{"id":173,"date":"2009-05-21T08:42:42","date_gmt":"2009-05-21T08:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/2009\/05\/hope-in-russia.html"},"modified":"2009-05-21T08:42:42","modified_gmt":"2009-05-21T08:42:42","slug":"hope-in-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2009\/05\/hope-in-russia.html","title":{"rendered":"Hope in Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"
Bob Mudd<\/a> , the COO of Children's HopeChest<\/a>, is currently in Russia meeting with our staff and assessing the effectiveness of our programs. There are so many incredible things happening in Russia. I wish I could talk all of you to see for yourself how many orphans are being helped and have a hope and future. I'll be taking a trip late this fall, If you're interested, shoot me an email. Here's his report of day one:<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n

Lukhtonovo : Many Years of Faithful Service<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
\n

After an arrival delay of 24 hours resulting from missing my connection in Atlanta, I arrived in Moscow at 11 am local time on Monday and rushed to Vladimir just in time to join the board meeting of our ministry partner Nadezhda (meaning \u2018hope\u2019 in the Russian language). The meeting went well and I then tried to work to get some sleep leading in to Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Get all the photos here<\/span><\/a><\/strong>
<\/span><\/div>\n


Prior to joining the team at HopeChest I had admired the long-term nature of the commitment their partners make when engaging an orphanage. The focus of the model is to redeem the orphan through holistic, relational and long-term relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today I had the opportunity to see impact of this approach in vivid color as I visited Lukhtonovo orphanage in Vladimir region. Over 10 years ago Concord Church of Pennsylvania visited the region to consider working with a number of different orphanages. Of all the potential orphanages, Lukhtonovo was considered the least likely candidate because it was focused on \u2018special needs\u2019 children and was considered just generally \u2018dark\u2019. Staff shared that after the visits, the orphanage for Concord was clear and they began what has been a long and productive relationship with Lukhtonovo.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is located about 40 minutes outside of Vladimir City in a small village where the largest building and only real jobs is centered around the orphanage. We first met with the orphanage director, Ludmila. It was the right place to start.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ludmilla\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Despite many health challenges, Ludmila had dedicated 50 years to the children of Lukhtonovo. It took only a short time to realize that she is no ordinary lady. I am fairly certain that if she would have applied herself to business that she would have been wealthy, rather she chose a tireless commitment that has lead to great riches. In sharing her history running the orphanage she recounted winters with insufficient heat, a lack of suitable water, no funds for shoes or clothing. While the provision of basic needs has improved over the years, Ludmila shifted her entrepreneurial spirit to programming like none other that I have seen. This orphanage of 67 children is a profoundly productive place.<\/span><\/p>\n

They have what I would estimate to be a 10 acre farm that is planted, tended and harvested by the kids.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are 40 pigs in the \u2018slop house\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pigs\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

While the kids do not get credit (because they are special needs), they have extracurricular computer and sewing classes.<\/span><\/p>\n

I could continue the list, such as the museum whose curator is an 8th grade student and will be registered as an official Russian Museum this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Much of this could not have been done were it not for the engagement of Concord. They have assisted in renovating some of the facility, purchased transportation and built a cold storage facility for the vegetables which they eat all winter. However, when Ludmila speaks of the people of Concord church, she does not relate the provision of resources. She speaks deeply about the impact that the long term relationships have had on
\nthe children.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Luhktanovo<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Being designated as \u2018special needs\u2019 limits the opportunities that these children will have. Ludmila\u2019s face radiates when she shares the number of children who they have been successful moving off the \u2018special needs\u2019 program and speaks with great satisfaction about the college graduates, police officers and teachers that were products of Lukhtonovo.<\/span><\/p>\n

1 Samuel 3 share that the young Samuel \u2018let none of his words fall to the ground\u2019. Concord has been faithful, persistent and generous in caring for the orphans of Lukhtonovo and the blessings are evident.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bob Mudd , the COO of Children's HopeChest, is currently in Russia meeting with our staff and assessing the effectiveness of our programs. There are so many incredible things happening in Russia. I wish I could talk all of you to see for yourself how many orphans are being helped and have a hope and future.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-swaziland"],"yoast_head":"\nHope in Russia - Red Letters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2009\/05\/hope-in-russia.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hope in Russia - Red Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bob Mudd , the COO of Children's HopeChest, is currently in Russia meeting with our staff and assessing the effectiveness of our programs. There are so many incredible things happening in Russia. 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}