not a home...

Ok, so this has been on my mind for the past few days...

There is a sweet sweet girl named Anastasia (Nastya) that we met on our first trip to the orphanage. She formed a really strong bond with Erin, and it has been really cool to see her grow up. She is a beautiful girl, and has such a sweet spirit. She is graduating from the orphanage this year, and will be moving to the city.

That being said, while we were there, one of the women that work at the orphanage told us a little more about her situation. We were told that Nastya inherited a flat that had been her parents when they were alive. Because she is old enough to leave the orphanage now, she can have this flat. At first, I thougth, "What great news, she will have a place to call her own after all of those years at the orphange!!" -- but then we heard the rest of the story. The flat is in very bad shape. Apparently - almost unlivable. Because it has been vacant for so long, there have been homeless people that have used it as their shelter (using it for all sorts of things), and also it has not been kept up through all of these years by the government. I am not even sure of the details, but I think it needs quite a bit of construction work (new door, probably new floors, definitely new wall-paper or paint, etc.) And also, we learned that flats to not come standard with bathroom facilities, etc. That is not a home... I have not seen the place, but I know this sweet girl will need a lot of support to make her flat livable.

The sad fact is that if she is not able to renovate this flat, she will probably end up in the public housing for orphans that attend technical school. We have heard some very hard statistics about the orphans that end up in this housing. The percentage of girls who are sexually abused, mafia interaction, drugs, etc. skyrockets by putting a teenager in this environment.

I am not even sure what I'm saying -- I guess awareness is the key... Please pray for this sweet girl... she would have to move in sometime right before September, and I have no idea how this orphan girl is going make it ready... BUT God is good and He is faithful....

SO - If you know of anyone who would be willing to support us in helping this sweet girl, please let me know... we have some contacts in Russia that we trust wholeheartedly, and they could probably help her with the right resources. Thank you so much and again, just be praying.