girls, Nastya,
had to be relocated to a government orphanage. “God, I want to stay here!” she
prayed with tears. That broke the hearts
of both children and staff. The children
prayed that the Lord would stay with
Nastya wherever she went. In such cases this is all we can do - pray that the
seeds that have been sewn of God’s love
in these children’s hearts will take root
and be their strength.
The most vulnerable and
pitiful ones we see are the
second generation street
children – babies born to teen
mothers living on the street.
Often the mothers are addicted to drugs and have no
home, and the fathers of the
children are either unknown,
drug users themselves, or are
in prison.
We offer medical care to
the mothers during their
pregnancies and we work
hard to get their official documentation. However, without a supportive family and
Natasha Ivanova
visiting a young
mother.
adequate social security (government aid), many of them
remain dependent on our
help after the babies are born.
Our team in Yekaterinburg regularly visits ten
young mothers whom they
have helped off the streets.
We have begun to call this
ministry “family patrol.” The
mothers and children receive food, baby care items, and
clothes, and instruction is given on how to care for the
babies and households.
One of the mothers is Nastya who has a three year-old
daughter Katya. They stayed
for some time in our shelters in Yekaterinburg and
Asbest. Now they are living
with Nastya’s mother who
is a recovering alcoholic after going through our team’s
rehabilitation program. Nastya just got a job working in
a store and will soon be able
to financially provide for her
family. Little Katya’s future looks much brighter now,
and we are so happy to say
we’ve been able to help dozens of such families.
Nastya and little Katya will be receiving
regular help from us until their life becomes more stable. Our team fought for the
life of Maxim, Katya´s drug-using father,
but to our great sorrow he passed away in
early June.
Alcoholic family, orphanage,
violence, street,
city dump, rape
YEKATERINBURG
Andrey Ivanov
- An expecting mother from the street found refuge in our shelter home
Julia, now 19, was born into an alcoholic family. Besides living in constant
fear and depravity she had to face tragedy when her father killed her mother
and was thrown in jail. Julia was taken to
an orphanage. Because she was beaten at
the orphanage, she often ran away. At
age 14 she decided to make the streets
her home, and that is where she met our
patrol team.
For years Julia visited our patrol car.
Last year she disappeared for some time, and when she resurfaced she told us
she had been living in a hutch at the city
dump and suspected she was pregnant.
Our workers took her to see a doctor who
confirmed this. We offered Julia a place
in our shelter home but she wasn’t ready
to leave the street.
Two months ago
we got a frantic call
from Julia’s friends
telling us she had
been raped. Three
young boys had
attacked
Julia,
then six months
pregnant.
We
found the terrified girl and
took her to the hospital. With the help
of witnesses, our team was able to figure out who had committed this unspeakable crime.
The very next day on my way to street
patrol I had to take a detour because of a
traffic jam. I came upon a street fight. It
turns out that Julia’s friends were fighting
to avenge her; they were fighting two of
the rapists. One of the guilty offenders
pulled out a knife and swung at another
boy. I intervened and was close to getting stabbed myself. We apprehended
the two guilty boys and called the police. The third rapist was caught soon after that and they are all in jail right now.
After being released from the hospital,
Julia came to our shelter home, completely exhausted from all she’d been
through and desperate for help, crying,
“I can no longer live like this. I want to
come here!” We began to see a positive change in Julia right away. It became immediately apparent that she loves
children. In fact, she cares for the smallest ones so well that we have entrusted
them to her for short periods of time to
watch them play or help them get ready for bed.
Julia’s story gets better. A few weeks
The Yekaterinburg shelter home – a place where lives are changed!
later a man called the shelter and asked
if we know a girl named Julia. Naturally we were suspicious but it turned out
that the caller was Julia’s cousin – a former drug-addict who had become a believer and was now the assistant pastor
in a church. He was looking for his cousin to save her from the street life that he
himself had been living.
