A Oasis Of Grace In The Darkness

Places like Jayer in St. Petersburg are dark places that make far too early graves for young people who never stood a real chance in life. Even if the situation is tough for young adults who´s graduated from institutions in Russia there are some oasis of Grace to be found in the darkness.

When orphans turn 18 they are dropped from the institutions where they grew up. One day they where kids and the other day they were grownups who don´t know how to live in the real world on their own. The problem is that they have not learned to deal with the various problems of life that they now encounter. They are completly left alone and don´t have any parents, siblings, grandparent or other persons who care about them and can help them in this new situation. They often lack the everyday knowledge that others children learn in their families, such as washing clothes, cooking, managing household cash. They often feel lonely and left out, and in reality, they really are. 

The statistics for orphans who graduate from institutions in Russia is very dark. Only 10% of them can adopt to a normal life in the society after graduation. The other 90% are doomed to a life in misery which often puts them in far too early graves. Some of them are lured into prostitution and criminality, some of them becomes alcohol or drug addicts. some of them end up as homeless or couch surfers and some of them take their lifes.

Jayer is street talk for a girl who is willing to do any kind of sexual act with everybody she meets. It´s also the name of a unfinished hospital in S:t Petersburg. Jayer is a house of death were young prostitutes sell their bodies for drug money and they spread HIV to customers who often refuses to use condoms. It´s a place where heroin addicts injects slow death into their veins, most of them are HIV-positive and when they share their needles they also share the deadly disease. Jayer is also a place were homeless people live and young hipsters get together to have Squat Parties in the weekends. Those who come to Jayer are exposed for GHB and heroin and many of them end up as addicts.

Nearly 70% of all heroin addicts in Russia are young people and you can find places like Jayer all over the country. It´s estimated that between 1.5 to 3 million out of 142 millions Russians are heroin addicts. The Russian authorities are not powerless before the big drug problem in the country. In recent years, the authorities have invested a lot of money on drug prevention among young people. And they try to limit the supply roats of heroin and other drugs flowing in from Afghanistan. 21% of the heroin produced in Afghanistan goes to Russia.

Even if the future for former orphans are very dark. There are some oasis of Grace to be found in Russia. One such oasis are Grace Family Center which is located in a Russian Orthodox monastery in St. Petersburg. The work at Grace is very successful and according to Valentina who is the volunteer director at Grace 90% of the orphans who have received help and support at Grace after their graduation have been able to adapt to a normal life. For orphans who has never had a family of they own, places like Grace Family Center must be worth one's weight in gold.

At Grace Family Center, orphans meet and spend time with adults who give them support and encouragement and help them develop into independent people with strong self-worth. The staff, at the project, prepare an individual plan for each young person who comes to it. The work is based on Christian principles. They live and work in an environment where they can meet and know the saving grace of Jesus. Even if the work at Grace Family Center is very successful. They are in a desperate need of money so that they can continue with their important job.

Maybe it's you who read this article that shall provide an economic miracle so that Grace Family Center can continue with their important work among the least of our brothers and sisters.

Maybe it's you who read this article that shall provide an economic miracle so that Grace Family Center can continue with their important work among the least of our brothers and sisters. Star of Hope USA concentrates their efforts on different countries than Russia. However if you wish to donate they will be happy to funnel your gift to Grace Family Center. Click the following link if you want to donate money via Star of Hope: Grace St. Petersburg

"Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done". - Proverbs 19:17

"We can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by the society - completely forgotten, completely left alone. That is the greatest poverty of the rich countries." - Mother Teresa

Klick the following link if you want to see the pictures in the slide-show on your cell phone or on your pad: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chasid68/sets/72157633493146234/

Text and Photo © Mikael Good, All Rights Reserved

Grace is a thought that can change the world

Grace can be a name of a girl. Grace finds beauty in every face. Grace finds goodness in everyone. Grace is a thought that can change the world. Grace is also the name of a Russian Orthodox Family Center in St. Petersburg.

When I visited Grace Family Center in march 2011, it was like coming home to my own family. Taking photos at Grace was like taking photos of my own family and not of strangers. For orphans who have never had a family of they own, places like Grace Family Center must be worth one's weight in gold. Even if it´s one of my hallmarks to make people feel comfortable in front of my camera, it usually take a while for me to get the pictures that I want. But at Grace that comfortable feeling was right there as soon as i crossed the doorstep.

