Streets of Rostov

A day of meeting old friends!

2010-03-31T07:51:00.000-07:00

Often in this ministry people who you know and grow to love disappear. You never know where or why or whether everything is OK with them. Are they even alive? Today was a day to be glad. First we met Valya. We haven't seen Valya for over 6 months. She is so much fun. They had moved cities, but continue to live on the streets. They had just returned for the day, but it was great to catch up with them. Then on the way home we met Slava. I was so please to see him. He is an older man who lived in the garage not far from our property and it has been locked for months. I was glad to see that he was alive and well, he is being treated for Tuberculosis at a clinic. There are so many others that we have lost contact and all we can do is place them in the hands of God....

A life

2010-03-23T01:23:00.000-07:00

Jhenya is 22 years old. He grew up in an orphanage and is now homeless. He has spent the past few years just traveling around Russia city to city. He has been to over one hundred and forty cities.
He was watching us serve tea to our "regular" homeless with curiosity, I offered him tea and he wanted to talk. I quickly told him we needed a translator... then the conversation continued. He was very "open" or it seemed he was. One really can not tell if he was lying or not. He kept asking for help. I shared with him that we can give the most help as we continue to build relationship with him. I told him to come and see us, to hang out with us as we walk the streets. He agreed and we set up another time that we would be there so he could be there as well.... I was surprised when he showed up... not on time but he did come. And he came the next time... we went out for lunch with him... I saw him one more time after that in the bus station (his home). We were short on time and so we invited him to come and spend Sunday with us... go to church in the afternoon and to eat with us... he never showed up.
I left a couple days later to Finland. While I was gone Ruth heard that he left town.
I wonder where Jhenya is now...
While we were with him we met another young man who also lives like Jhenya does... traveling from one place to another, just doing whatever comes there way.
How many more young people are out there living like that?
How can we help young people like him?

Maybe one day I will have the privilege of meeting Jhenya again. BUT overall I pray that God will open up the doors to meet more of these young people and open up the doors to see them come off the streets. Maybe I will have the privilege of being involved in that... or maybe you will...

Alexei

2010-03-05T05:15:00.000-08:00

It is Alexei's 35th birthday today. I was sad because I couldn't find him... I wanted to let him know that he was special and that I was glad that he was born. He really wants to go home to Siberia, to be with his family, but something has happened that made him leave in the first place. He worries that soon he might lose his leg as it is infected and the hospitals won't admit him. Our small medical help just stops it getting worse. Even worse, he feels the threat of death on the streets daily.

Bonaparte

2010-02-23T03:47:00.000-08:00

I was encouraged to see how, without many words, one young American guy touched the hearts of our homeless. He quickly won their hearts with the short time he was with us, firmly becoming a favourite. There are echos of his time with us... he has a new name Napoleon Bonaparte ( B being for Byron), and they speak so fondly of him. Our homeless people never forget the kindness of strangers; it doesn't happen very often and it helps them to remember the world isn't as bad as it seems...

Babushka Tonya

2009-08-20T02:10:00.000-07:00

Only 65 years old; almost the same age as my dad, but looks maybe 15 years older. She is such a sweet woman, to me at least. In one year she buried 8 people who were close to her, from mother, to brother, to son. This was only about a year and a half ago. She recognises this is the reason why she started drinking. I am not suprised, it is a lot of grief for anyone to carry, particularly if they don't know the Lord.

When we first met her she wanted to visit the church where we go, because she liked what she saw in us. Soon after that she disappeared. Now she has returned, and there is another chance for her to get to know her saviour!

Valera

2009-07-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

A boy in a man's body
His girlfriend is a prostitue and he is the local muscle. Wanted and needed to look after the homeless and needy around him. These things make him feel special. These things make him feel important.
I like being free
In and out of prison, wanting something different but not really willing to fight to get it. It is his reputation today, living for this moment that really matters.
We were to pick him up for church
He was there, we were a little surprised. We were waiting for one other girl to come out who was also coming... and within that 5 minute wait he was gone. Later he said he got a call, he had to work. We probably will never know the truth.
We saw potential
He is charismatic, he is friendly, he is good looking and most importantly he is kind. Everyone wants a piece of him. We pushed him we challanged him, he was/is curious.

