Red and Yura

Deb and Red, 2001

On June 7, 2003, Ricky Garcia, a/k/a Red, went home to be with the Lord at age 22. He was one of those kids whom people loved instantly, who was a leader and who was as complicated as they come. He had been an addict for many years, but he never lost his humanity. A couple of years before his death, Red's faith had come alive and that gave him hope, a hope that he shared with others. He was one of Deb and my "keepers" who was always close, at least in heart.

When Red passed, it seemed like a lot of my heart went with him. But just a month later, I was back in Ukraine with our band, Svuki Bostona, even though I was still in a fog. As usual, we did a concert for the guys at the juvenile colony in Kremenchug. After the concert, a tall, tough looking young man was standing on the stage by himself. I got one of those, "go over and talk with him" nudges and so I went.

His name was Yura and he had been there for about a year. He was not a believer, but something was stirring within him. Yura shared about his life: he didn't know his father and he and his mother had come to Ukraine from Russia when he was 5. When he was 6, his mother sent Yura for a bottle of wine, which he dropped and broke. When he came home, she beat him and kicked him out. Yura lived on the streets and when the police would bring him to the orphanage, he would run away. His mother died when he was 9. When he was 13 the police arrested him and Yura thought that they had caught him for stealing food. They charged him with murder, held a kangaroo court, and he was sentenced to 10 years for a crime he didn't commit.

Me and Yura, June 2011

I can't remember much about the rest of our conversation, but I remember sharing about Christ's love and praying with Yura. Yura later told me that on that day, his faith and hope came alive; in a way, my hope came back alive too after it had been pushed down with Red's death.

Last week, on June 7, 2011, Yura called me. He had been released from the adult prison after serving the rest of his sentence. He was living in Kiev and wanted to meet as soon as possible. I was happy, but I was also apprehensive as I hadn't seen Yura in the 6 years that he had served in the adult prison system, a system that often breaks people.

We met and it was great. Yura looked healthy and he was enjoying life. He had a good church and was living in a hostel until he could afford a room someplace. Yura asked what I saw in his soul and I told him that I was happy to see that he was full of life. I also shared that I had worried about what I would see. Yura smiled and said, "I am a believer and Jesus never left me." As we left, Yura told me that he loved me and that he was thankful to God that I was his "spiritual" father. I told him the same and we made plans to meet again over the weekend, with an interpreter so we could talk more in depth.

When I contacted Yura the next day, he had decided to go to another city a few hundred miles from here as his friend had a place for him there and he could live for two months on what he could live on in Kiev for just a couple of weeks. Part of me was happy for him, but part was bummed that he would not be around. That is pretty typical with the guys and girls with whom we work. Then again, I guess that's part of "spiritual" parenthood.

Life is full of comings and goings, but what a blessing it is when we get glimpses into the connectedness of it all. 

Please keep Yura in your prayers (and Pasha, whom we still have not heard from since he left the house in Zolotonosha) as he works through his freedom for the first time in ten years.

Highs and Lows

Luba and her boys from the camp.

It's interesting that Psalm 22, which starts out "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning..." and goes on with David crying out for help, is followed by Psalm 23, which starts out, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures..." and goes on to extol the hope and peace that we can have in the Lord.

That intertwining of heartache and joy, peace and despair, are a part of being in ministry with kids who live on the edge of so many things. We cannot be like social workers who are taught not to become personally involved in the lives of their clients, as Christ calls us to do otherwise.

This past week, I got a call from Sergei who was heartbroken as both Igor and Pasha  left the aftercare home last weekend. Igor took some things and just left-which is his pattern in life. Pasha, for some unknown reason, decided to leave and wouldn't say why. Sergei sees Pasha as a son and this is a tough thing. I've been through that myself, too many times, and it hurts. It helps us to remember that people have to make their own choices and that the Lord gives each of us free will to do so, but it's never easy. Please pray that Igor will be safe and pray that Pasha will come back. And pray for Sergei too.

Shkasia and his new buddy.

This past week, we were sitting here at the house, when Bogdan looked at me and said, "I'm so happy. You know why? This is a dream come true for Anya and me." We were looking at photos and talking with the guys and girls who have lived here at the Safe Haven house, just after they returned from a camp that they put together and ran for kids from broken, destitute homes. Andrew and Jenny Kelly do outreach to those kids and this was a special time for them to get away from the hell of home.