This cousin came regularly to visit Julia at the shelter home, talking to and encouraging her, and after some time Julia
also became a believer! Julia is now filled with joy and is greatly anticipating
the birth of her baby girl.
One morning Julia was telling the
children in a prayer meeting that if she
had had a chance to grow up in a home
like this, she would never have run out on
the streets. Everyone listened to her intently. Then, one by one, they prayed for
Julia and their new little sister who will
soon be born. After all the horrors Julia has gone through she now has a new
home, a big shelter family that loves her,
and she has had contact with her own
family. In addition to all this, she also
has the eternal hope of knowing God as
her Savior.
Our staff members offer the
help these young mothers
need. The older Julia in the
photo, Julia Vohmintseva, has
helped and taught many teen
mothers who had been living
on the streets.
Helping Gypsy families
in their villages
Gypsy families from Eastern Europe travel to Western European
cities and beg on the streets. Adults and children begging on the
streets has now become a common sight in countries that previously were absent of beggars. We have been asked many times
if our organization is planning to help these beggars who come
from Eastern Europe. Our reply is that since 1998 we’ve sought to
help Gypsy families in their own home villages.
Nourishment for both
body and spirit
Every year we work in five or six villages and slums inhabited by Gypsies
or Bulgarian Turks. Our ministry is
in the form of soup kitchens, distribution of food supplies and clothes,
literacy classes, professional courses
for young adults, and the provision
of fields for families to work and harvest.
Gypsy girls in a room service course.
We operate jointly with the Evangelical churches in these villages and
arrange the meals and teaching in
their buildings. Most of the workers are volunteers, and they give
the children and families both physical and spiritual care. It is often the
children who influence their parents
to come to church and, as a result,
some formerly Muslim villages now
have a Christian majority!
14 year-old Minka takes
care of her siblings
Minka (in the photo) lives in
the village of Pevtsite. Her parents have died so she and her
younger siblings live in their
grandmother´s hut. Minka is
the only one who can work
to provide for the family. “I
don´t go to school because I
have to collect herbs. But I
attend church.” Minka places the little sister on her lap
to help her eat. A faint smile
appears on the older sister´s
serious face. Somebody is now
providing for her, too. The
opening of the soup kitchen
in Pevtsite guarantees daily
bread for these children, and
through the literacy course Minka is learning to read
and write.
The soup kitchen is vitally
important for the children
of the village.
The Church has become like
a home for the children.
NON PROFIT
ORG
U.S. POSTAGE
Mission Possible
404 E. Gregory St.
Mt. Prospect, IL 60056-2573
PAID
Mt. Prospect, IL
Permit #65
Mission Possible´s eighty local workers serve in Russia, the Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Albania, bringing help and
sharing the message of Jesus Christ
in cities, youth camps, mountain villages, and Muslim slums. We help
homeless, neglected, and drug-addicted children, youth, and families, offering them material help, relief
programs, and the Gospel. Through
long-term consistent work we aim at
seeing lasting changes in life. In addition to this, Bible curriculum International Educational Fellowship,
Christian books and women’s and
children’s magazines reach several thousands readers and students.
Forms of Street Children´s
and Youth Ministry
Shelter homes: 6
Rehabilitation centers: 3
Shelter apartment: 1
Street patrols: 2
Day centers and clubs: 3
Soup kitchens: 5
On a yearly basis regular help reaches:
- 1000 children/youth on the streets, in day centers, and slums;
70-100 are helped off the street
- 180 children in shelter homes
- 140 individuals in rehabilitation centers
- Dozens of families in crisis (teen mothers with children rescued from
the street; families of former shelter home children)
- 300 children at hospitals
- 1000 children/youth through various events (camps, events in prisons)
- In Albania, community outreach and Christian activity groups reach 500
women, Bible and youth clubs 400 children and teens.
Mission Possible Foundation, PO Box 248, Mt. Prospect, IL 60056
1.800.729.2425, [email protected], www.mp.org