How much do you push? What should you say?
We want to help. We want to see him change. It is hard when that is not what he wants.

Gap in the system

2009-06-25T00:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we again met someone who is on the streets because having just been released from prison, he has nowhere to go. Yet again we see the need for some aftercare for people who have been made homeless after they have been released and either they have no family left to take them in or they have been disowned by them. As in other countries it is hard, almost impossible for these people to find jobs and to build a new life. Again, we ask the question "What can we do for someone like this?" and pray "God send us more workers and supporters of the vision to see people of the streets lives changed!!!!".

Slava

2009-06-19T10:56:00.001-07:00

We have been friends with Slava for almost 2 years. When we first met him, he didn't want to talk or make friends. We have seen how through our perseverence and love that he opened up and loves us in return.

He lives in a garage, which is a stones throw from where his daughter and ex-wife live. He has been homeless for many years and has also been to rehab for his drinking, but is unable to find freedom from this.

We started to believe that Slava is a Christian. He prays for us and also one of our friends Erik, who worked with us a while last year. He also always shows us the New Testament that he takes everywhere with him.

The other week we were more than encouraged by him. He had met a man who lives near by and got talking to him. Found out that he was an atheist and started to share God with him. Gave him a New Testament and told him about us and that we would be able to explain things more to him. We were so excited to hear that he had been sharing his faith!!!

Closed door

2009-05-29T01:02:00.000-07:00

We tried to get into one of the city's rubbish dump this week. We went with someone from our church as we had heard that homeless people live there!!! We were very disappointed to not be allowed in the dump. They didn't want to take responsibility for what might happen there. There used to be around 50 people living and working in the dump, now only around 10 because they have been thrown out of there.

So our adventure continues in looking for different places where we might find more homeless. Each day we still go to our normal spots of the train stations and central market.

How deep is the bottom of the pit?

2009-05-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

It can be hard sometimes on the streets. There are people who are really suffering. We are meeting more people who are disabled in some way. Mainly they are men with some or all of their legs missing.

One man Vova or Volodia, who we meet daily now and are building friendship with him used to be a manager of a helicopter factory. He had everything; good job, wife, children (at least a daughter). It all changed one day in a fire and now in his own words "I am no good for anyone, no one needs me". He is a grandfather and has a daughter, but lives in a pile on the floor at a bus stop and can't move from there. He has no legs and they stole his small poles that he used to drag himself around with.

He is respectful to us, making sure that no one offends us. He is a man capable of loving or caring. Yet he lives right at the bottom of the social ladder. He fell from above and landed at the bottom. I wonder to myself "Can life be any harder than his?" " Is there a bottom to the pit or has he already reached it"?

What I do know is that every time we visit him, I see a man who is intellegent, worthy of respect, someone who is becoming dear to me, and someone who is very precious to our God.

Full Redemption!!!!!

2009-05-05T00:40:00.000-07:00

We had the most wonderful news today. Nina, a lady who used to live in a garage near our base, is getting married! How great God is! When we first met her she was constantly under the influence of alcohol and living a life that was full of pain and suffering. She is a widow who had been kicked out of her late husbands brother's house. We sent her to a rehab centre in another city where she accepted Christ as her Lord, and began to live for Him. The change was amazing in her. Today she came to the city for the second time and announced her marriage to another worker at the rehab where she now serves. She is 59. She said how good God is that he gave her such a wonderful present as a husband.

?

2009-04-30T00:32:00.000-07:00

When speaking to our friend Valya, who is probably in her late 50's and has been on the streets 10 years, we realise that life is very complicated for them. I have talked to her about finding a place to live, or some centre to go to so that she has a roof over her head. Her answer is always no, they are institutions and there, there is no freedom. She even said living with a landlady would be too hard and restricted, she has grown accustomed to life on the streets and the "freedom" that it brings; to be her own master.

