YEKATERINBURG
April 2007

Good news: A shelter home to Yekaterinburg – our new challenge!

By IGNAT IVANOV
Director of Mission Possible

I stand at the opening of a steaming pipe tunnel in the -30°C (-22°F) temperature, where children crawl out of it like ghosts.

- The children have dreamed of a shelter home and prayed for it since the summer,” I hear the voice of Natasha, our street patrol director say.

After a brief pause I hear my own voice answer:

- “Yes, I am absolutely certain that it will happen.”

And we didn't have to wait for long. Like a Christmas gift, we received much of the funding for the shelter home at the end of the year! We are in the process of looking for a suitable building.

We believe that with you, dear friends, we will be able to open a home in Yekaterinburg this year, where the children will be able to stay in the coming winter!

Children out of the streets and the street out of the children

By ANDREY AND NATASHA IVANOV
Leaders of the work in Ekaterinburg

The empty nooks and crannies will immediately be filled with new residents

Last year, we helped over 40 children and youths off the streets, and two of our patrolling sites were emptied. Now they are again filled with residents. There is never a shortage of new residents for the tunnels and basements. Unfortunately, some of the children that left the streets have returned to their nooks, because they may not have received help appropriate for their age and circumstances.

Children off the streets with all possible means

We have placed the children and youths from the cellars and pipe tunnels wherever we have been able to. They have been taken to the rehabilitation centers maintained by the congregations, back to their homes, to the relatives or in the children's homes. For some, we have been able to get back the apartments and the assistance they are entitled to . They have now gathered their friends from the streets to be with them.

But a roof over their heads does not solve the problems for these boys and girls. True, they no longer suffer from the cold like they did on the street, and they receive some subsistence allowance as well. They are out of the streets, but the street is not out of them yet. Therefore we visit them regularly and teach them the normal living.

The substance abusing pre-teens are the most difficult group

There is no place in existence in this area where substance abusing children and pre-teens are rehabilitated.

Our future shelter home is meant to help and save these very children and bring to them what they need: love, hope, purpose for living, guiding them by the hand and providing school education after years on the streets.

“Have you seen this boy?”

In November, we found a new boy sleeping in the hallway of an apartment building. Ever since, the 10-year-old Sasha (on the picture on the left) came has come to the street patrol car to receive food and assistance, spent time at the day center with other children and youths, and listened the bible stories with interest.

Sasha befriended with our workers and was always around them, hugging them and waiting for kind words. He was clearly from a normal family. The boy was lively and chatty, but got quiet as soon as we started to ask why he was on the streets.

Some time ago a desperate father showed up in the city's congregations, asking for help. “Have you seen this boy,” he asked, showing a photo. He also came to the congregation where our day center was located in the building in their yard. “There is an organization that helps street children, perhaps they know something,” the father was told.

When we received the photo from the congregation, we recognized Sasha immediately and called the father. He was extremely happy and relieved – after having thought that he'd lost his son, among other sad events. “Last October, my wife was run over by a car and died. It was an extreme shock that overwhelmed us, and especially Sasha. He stopped going to school, was restless and aggressive. Then he got into an argument with his sister and ran away.”

We went to talk to Sasha. “Do you know that your father has looked for you everywhere? He loves you so much and is terribly concerned.” Having heard this, the boy burst in tears.

The past was forgiven and forgotten the moment the son and the father were reunited and hugged each other at the day center.

Mobile phone theft led Artyom to the cellars

Artyom, 15, (on the picture) belonged in the cellar gang called “The Intellectuals”. They are not substance abusers, but spend their money in the computer game rooms. Most of them are from good homes and have ended up on the streets for various reasons.

Artyom, withdrawn, did not want to talk about his situations, but recently we were able to gain his confidence and talk with him.

I don't dare go home. I have stolen a mobile phone and skipped school,” Artyom confessed. “What if we work things out on your behalf with your home and school,” we suggested. Artyom thought about it for a week and then gave us his mother's phone number. “Call her,” he said.

The boy beamed with joy when he heard that his parents were absolutely delighted and promised that he could return without being afraid.

We sent Artyom back to his hometown Pervouralsk together with our friend, a pastor of an evangelical congregation, who lives on the same street as his family.

Artyom has called us several times. “Things go well at home, my father has even bought me new clothes. I'm back in school!”

The children may sometimes en up on the street for small reasons
– but helping them out of there is never simple.

Translated by Jari Vesterinen, Jamtrex Language Service