Russia (MNN/ORO) ― Russia has over 700,000 orphans with roughly 25% of them housed. A Russian orphan ages out of the system at age 15 or 16. They're usually sent back to the streets with very little, and they're scared to death. Only one out of 10 orphans will make it to their 21st birthday.
Amy Norton with Orphan Outreach says, "They generally end up in crime, certainly on the street, desperate for some way to make a living."
In April Mike Douris, president of Orphan Outreach, and Amy Norton, director of programs, spoke with the 21 graduates of #60 orphanage in St. Petersburg. They discovered that many of the teens didn't even know how much it would cost to buy bread. Norton said many planned on "surviving on bread and water."
Norton says they are simply not equipped for adult life. "They just have little chance for a successful opportunity to start a family, to be able to get a job, to be able to even have food. Our sense of urgency for these kids is to be able to get a Christian social worker who would walk alongside them, support them, and help them with that transition."
In Tomachova, Orphan Outreach launched a transition program at an orphanage in the Leningrad Region. Orphan Outreach hired a Christian caseworker to mentor the kids through a somewhat treacherous rite of passage. "Our goal is to have a successful model that begins with these kids' years before they graduate and supports them through a successful, hopeful, independent life. Then we hope that we can expand this model to other orphanages," Norton said.
Orphan Outreach is also partnering with the Leningrad Committee of Education, who oversees the orphanages and technical schools in the region, to provide this program to the graduates. Though the government must take care of their wards with government-subsidized apartments, and pay the tuition to either vocational school or university, the privilege is accompanied by mountains of paperwork.
Without help, many are defeated by the hurdles they have to leap over and just give up. Caseworkers will not only help teens to complete the necessary paperwork but also track their progress and help them with the issues they face once in the programs.
Orphan Outreach says they are committed to helping the 12 graduates succeed, but a critical issue is keeping the hope of Christ in front of them. "As they leave, they will be facing probably the hardest decisions and issues they've ever had to face in their lives. We really need to provide continued support after they leave, and that's where the church body in Russia is going to be so important, to come alongside them."
Norton says, "Our goal is to have an evangelical Christian social worker because these kids feel no hope. It is important that these kids, as they walk through this transition, are counseled well." In order to involve partners in the faith community, Orphan Outreach is meeting with youth pastors and pastors so that the local church mentors spiritually support and pray with these graduates.
This is a new ministry and needs both prayer and financial support. Click here if you can help.