The question remains how can we help her off the streets? We will continue being her friend and showing her love, but how can we really help this person?

Sasha

2009-04-26T01:08:00.000-07:00

Sasha is one guy that we have been ministering to on and off since our ministry began. He was recently in the centre where we took Yura. He is no longer there as it seems that they really only like people who are abled bodied there (he has bad legs). He is trying to get sent by the government to another place that help with making documents (which are vital to life here in Russia). It makes us sad that there is not something we can do more, apart from now just supporting them through friendship and showing them their high value and God's love.

good reputation!!!

2009-04-26T01:03:00.000-07:00

The other day when we were serving some homeless people tea and chatting to them, a homeless woman came up and said "Are you the English?" I answered that one of us was yes, and asked how did she know that? She said that there are "good rumours" going around about our team and how we help people who are homeless like her. I asked who she heard from and it was from our dear friend Yura who we have been trying to help out!!!! Since then I have noticed he introduces us to people as his English friends (we also Canadian and Ukrainian at the moment). He seems proud of such friends. We are grateful to God that he is using Yura to make our name known and people already come up to us themselves.

Vasya

2009-04-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

Vasya is a sweet homeless guy we have met a couple of times now. He is probably in his fourties. It is difficult to tell sometimes as they often look much older than they are. He has a disability that was caused by an explosion at the end of a war in the early nineties. I think it was with Chechnya. His wife was killed during this time. His life has never been the same since...

sadness

2009-04-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

She died: The women at the local train station who had been asleep in the same place for two day. We didn't get to talk to her, to share God's love, the only times we saw she was deep asleep. We didn't even give her tea! That makes me sad.

excitement

2009-04-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we met a group of guys that we had been wanting to go up to for a while. It happened all quite naturally. It was great to start building a friendship with them. They are part of the streets. They are homeless, but they "lord" it over the weeker homeless and get money off them for "protection". Hopefully we can influence their lives. A lady who was with them yesterday came up today and told us they all live in an abandoned building as squatters. It has made us wonder how many others live like this and where are they if so?

2009-04-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

Yet again Yura is on the streets. It seems that the rehab called for an ambulance because he has an open wound on his leg ( right to the bone) and somehow he ended up at the central market! He is without his shoes and has been drunk all week!!! We are planning to go to the rehab to find out what really happened and if the only thing we can do is get his shoes back we will...

2009-04-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yura won't be cold tonight. He will sleep in a nice warm bed. He has had a nice warm shower and good food to eat. He is now living in a rehab centre. Thank you Father God!

Frustration and hope

2009-04-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to help one man out now for a couple of months. Yura is in his 50's and has a physical disability. During the winter months he got really sick and his legs would no longer work. He was living by some hot pipes near the railway station. We called an ambulance for him to only see him two days later back at the pipes and in the same condition. This time we got the police to call the ambulance and didn't see him for maybe a month. Then we see him back at the pipes, having had a toe or two amputated. This time we drive him to the local government run scheme to help him find a place to live. We worked on his medical requirements and they said that there would be a place for him in the shelter. We left him there hopeful. The next ministry day we see him again back at the pipes. We are so frustrated, we don't know what to do and have done all we can for him! Today we did the same without much luck. However, we met Slava, one of our homeless friends who tells us of the place he has just lived at and said they take anyone. We found a glimmer of hope. We went to this big house with a big gate! It was a Christian rehab centre!!!! They do take anyone and tomorrow we will drive him there and he will no longer be cold or hungry on the streets. Praise God!!! We are learning to be a voice for those who have no voice and that God can make a way!

Welcome

2009-04-09T10:12:00.001-07:00

Welcome to streets of Rostov blog. Our plan is to regularly update you with what is happening in our ministry. We want to tell stories about the people we meet and share with you our new plans and how our ministry is developing.