All of the kids who lead the camp grew up in the orphanage and became believers through camps or through living here. Now, they are helping the kids they once were and they were so excited about it. I kidded with Bogdan that we can now retire since the next generation is keeping things going.

Thank you Lord for that and for keeping us going when we don't have the strength. That is a great gift.

A boy, a dad, and a car

I have always loved cars and still enjoy getting my Car and Driver magazine each month when I'm home. Cars and young (and not so young) men are kind of a universal match.

The Lada, Bogdan and Seroja

A few months ago, one of the guys here at the house, Seroja, bought a 40 year old Russian Lada from one of Bogdan's friends. Often times, I've come home to see Seroja, his fiance Yana, and some of the other guys and girls from the house just sitting in the car listening to the radio.

The car needed quite a bit of work and it's been awesome to see Seroja and Bogdan working on that car together, as a son and father. Such a simple thing, but one that wouldn't have happened if Bogdan and Anya had not made this group of people a family.When I see these things it makes me think of all the day-to-day events that we take for granted as "normal", which are anything but that for so many kids who grew up in orphanages.

Today, I was sitting here and looked out the window and saw the two of them putting on a new grille--again, a universal thing with guys and cars is that you have to make them unique and "tuned" as possible. Seeing such interactions and seeing Seroja and the others enjoying a such simple things is really a blessing. God still has a way of making something out of nothing, even in the little things of life.

It is Good Friday

 

When I was a child, I could never understand how this day could be called Good Friday. I would sit in the church and look at the crucified Christ and wonder how His death could be Good. I understand now, from the theological point of view, that it is Good because Jesus' death allows us to come back to a unity with God that our sin had destroyed. Yet there are times when that Friday so long ago just doesn't seem good.

 Today, I was in bed recovering from a mild case of the flu and I found Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth on YouTube. When I first became a believer at Boston University, with the help of my then roommate Jim Vivian, we wanted to watch Jesus of Nazareth on TV. But neither of us had a TV so we went throughout the dorm looking for one. When we asked one guy if we could borrow his set, he asked what game was on. When we told him, "Jesus of Nazareth, you want to watch?", he looked at us strangely and said to just take the TV.

I remember watching the series and being in awe of what was happening. As I watched the final segments today, I cried a bit and felt a love in my heart for the Lord that sometimes gets covered up in the day-to-day.

Some of those tears were helped by missing Deb a lot this week and some were from the fever. But most were from a place that needed to be touched by God's Love.

Sergei, Pasha and Igor

We all need that touch. This past week, I got to spend time with Sergei, Pasha and Igor at the rehab house in Zolotonosha. A group of guys from New Hampshire is interested in coming over and repairing the second floor of the house as it is falling in (not a good thing) so I needed to get some photos. As I was there, I saw how Igor is like a child in many ways, especially when he is around Sergei. Igor never knew his parents and grew up in an orphanage. After he turned 18, he lived on the streets and at places all over Ukraine, never for more than a month.

A couple of years ago, Igor found his mother and was so excited that he bought her roses, candy and other gifts and went to her door. When she opened the door, Igor saw his own face before him and she saw hers. Yet in an act of brutality that is hard to understand, his mother told Igor that she didn't want to see him and started to shut the door. Devastated, he threw the gifts at her and ran away.

Until recently, Igor has kept running. But he is learning about a Father who never shuts the door to His children. He is also finding that there is a love that allows others, like Sergei, to love him more than he has ever been loved before.

Tony Campolo used to say,"It's Friday, but Sunday's comin'." Igor's and many others' lives are full of Fridays, but thank God we have a love that comes from a special Sunday so long ago.

Христос Воскрес! Christ is Risen! Happy Easter.

New Every Day

One of my favorite scenes in the Bible is in the Gospel of Mark where a father comes to Jesus and asks him to help his son. When he comes to Jesus, the father asks for help with the words "if you can" and Jesus replies, "'If you can!' All things are possible to him who believes." But the part that always strikes me is the father's earnest response: "I do believe; help my unbelief." This has been a prayer of mine for many years now, as doubts come up more than they should.

Just a few days ago, I was with Sergei Skiba, who is now on staff with us at Straight Ahead, when he called the director of the juvenile prison colony to see if I could finally go in there. As they were talking, Sergei sounded a bit doubtful, my heart sank, and my unbelief started to rise. I prayed. Sergei finished and said that the director was going to call his superiors to let them know how much we have done to help the boys in the prison. Ten minutes later, he called and said I had been approved to come in for the next six months. The Lord continues to help my unbelief.

