Who are they – these Russian orphans for whom we have a heart?
Today in Russia there are between 2 -5 million homeless children, with 800 thousand orphans living in orphanages. A growing number of children are known as ‘social’ orphans. They represent 90% of orphans.
Social Orphans
Social Orphans: children whose parents refuse to take care of them or whose parents who have been legally deprived of their parental rights. In Russia, this happens more than 30,000 thousand times each year. The main causes of social orphans in our country are unhealthy family environment, poverty, alcoholism, drugs addiction, and parents who are in prison.
Some parents abandon their children after birth, others leave them out on the street. There are cases where children were sold for a few bottles of vodka. The relationship of these parents to their children are often like a consumer (exploited child labor) or indifferent (without taking care or giving an education). Often these kids lack for their basic needs, and even more-so lack love and acceptance.
Often these children are abused, both physical and psychological violence is done against them, which causes them to run away from families and orphanages, and sometimes leads to suicide.
Graduate Orphans
Also, they must face the harsh reality of life outside the orphanage when they graduate. They do not get a full experience of healthy family life as they grow up; then they are often unable to build up their own full-fledged family.
Because they have no other place to live, many graduates must return to the families from which they were taken. Well over 50% of graduates join the criminal world, become prostitutes, drug addicts and alcoholics, just as their parents before them.
God calls Himself “Father to the fatherless” (Ps. 68:5) and He “watches over …the fatherless” (Ps. 146:9).
And God wants the Church of Jesus Christ to care for orphans, showing them His love. “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (Jas.1:27). What a great God we serve!
God gave a great privilege to our “Heart for Orphans” ministry, to do His work in St. Petersburg, Russia among orphans and graduates. We want to help them avoid a life of crime and hopelessness and want to help them know our loving God, His commandments and blessings in Jesus Christ.
We tell each child that he is special, unique, dear in the eyes of the Lord, that God loves him and He awaits him at Home.
If God leads you to Support Heart for Orphans please read HERE