The work at the Family Center is very successful and according to Valentina who is the volunteer director at Grace the majority of the orphans and young mothers who have received help and support at Grace has been able to adapt to a normal life. The statistics for other orphans who didn´t get the same opportunities are very dark. Only 10% of them can adapt to a normal life and many of them end up as criminals, prostitutes or homeless.

Although the work at the Family Center is very sucessful, they are in a desperate need of money so that they can continue with their important job among all the orphans and young mothers that are in their care. For the volunteers at the Family Center. Grace is not just a thought that can change the world. Grace is something that they live, breathe and share.

The trusted NGO Star of Hope, USA concentrates their efforts on different countries than Russia. However if you wish to donate they will be happy to funnel your gift to Grace Family Center. Click the following link if you want to donate money via Star of Hope, USA: Grace St. Petersburg

You can read more about the important work at Grace Family Center here: Saving Grace



Text and Photo: © Mikael Good 2011, 2013, All Rights Reserved

Saving Grace - How to make a good investment

Over 2000 of the verses in the Bible encourages us to support orphans, poor people, widows and those who are oppressed. God is clearly on their side! But which side are you on? Grace Family Center in St. Petersburg are on the same side as God, and they work hard to help young people in need. But they are also in a desperate need of new investors so that they can continue with their important job among the least of our brothers and sisters.

When young people leave institutions in Russia (at age 18) they encounter multiple problems. Many are met with various types of prejudice because they come from an institution, they have no adults who care about them and they often lack the everyday knowledge that others may learn in their family, such as washing clothes, cooking, managing household cash, finding suitable accommodations in which to live and more. Most have no parents or other relatives to turn to, so they often feel lonely and left out, and in reality, they are.

Valentina is The Director at Grace Family Center © Mikael Good 

The Family Center is located in a apartment at a Russian Orthodox monastery in St. Petersburg. The volunteers at the family center works closely with priests and nuns from the monastery. The work that they do is really remarkable and most of the orphans and young mothers that come in their custody receive the support and the training that they need so that they can live ordinary lives. When I asked Valentina who is the director about the recipe for their successful work at the Family Center she answered:
- Love and kindness is something that we all need. It's also something that we want to teach at Grace, We also know that we need to talk a lot with the orphans to teach them to love and enjoy each other.

At Grace Family Center young people meet and spend time with adults who give them support and encouragement and help them to develop into independent people with strong self-worth. The staff, at the project, prepare an individual plan for each young person who comes to it. The work is based on Christian principles. They live and work in an environment where they can meet and know the saving grace of Jesus and become part of God's great family. Despite that Valentina and the other volunteers does everything that they can for the orphans and the young mothers at Grace they feel uncomfortable about the situation. When I spoked with Valentina, she said with tears in her eyes:

- When I see that the needs are so great as they are, it feels as I do not do anything at all. I know that there are so many people who need our help, and it is difficult to have to refuse people since our resources are not sufficient. But I know that God will provide us with more resources when the time is right.

The work at the Family Center is very successful and according to Valentina, the majority of the orphans and the young mothers who have received help and support have been able to adapt to a normal life. The statistics for other orphans who didn´t get the same opportunities is very dark, only 10% of them can adapt to a normal life and many of them end up as criminals, prostitutes or homeless. But despite the very positive result at Grace, one of their major sponsors decided to end the cooperation with the Family Center at the end of year 2013. The reason is that they want to concentrate all its activities to other parts of the world. The decision to end the cooperation creates great economical problems for the Family Center who already stuggles with a strained economy. And it will be difficult for the Family Center to maintain their important work. They are really in a desperate need of a economical miracle.

Perhaps it is one of you who read this article that shall provide the economical miracle that is needed? One of the best investments that you can make is to invest your money in the least of our brothers and sisters. I believe in miracles and I also believe that it´s very important that Grace Family Center can continue their work among the least in Russia. I believe that their methods can be a role model for other Orthodox Family Centers in Russia to follow. I also believe that the Family Center have a key to a revival in the Russian Orthodox Church and that this revival can affect millions of Russians. Dosen´t that sound like a really good investment to you?

Click the following link if you want to donate money via Star of Hope, USA: Grace St. Petersburg 

Star of Hope, USA concentrates their efforts on different countries than Russia. However if you wish to donate they will be happy to funnel your gift to Grace Family Center. 

"Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done". - Proverbs 19:17 

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me". - Matt 25:40



Text and Photo: © Mikael Good, All Rights Reserved

There was a girl named Lisa

Imagine that you are 15 years old. Your mother recently drank herself to death and your father is hospitalized and don´t remember you. The baby that you gave birth to has been taken away from you by a snotty midwife. You have been betrayed by the society and all the people that you trusted and you are completely left alone. You start to believe that there´s only one way out from your misery. But when the darkness surrounds you. You grab the last straw and is dragged back into the light by people who really cares about you.



Lisa is in her third trimester when I first meet her in her apartment located in a small town about 25 km south of St. Petersburg, Russia. She lives in the apartment on the weekends and during school holidays. The apartment is in terrible shape and it smells strongly of sewage and mold. Lisa gathers her things and are packing them in a large bag. In about a week she will give birth to her second child and move into the Family Center Grace in St. Petersburg. Just six months ago was Lisa alone, left, and in total decay. She had been betrayed by all those who were closest to her and the few adults that she had confidence in had turned their back to her.

     

Lisa grew up in a troubled family. Her mother and father were addicts and they did not care very much about their youngest daughter. When other parents followed their children to school, Lisa walked by herself. When she came home from school she had to cook her own meals and wash the few clothes she had. From the kitchen window she could see the other kids run around and play in the yard and she dreamed of being able to be with them and play. Her alcoholic parents finally lost custody of her and when Lisa was 13, she ended up in an orphanage. It was very difficult for Lisa who had to take care of herself all of her life to fully self-adapt to the ever waited and monitored life at the orphanage and she tried to stay away from the orphanage as soon and as often as she got the chance.

     

When Lisa just turned 14 her mother died of alcohol abuse and in grief after her, Lisas father drank bad vodka and had such severe brain damage that he became unresponsive and was placed in a nursing homes. Lisa, a precocious and looked much older than her 14 years met with Maxim, a young man from Tajikistan. They fell in love, but with no sex education Lisa soon became pregnant. The staff at the orphanage advised her to have an abortion but Lisa and Maxim refused. When Lisa was only 15 years old her son Roma was born. She wanted to care for and raise him, but she was not of age and Roma was taken from her and placed in another orphanage.

With support from Grace Family Center she retained the custody of her daughter. At Christmas last year i got the joyful news that Lisa, thanks to the support from Grace Family Center had regained custody of her son Roma. The family is now living together in the small apartment at the family center. The idea was that Lisa and her two children would move into the apartment, which she inherited from her parents in a Kolzhos area a couple of mil south of St. Petersburg as soon as she came of age. She will be invited to stay on Grace until she can support herself and her two children.

Grace Family Center was able to raise enough money to renovate Lisas apartment. The condition of the apartment is so much better today then when I first saw it. It´s clean and you can´t se any signs of the large mould colonies and the spider web on the walls and the smell from the kitchen and bathroom is fresh and clean. For me it´s a miracle. My first impression of the apartment when I first walked into it in mars 2011 was that it would be better to sell it. Cause the cost of renovation would be far to big. But now it´s like a completely different apartment and the administration has also did necessary repair to the stairway of the building.

     

From september 2012 Lisa decided to finish her studies to be a confectioner at the vocational training centre in St. Petersburg. Her children shall attend a day-care center in the area. Lisa wishes she could live five more years at the family center, but she needs to finish her studies first. It will be hard for Lisa to first bring the children to the day-care center and then travel the long way up to the school in St. Petersburg. But she is motivated and I believe that nothing can stop her. She will come to Grace for a weekend per month and that is something that she asked for.

      

Early in 2013 Lisa decided to follow Jesus and become a Christian. Lisa is doing great in upbringing her kids, the father of the children works in St. Petersburg. He rents an apartment there with some friends and sometimes he visits his children and bring them food and presents. Sadly he don´t seem to be that interested in living a family life. But we hope and pray that he will soon change his mind. Lisas older sister who also lives in the apartment with Lisa and her children, stopped drinking, she has a proper work and she helps Lisa whenever she asks.

     

Lisa and her children will need lot of support in the future and Grace will continue to help and support her within the framework of Grace Family Center-Mothers project.

Click the following link if you want to donate money to Grace Family Center via the trusted NGO:s Star of Hope, USA: Grace St. Petersburg and Big Family Mission For Orphans



Click the following if you want to see the pictures in larger size: http://www.flickr.com//photos/61029780@N06/sets/72157632319392145/show/

Text and Photo: Mikael Good