Khabarovsk Trip Report

Khabarovsk, Russia. For the past two and a half years my heart has been pulled to this far eastern region known for its incredibly cold winters and the beautiful Amur River that quietly separates Russia from northeastern China. During the time that I am not working at Boaz, my days are filled with lessons, grades, and homework that I assign to the fiery, intelligent, and beautiful sixteen year old girl whom I have tutored for the past year and a half. She was adopted from one of our orphanages in the region when she was 12; as our relationship has slowly but steadily grown so has my desire to know her more. Visiting the town where she spent the first twelve and a half years of her life gave me a glimpse and deeper understanding of the past that played a huge role in shaping her into who she is today.

This February I traveled the thirty six hours with April, the founder of Boaz, to Khabarovsk. Our purpose in visiting was administrative: we wanted to make sure that our staff's needs were being well met and we hoped to be an encouragement to all. The Russians we work with in K-town (as we like to call it) are wonderful, compassionate people who have a mature faith and strong desire to serve the Lord.

We visited each orphanage to meet with the directors and, of course, to see the children. Currently, Boaz works in four orphanages in the Khabarovsk region: two school-aged orphanages and two baby orphanages. All of these orphanages are currently in need of monthly sponsors.

Baby Hospital #9: Though we were not able to go into the hospital due to a quarantine, we stopped outside of the building and prayed for the 104 babies that overcrowd this abandoned baby wing of the hospital. It is a well-known fact that many of the babies die due to lack of healthy developmental stimulation and the overall attention/care that every infant needs. However, it is a huge comfort to my heart knowing that we have a handful of baby nurturers who come daily to hold, bathe, feed, and play with the children. One particular baby nurturer, Olga, quit her job in order to work in the hospital full time. We are so thankful for her and the rest of our baby nurturers.

Baby House #2: Of all the orphanages I've been in, this one seemed to be one of the "better" ones. There are 115 children from 12 months to 3 years old. Although the children are underdeveloped for their age as most orphans are, they seemed to be well-cared for. When we walked into the 12 month olds' room, the care-takers were massaging some of the children. Our baby nurturers work here as well throughout each week.

Nekrasovka: It seems to be a pattern in Russia that while the preschoolers and babies are looked after to the best of the care-takers' abilities, there is a gap-a drastic difference-between the younger orphanages and the school-aged orphanages. The two school-aged orphanages we work in here are no exception to this pattern.

Nekrasovka is an old building with long, concrete hallways and locked doors. The director of the orphanage has changed four times in the past year and a half, and of course with all of the change there were gaps in which the children did not have a leader and chaos had every potential to ensue. However, the current director is a kind woman who goes out of her way to make certain that every time humanitarian aid is delivered to the orphanage she hands it out to the children right that moment.

Overall, Nekrasovka is clean, but bare. An event that sticks out to me from this orphanage is delivering three toy trucks to a group of younger boys, probably seven and eight years old. When we first met this group of boys, we walked into their room, where they were huddled around a small stack of flattened candy wrappers. After just a few moments of being with them, it became clear that those wrappers were the only "toys" the boy had available to play with.

When we came back a few days later to deliver other needed items (slippers for the children and a meat/vegetable grinder for the dilapidated kitchen), we brought trucks for this group of boys. You would have thought we were handing them huge piles of gold. Their excitement was equally desperation.

Topolevo: Currently, there is a new building being built for the 65 children in this orphanage. The one they are in right now is old and run-down. When we met with the director, she was very thankful for our long-term relationship in sponsoring the orphanage. She showed us around and we were able to see two project rooms: one for woodworking and one for crafts. The children have made some amazing projects with intricate details.

Prior to visiting Topolevo, our in-country directors explained how the need is great. In December they bought the children new socks. They needed socks so badly that the children were stealing one another's pairs and getting into physical fights.

While I was walking through the dimly lit halls, a heavy blanket of desperation seemed to add to the darkness.

Even though being in Khabarovsk was difficult at times because of what we saw, I was greatly encouraged. The small staff of Russian Christians we have there truly understands why we do what we do. As our in-country director put it best in his broken English as we thanked him for taking us to the orphanages, "We are in the same business." I smiled to myself as our mission statement flashed through my mind... that orphans may be heirs of the Heavenly King.