Red Letters

He’ll see the orphanage at Mstyora and the Ministry Center in Vladimir

He’ll hear from kids whose lives were transformed from abandonment to independence.

He’ll touch the walls built by his church

He’ll speak words of life and encouragement

He’ll taste real Russian borscht, on Russian soil, made by Russian hands…

Eleku Peter, a young boy who is served by the Oditel CarePoint in Uganda, was recently diagnosed with large cell lymphoma.

As you can see in the picture, Peter’s neck became swollen and painful. CarePoint leaders took Peter for initial testing which was later confirmed by the National Cancer Institute in Kampala, Uganda.

Fortunately the cancer has not yet spread to other parts of  his body.

Children’s HopeChest maintains a medical fund in Uganda to cover needs like this. However Peter’s chemotherapy and treatment is very expensive. His treatment costs are expected to total $3,750.

Would you support Peter’s chemotherapy with a gift to the Medical Fund today?

DONATE NOW 

Because of the HopeChest partnership with the Oditel CarePoint, Peter’s story changed. Without the partnership, Peter might not have received diagnosis or treatment. He might not have people around the world praying for him. He might not have people in the United States willing to make donations to help keep him healthy and alive.

But because of that partnership, Peter’s story is different. Thank you for being one of the difference makers and one of the story changers today.

Russia was the place where my heart was broken for orphans.

In 1997, I took my wife and eight-month-old son to run a camp for 150 orphans in the Vladimir region. I was never the same after that experience.

We met a little orphan girl named Anya who was ten. She became our daughter one year later. When I returned to her orphanage to tell her she was going to be our daughter, a hundred other kids were staring at me with empty looks in their eyes.

They were longing for something, something I wasn’t sure I could give them.

Two little girls burst out of the crowd and hugged my legs as they looked into my eyes and said, “Papa. Papa.” I knew they wanted a family.

That day I made the decision not to turn my back on the rest of those orphans. Instead, I started asking different questions. What could I do to help their lives be different than what the statistics showed?

I couldn’t chalk up those times in Russia as merely more experiences in my journey. The orphans I met and the things I saw were just too important. I had to continue changing my life in such a way that Russian orphans were more a part of it. They deserved a better life than the one they were facing, and I could do something to help change their circumstances. That’s exactly what I did.

At about that same time, Woodmen Valley Chapel was getting involved in the Russian orphan ministry of Children’s HopeChest. They began taking their first trips, and having the exact same experiences as I just described above.

One couple, Dave and Sondra Wayman of Woodmen Valley Chapel, decided to sponsor children at the Mstyora orphanage. This video below is from Yana, one of their sponsored children, as she reflects back on what sponsorship meant to her as a child growing up in an orphanage.

Next week, I’m taking Woodmen’s senior pastor Matt Heard to visit Yana’s orphanage in Russia. To follow our journey into the Real Russia, please subscribe to the blog or follow me on Twitter.

For nearly 15 years, Woodmen Valley Chapel has supported the children of the Mstyora orphanage in Russia. One of the very first pioneering churches to get involved in orphan care ministry, they truly understand how to walk alongside local leadership and empower children to overcome poverty, abandonment, and violence.

Their involvement spread from the orphanage of Mstyora to older orphans sent to technical schools and unfamiliar cities. They established transitional living programs and help launch our Vladimir Ministry Center for older children.

I would say thousands of children have been impacted by their work.

They did this as partners who came to serve local Russian leaders and organizations. They took the time to build relationships with the people who are closest to the children in the orphanage. They even stay with local families in the village of Mstyora–forgoing more comfortable lodging in a hotel. In the time they have supported the Mstyora orphanage, they have taken dozens of trips, and sent hundreds of short-term volunteers to help.

Many of those long-term sponsors have developed lasting bonds of friendship, as they have watched and supported so many orphans as they journey from abandonment to full independence.

Next week, Woodmen Valley Chapel’s senior pastor, Matt Heard, will come on a journey to see all of what his church and its members have accomplished this past decade. 

I’d like you to come along with us. Please subscribe to the blog or follow me on Twitter to get the latest updates from our trip. Also, I wanted to offer you the opportunity to get a FREE download of the first chapters of my books Priceless and Scared. You can see the trailer for Priceless below. Click the book cover at the top of the post to get your free downloads.

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