Visit to Serdobskiy convalescent home.

Greetings to our brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus!!

Last week I visited a convalescent home in Serdobsk where most of the graduates from the Nizhniy Lomov orphanage live. I had several reasons for making that trip. First, I miss all the youth a lot. Another reason was a phone call from Sergey Antonov (many of you know him as “Scott’s Sergey”) which made me worry.  He told me that he is tired of life.  Usually Sergey is full of optimism and joy, but on the call he sounded sad. He was sent to Serdobsk six months ago. Sergey stayed at the orphanage until he turned 22, yet he is still very vulnerable. I would say that this is a typical situation for all youth with special needs here.

While we were talking on the phone I tried to calm him down and encourage him. As soon as I told him that I was going to visit him, Sergey immediately changed his attitude. When I got there one week later Sergey was just fine.

The convalescent home is a three-story building which reminded me of a dormitory with many small rooms. Most of the residents are elderly people. This place is very different from what I have seen in America where people have marvelous conditions (beautiful buildings, nice meals and a variety of entertainment). The front door guard directed me to the section where all the youth live.  I walked through a long corridor with many art pictures of farm life painted on the walls. It was obvious that the building was recently remodeled yet it was pretty dark and stinky. I turned the corner and almost ran into Renat. He was so excited to see me that for several minutes he couldn’t talk about anything else; he just constantly repeated, “What a surprise, what a surprise!!!”

Then we took a walk around the convalescent home. Renat asked about everyone who ever visited the orphanage before; he definitely has good memories. Needless to say, each of our visits to the orphanage was a big deal for him. While we were walking we met other former orphans of Nizhniy Lomov. They all looked well, yet their eyes reflected sadness.

Renat showed me everything around the place. His favorite thing to do is to play soccer, therefore all the walls of his room are covered by posters of soccer players.  I asked him about difficulties and he relayed that he has big pressure form his friends and other adults because he doesn’t drink.

Renat is 23 years old and his whole childhood was spent at the orphanage. His mom abandoned him right after she gave birth because of his physical defect (split palm hands). When Renat turned 16 he decided to find his parents. I can imagine how painful it was for a teenager to hear all that from his mother and father.  Renat has a sister and a twin brother. When he found them, he had a lot of hope that he would have a home and many relatives, but this dream fell apart. Two weeks after he arrived, his mother kicked him out and demanded he never come back. Thus Renat was abandoned twice. Nevertheless, Renat forgave them.

I asked him what the purpose of his life is.  He replied that he wishes to become a sportsman, a soccer or football player. And someday play for Russia for the World championship.

Then I shared about the purpose that the Lord has for all of us which is to bring glory to HIS name through our faith in Jesus. Please pray for Renat and other youth at that home. They struggle intensely because of the conditions they live under. God knows what is best for all of us. He allows bad things to happen in our lives that we would see HIS Grace and draw us closer to NIM.

 We are working on getting permissions for tent camping for our church. Please hold us in your prayers because it’s a huge task which we can accomplish only with His help.

Angelica and I are excited about guests from the US that are going to come this summer. Please pray that God would help them with different issues as they are getting ready for the trip.

 Our oldest son, Elijah, has graduated from middle school with good marks and is now getting ready for high school. We are so thankful to the Lord for that. He dreams of being a pilot.

Thank you for your prayers.

Serving Christ together with you.

Sergey , Angelica Elijah and David Zelenov 

"Children on the oil side".

Gazeta.ru

Translated by Google translator.

The number of street children in Russia has reached the level of the Civil War. "In recent years the number of street children is increasing and now stands at 2.17% of the total number of children, ie 2 out of 100 children in Russia - Gaming" - the head of the Interior Ministry data published Committee on Social and Demographic Policy of the Public Chamber Elena Nikolaeva. According to her, in Russia today for 28 million children, "appears every 115-120 thousand orphans ..., 200-220 children each day taken from neglectful parents; 600,000 ... are in boarding schools of various types.
According to experts, Russia's street children for the most part are not orphans who lost parents and children who, for whatever reasons, left the family on their own. President, Association of child psychiatrists and psychologists Anatoly Northern cause of modern growth in the number of street children is called a complete discrediting of the family during the social changes in the last century. The crisis in the economy and ideology has caused the destruction of family ties - ties between children and parents, the mutual obligations of some over others. The state has not taken or is taking comprehensive measures, which would reduce the number of street children. This topic has not even heard in the speeches of heads of state and government or regional authorities. Now, if the homeless are detained, then taken to the shelter and return back to the family, whatever it was - a happy or problematic.
In Russia, unlike Western European countries, there is no system to prevent homelessness and rehabilitation of street children after their return to the family. Because the majority of returned children run away from home again and again. Against this background, especially cut rumor replicable official media hysteria political officials, deputies, representatives of some NGOs regarding violence against Russian children adopted by foreigners. Of course, every such case should be subject to consideration by the relevant Russian government agencies. Yet the primary responsibility of politicians and bureaucrats is the problem of street children in Russia itself.
These data representative of the Public Chamber of the official police statistics on the homeless (and these statistics can at best be relatively adequate, and at worst - low) sound quality of the verdict of public administration. Even at the level of political rhetoric to combat homelessness in Russia is not in the list of declared government objectives. The last time (again, purely rhetorical) the problem of homelessness and combating it signified the current governor Valentina Matvienko, when he was a "social" Deputy Prime Minister in the early 2000's. But ten allegedly prosperous, according to authorities, years when the country finally appeared a lot of money from the ever-increasing energy prices, the situation of street children only worsened.Meanwhile
homeless - an indicator of degree of tissue collapse of the state and society. The effectiveness of the state is measured not only the ability to ensure sustained economic growth, protect the border or to create opportunities for the maximal realization of professional citizens. Primarily, this efficiency depends on the quality of education, health, position in society of children and the elderly. Old men in Russia are the poor and powerless, even veterans do not bother to power, despite the constant loud promises to provide housing for the 65 th anniversary (!) Victory. Nursing Homes across the country in a terrible state. The same applies to children's homes. A number of street-level Civil War (ie, return to the state of society almost 100 years old!)-A sure sign that
Inflationary from excessive geopolitical ambitions of Russia, a member of the Group of Eight, the world's largest gas exporter and one of the largest exporters of oil, remains a backward, barbaric country. A growing number of street children - is the cry of abandonment of Russia itself, the country where the government does nothing that solves their personal financial problems, forgetting about the affairs of state primary importance.

link to the original article http://www.gazeta.ru/comments/2010/05/26_e_3373902.shtml