Dec 31
Happy New Year
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Today is the last day in 2008. This has been amazing, exciting, challenging, bittersweet, and blessed year for most of us. The New Year in Russia is the most exciting holiday. Russians run around the city preparing for the holiday for almost two weeks. Then they cook different recipes that they will eat all night long. People sit down at the table around 11 p.m. and celebrate saying goodbye to the current year. At 11:55 p.m. the Russian president will wish everyone Happy New Year, which is a tradition. The interesting fact is he gives his wishes according to Moscow time whereas in Eastern Russia people already have been celebrating New Year for 5-7 hours since Russia has eleven time zones. People give gifts, eat, sing songs, go outside to watch fireworks, and drunk Father Frost Russian version of the Santa Claus. Since I have been gone for four years I had a lot of people that wanted me to come to their house to celebrate the New Year. I have decided to celebrate the New Year with my Russian uncle Misha and aunt Marina. Then I will go to Lisa's house on Jan. 1st and celebrate with her family because they are expecting me.

I have known uncle Misha and aunt Marina for 19 years. They rescued me from the streets when I was a street child. We have kept in touch since then and become very close. Aunt Marina told me to come to her house at 11 p.m. so I have stayed at home today catching up on tons of emails and other ministry work that I have been setting aside due to my busy schedule. I am glad for this opportunity because I accomplished a lot of things including posting this blog.


I want to update you on my life. During Christmas I was sick so not much happened that day. Plus most American missionaries that I knew are no longer in Russia so I was not invited by anyone. My long time Russian friend invited me to her church for special Christmas service. I was debating whether I should go or not, but I felt led by the Holy Spirit to go so I did. I am glad I went. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and there were a lot of people. The service was awesome. The Good News church is one the largest churches in the city. Unfortunately my friend could not make it, but Yura-The Harbor graduate and Lena-The Harbor graduate were there.


Yura was in the suburb orphanage his entire life. Through mutual missionary friends I found out about him and he came to The Harbor upon "graduation" from the orphanage. Yura's mom has been in the mental house for more than twenty years and due to her illness is why Yura became an orphan. About eight years ago I had privilege to visit his mom. When Yura came to The Harbor he knew about Christ, but was not walking with him. He was manipulative and used people. Then he found the Nazarene church that took him under their wing for many years. It was bittersweet experience, but definitely helped him to grow deeper in the knowledge of Christ and his personal walk with the Father. Four years later Yura is a different person now. First, he is no longer a boy, but a young man. Second, he has grown so much spiritually and it is a joy to my heart because I can see the hand of God in his life. It shows that we should never give up. We planted the seed, but did not know if it was going to grow because Yura was a challenge for The Harbor and due to challenges we were forced to let him go after year and a half. Now we look back and say thank you Jesus because we can see that He had a plan for Yura just like He does for everyone of us. Yura is on fire for the Lord. He was praising the Lord with me with great passion and fire. Many people turned around constantly trying to see who was shouting to the Lord. At the end of the service a woman came to us and said, "You boys are so awesome, I love how you worship the Lord and we need more people like you. Please come to our church." Please praise the Lord along with me for He has transformed another life.


My friend who could not come invited me to this church one more time on Sunday. I accepted her invitation. When I walked into the church I saw a woman who recognized me and she shouted, "Hello Alex and gave me a hug." I took a good look at her and realized it was Galena who used to work at my orphanage #51. It has been ten years or so since I have seen her so it was a joy to see her. I asked her what she was doing here and she said, "I am working at the orphanage #6 and our kids sew different items and I am selling them here." I asked her if you go to this church full time and she said no. Then another woman came to Galena's table and Galena loudly shouted, "This is my boy from the orphanage #51." Her comment the entire church could hear that so I felt uncomfortable. Then I went into the sanctuary and tried to find my friend, but did not see her. Thus, I end up sitting by myself. During the service I saw my friend, but she was late. I tried to get her attention, but no luck. The praise and worship was unbelievable. The church had a special guest Alexander Platis who was a former worship leader of New Jerusalem group. Now Alexander has a new group and they are amazing. I have never been at such powerful praise and worship service.


The church also celebrated every one's birthday in December so my friend went out to the stage whereas I decided to skip. Pastor Olga shared the words of encouragement and senior Pastor Dimitry gave message to every person. My friend Tanya is standing in white sweater and Pastor Dimitry's photo is included also.




My heart rejoices that today Russia has strong churches like this one. Of course, there is no perfect church and this church is not an exception. I was happy to see that people were actively participating during the offering time because four years ago it was not the case. There were many excuses due to financial difficulties and lack of faith whereas now they are doing better and their faith has grown tremendously. They are actively ministering to younger generation, which is crucial because they are the future. They are participating in different ministries. The Lord is definitely blessing this church and allowing it to grow whereas other churches are either dying or have disappeared completely.

On Monday December 29th I had to get up very early and be at Presbyterian apt. to cook Christmas dinner for The Harbor graduates. I came at 9:30 a.m. because Andrei-Harbor mentor was supposed to bring food and gifts. Due to traffic he did not come until 12:30 p.m. I fell asleep waiting for him. Once he came I had to cook like a mad maid because the time was ticking and the guests were coming in 5 hours. I had to cook for 35 people. Unfortunately not all of our graduates could come. Only 25 out of 56 came. Tatiana-Harbor assistant director and Tanya-Harbor graduate were decorating the place meanwhile I was chopping tons of veggies. Our menu was: famous Russian green salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, green onions, dill, parsley, sunflower oil), Baked Parmesan Chicken, Cheesy scalloped potatoes. Our graduates had to bring drinks and dessert. As usual our "kids" most of them did not bring drinks or dessert; thus we ran out of drinks way too early especially when you are feeding 25 hungry young adults. Some of our graduates did awesome and brought tons of desserts. This shows that we are still working on transformation even with our graduates. The time was amazing. I would like to share more details about our Christmas celebration with graduates, but will do that in my next blog entry.

