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Of the hundreds of people that enter Russia each year,
this is a mere handful of testimonies of lives that have
been changed as they stepped out of their comfort
zones to share the Gospel of Christ.
“What do you think that we can do about the drug problem in Russia?” asked the head of the Police Drug Squad as the TV camera shifted focus from her to the interpreter to our Aussie team.
With the eyes and ears of Eastern Russia and the police and medical teams fastened on our team, the response was: “There needs to be education and medical advice on the dangers of drug use and penalties for offenders. But we also need to restore a hope and self-respect among people so they no longer feel the need or desire to take drugs. Helping kids to find that hope and purpose in their lives is a big part of what we do in the summer camps.”
This special drug-solutions roundtable was just one of the amazing situations our outreach teams found themselves part of in Russia this year as they told a similar story: “We just went there to spend time and love those kids and leaders but God seemed to have a bigger picture in mind.”
When Russia opened its borders and summer camps in 1991, a door of hope opened to thousand upon thousands of kids, many of them now young adults and leaders. Each year that wonderful, faithful people respond to the call to go, that door of hope opens to more Russians and a little wider to the nation.
Since starting on a small scale in western Russia in 1994, 1,500 Australians and New Zealanders have joined with Kids Outreach International to share the love of God with 170,000 children. Word about the impact of this work has spread across Russia and invitations and opportunities keep flooding in.
This year the Head Director of all camps in Central Russia said to us: “You need to enlarge your vision and take your work to the next level.”
Likewise we were challenged by the Head Doctor, of 30 camps in the St Petersburg region. “I would like to have your teams in all my camps next summer,” she said. This doctor has witnessed how God has moved through our teams to transform the lives of individuals and entire families over the past 12 years.
With about five million children and teenagers attending the summer camps, our top priority is still to be in those camps as friends, mothers, fathers and grandparents sowing seeds of God’s love. But it is clear now that God is calling more people to work beyond the summer camps.
Many of those who go are seeing opportunities and possibilities that they couldn’t have imagined as God asks each of us: “Open your eyes and look at the fields - they are ripe for harvest”. (John 4:35 NIV)
Some of those opportunities and possibilities involve extending the care of kids and drug, alcohol and life skills education beyond the summer camps in various parts of Russia, just as has been done in St Petersburg.
“We have an enormous drug problem with our children and teenagers. How can we fix it? Perhaps we should work together in partnership to find an answer” - Chief of Narcotics Branch, Khabarovsk Police.
These are enormous challenges that God has placed before us - challenges that will take great faith, finance and commitment of people. But are these challenges we can ignore or do they require our response?
Already a number of Aussies are responding (see article about the Harrisons on p6) by staying on long term to work with kids or at orphanages. A number of Finnish people have taken up this challenge in St Petersburg and Western Russia.
Our vision is to transform the heart of Russia through the love of Jesus.
These are God-given opportunities. The time is now. I urge you to join with us today, to pray and ask God what he wants you to do?
Kari Lehelma, Executive Director (with Roger Nicoll)
Previous team members testimonials (58.5Kb - pdf)
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