Bogdan and friends

This past weekend, Bogdan, Anya, several others and I went to the orphanage/internat in Kaniv to follow up with the kids from the camp. Well, that was the plan; in reality, we ended up spending most of the time with the little kids who were not at the camp. It was fun to see them,to let them jump on us, to swing them around, and to realize what joy there is in being Christ's hands and arms for them.

Kostik, Ruslan, me in 2007

I also had a treat as a young man, whom I met when he was 8 and now just turned 15, came up and gave me and Dima big hugs. Kostik had pulled away from all of us over the last few years, but lately, there has been a softening of his heart. That is a huge blessing as many of the kids we work with in the detention centers, colonies and internats end up pulling away when attachments start to get deeper. They do that in order to protect their hearts, which have been broken before.

Kostik now.

So when Kostik gave those hugs, hung around with us, and then followed up with a phone call the next day, it was a nice gift.

Those are the things that renew and help our unbelief.

Two Worlds

Five days before I left America to return to Ukraine, Deb Erickson passed away. I was torn between staying a few days more so I could be at the memorial service and leaving to come back on time for the camp for the kids from the orphanage in Kaniv. Deb's husband Dave told me what I already knew but needed to hear: "She would have wanted you to go back." I had a feeling that if I didn't get on the plane, a little foot would come down from the sky and start kicking my butt.

The time home was a gift from the Lord as I was there for Deb's last few weeks on earth. The time back here was also a gift as the camp was amazing. I had the oldest guys in my room, the tough ones, and they were great. Even they took part in everything, from dancing to American Football. We had many discussions about the future, life and faith. Three days before the camp, the director of the orphanage asked if we could take 15 extra kids as they would've been stuck at the orphanage with no place to go. Anya said yes, but thought we would have to end the camp a day early as we didn't have the money for them. Just before I left, Dennis and Dot Mello and Jeff and Diane Nanfelt gave me some cash and it was enough to pay for the additional kids so we could do the whole camp. On that last day, Andrei and Vika became believers. The next day, Andrei told me that he felt light and free.

John, Deb, Shawn, Tim (font)

On the last evening of the camp, I shared about faith and fear. I used this photo, taken five days before Deb passed away, and shared that the photo was of some of my best friends and how each of us in the photo had fears and how God had helped us with those fears. When I came to Deb, I shared that I had asked her if she was afraid of what was ahead and how, without hesitation, she said "no". The verses from the Gospel of John, as sung by Rich Mullins, came to mind--"In my Father's House, there are many many rooms...and I'm goin' up there now to prepare a place for you, so that where I am that you may also be."

After the talk, several of the kids came up and gave me big hugs and said that what Deb said really touched them. They often feel alone, afraid, and unloved. Our prayer is that they will know that they are not alone.

I know that is what Deb prayed for them and for all of us.

 

 

Matt, John, Seva, Andrei

Ariel, Anya, Jess, Alona

A Saint and Sinners

Deb, Steema, John, Rob, Shawn, Tim 2005

I've been using this blog mostly to share some of the lives of the extraordinary people I am blessed to encounter in many places. I love being able to meet people who are not making names for themselves, but who are making their lives count in ways that go beyond words.

Since I came to faith in many years ago, one of the people I have turned to, laughed with, grieved with, and just loved to be with is Deb Erickson. Deb is Straight Ahead's prayer chain coordinator and has been coming to Teamworks for many years. Sometime before she started with us, the Lord told Deb that she would be visiting prisons and meeting with many inmates. At that time, Deb's reaction was something like "you sure you got the right number Lord?", but shortly thereafter, she starting writng to Shawn-the first kid I met at a lock up in 1990--as he was incarcerated. That lead to weekly visits, which lead to a wonderful friendship that continues to this day. Her letters to Shawn, Ryan, Steema, Joe, Mike and many others have kept their hope alive when others gave up on them. Her love is Christ's love incarnate.


Deb was also there when we lost Justice, JS, Red and Hollywood. If she had not been such a support, I don't know that I would still be in the ministry. Last weekend, Tim and Linda Crump, Shawn and his wife Mandy, and I got to hang out with Deb for the afternoon.  Being together gave us a chance to laugh as we shared some of the great memories that we've all had together for many, many years.

Right now, Deb is battling serious health issues so I'm asking for your prayers for her, her husband Dave, and their children Darcy and Todd. When Deb tells someone that she will pray for them, it's not a Christian brush-off, but a true commitment. I'm asking for all of us to do the same.