Group helps feed 400 orphans in Russia
In American society, most people have everything they need, including access to modern conveniences. But many are continuously striving for something better. It is easily forgotten that there are some who are much less fortunate. The Rev. Terry Collins has recently returned form his seventh trip to Russia, a country where the majority of citizens are destitute. He said he realized how fortunate most Americans are when he first began taking volunteers with him to the Republic of Komi in order to provide much needed assistance to orphanages there.
According to Rev. Collins, Discipleship Ministries first fed 90 orphans and has now expanded that mission to accommodate 400 orphans.
This year, the volunteers also reached out to the elderly and retired people of Russia, which is something they were not able to do in the past.
“Many of the elderly, retired people there think they have it good, so I can only imagine how bad it must have been for them before,” said Rev. Collins.
He said the economic conditions of the elderly are even worse than that of the orphans, and described the conditions of some of the retirement homes they found on the last trip.
“We found one home in Vizinga that held 17 people,” said Rev. Collins. “They had one hotplate to cook for all of them and one toilet with no seat. We found four homes like this in one district. Some of them had as many a 50 people in them and their ages ranged from 65 to 91.”
Rev. Collins said that while they were able to purchase a new stove for the home of 17 people before they left, “it only touches the surface” of their many needs. He explained that the elderly there have no medication to help ease pain, not even Tylenol or Ibuprofen, and doctors are allocated only $400 for medicine for all four homes.
“I pray that we can adopt these precious people to help with their day-to-day living, and witness the love of Christ to them,” said Rev. Collins.
Rev. Collins described their purpose in Russia to be threefold. “We go there to proclaim the gospel by words, actions and deeds,” he said.
On this trip, Rev. Collins said he gave four different lectures to fourth-year students at the Pedagogical Institute.
“The students constantly want to talk about American politics,” Rev. Collins said. “They have the view that we have so much military might and so much money, that Americans do nothing unless it benefits us. To allow me to talk about the Russian government’s relationship with the United States, I love to tell them the story of our President Bush and their President Putin meeting in our White House and kneeling in prayer to ask God to lead both of them in their decisions for their countries. This statement always surprises the students and leads to a discussion about God, thus we witness to them with words.”
Rev. Collins said their next biggest witness of Christianity comes about when they take part in the lifestyles of the Russian people while they stay with families there.
“Most of the Christian conversions take place during one-on-one conversations,” said Rev. Collins.
He said the third part of their mission is the actual work they do in the Republic of Komi, when they provide as much food and financial aid as possible.
“On this trip, we were reviewing our partnership with the orphanages in Komi,” Rev. Collins said. “When we first traveled there we found them desperate, having no food to sustain them. This year, there has been a drastic change. The infrastructure there is getting stronger and this allows them to give some state funds to the orphanages, although it is still not enough to sustain them. Our help can supplement those funds and we hope to totally support the orphanages that are not getting financial aid, while supplementing the ones that are. We believe this is an answer to our prayers because we are able to work with the elderly now as well.”
Rev. Collins said he is glad to have met a couple this year, Pavel and Olga Shiskin, who have been operating a small Protestant church for five years.
“They have a congregation of 18 people and they meet four times a week,” said Rev. Collins. “We now have a place in the district that we can send people to after we leave.”
Rev. Collins said he will return to Russia in August 2003 and will send two more teams of volunteers over before he goes. During that trip, they will travel 1,000 miles north of the Republic of Komi to offer their help. Rev. Collins said he expects the economic conditions there will be even worse.
“I would like to ask the community to pray for these people, and if God touches their hearts to help meet their needs, they can contact me,” Rev. Collins said.
Donations can be sent to 314 Nelson Road, Farmington, Pa., 15437. Rev. Collins can also be reached by e-mail at disciple@lcsys.net.