Thank you for your love, passion, kindness, care, support and partnership. We could not have done without you this year or for the past seven and a half years.

Blessings and love, The Harbor & Alex

Dec 26
Russian Orphans
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Mat. 18:5, “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.”

When I was in America I heard different stories regarding current orphan situation in Russia. I am also aware that since 2007 the Russian government has launched special agitation/propaganda trying to solve orphan problem.

According to newly released government book “Orphans and Street children in Russia” states that Russian Orthodox Church has been the key to helping orphans even during the Imperial Russia. Orphan problem in Russia goes as far as 1860, but during the Imperial Russia either church or peasants (slaves) took care of the least of these. Tsars and tsarinas supported churches to help the least of these. Until 1917 the Imperial Russia used similar forms of care as Europe did for the least of these. Some spouses of tsars personally participated in caring for the least of these by establishing private homes where the least of these were raised until their independence. The Great War has left 2.5 million children without a family. During the Bolshevik Revolution the Bolsheviks and the Bourgeois took orphan care into their jurisdiction. Thus, it went from private church and royal family care into the state communist care. In addition, the Bolsheviks and Bourgeois forced royal family members to flee from Russia, which meant full rejection from any other form of orphan care. In 1920’s Mr. Makarenko formed first state shelter for street children and his shelter still exist today in St. Petersburg. The newly formed state system has proclaimed the monopoly in caring for the least of these; thus, their desire to care for orphans and street children was based on principles of ideology.


Russian orphan and street children problem in the twentieth century has gone through three levels: The Great War and Bolshevik Revolution then World War II and then the collapse of the Soviet Union. Each event was brining more orphans and street children in the Russian society. Furthermore, the communistic approach in caring for the least of these did not allow the citizens to help orphans or street children. Thus, three generations were raised in forbidden environment.

In 2007 the former Russian president Vladimir Putin realized that if we keep the same type of state system in caring for the least of these it would completely destroy the demographic future of Russia because for the past seventeen years the death rate has been higher than the birth rate. First, he announced to give money to a family that will have more than one child. Second, he announced 2007 the year of a child. Third, in 2008 before he stepped down he announced 2008 the family year promoting foster care and domestic adoption. Thus, the government is trying everything they can to solve the problem, but mainly by socio-economical approach. Yet, we all know that socio-economical approach will not solve this problem because every child needs more than just room, board and clothes.


Last week I went to the orphanage #51 where I was for eleven years. While I was gone this orphanage has gone through a lot of changes. This orphanage has a school building attached to the living courters building. The school building is 170 years old and it was a residence of a very wealthy merchant Palezhaev. His residence had marble fireplaces, hand crafted oak ceilings, gilled bronze door and window handles and many other items that are unique to beautiful palaces. Unfortunately this building began to fall apart in 1995, which was the year of my graduation and as a result the school building was closed for renovation. For the next ten years the building was standing alone and slowly falling apart. Finally in 2004 the government gave money and some independent construction company began the restoration process. Mystically during the renovation marble fireplaces, hand crafted oak ceilings and other things have disappeared. The company used other materials trying to cover what they have stolen. However, everything else was restored beautifully and according to the original plans. Now orphans are able to use this building for school purposes as it was intended for the past forty years.







After school building tour I was greeted by Natalia assistant orphanage director. She was very happy to see me and gave me VIP tour around the living courters building. I have never had such royal treatment even when I was a sponsor. In four years the children that I used to know have “graduated”. Now this orphanage has about 70 children whereas four years ago there were about 100. I saw a lot of staff that has been there for a long time. The rooms look much better than they did before. One floor even had pool table. However, when I look and talk about these changes I can tell that morally, emotionally & spiritually orphans are still empty. Furthermore, the most shocking news I got at the orphanage that there are four girls who got pregnant by orphan boys and three gave birth and now they are “raising” their children at the orphanage. I asked Natalia do they realize what example they are showing to younger generation and she said, “What can I do?” Thus, we should not be surprised that our 1st graders more likely will be like 9th graders.

The biggest question I had for Natalia is why orphanages are shrinking, yet I know annually 130,000 children become orphans. Where do new orphans go? Well, Natalia helped me to solve the mystery. The governor of St. Petersburg said, “St. Pete is Northern Capital, which cannot have orphans; thus we must take them away from the city.” Now the government sends orphans to suburb orphanages where people cannot see them. Natalia confirmed saying that Siberian orphanages have gotten absolutely enormous. Now you know how the government is trying to solve orphan problem in major cities like Moscow and St. Pete.

Please pray for the least of these in Russia and for the society. I am very disappointed with what I have seen here in the past three weeks. People are distracted by the things of this world and continue to ignore issues that are right in front of them such as alcoholism, poverty, hopelessness, orphans, street children, abortion and divorce. They need Christ badly so we need to raise new generation of radical Christians.

Blessings and love, Alex
Dec 26
Merry Christmas from The Harbor
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Christmas is a wonderful season because we are celebrating the birth of Our Heavenly Father. How much I wish I was in America with so many of you, but this year the Lord has taken me to Russia. Please know that you are remembered on this special day. I wish you all blessed Merry Christmas.

The Harbor hosted Christmas staff party & it was very special. Our family has grown so much so we have to split our Christmas celebration into three groups. One is our staff, the other is our graduates and the last one is our residents and orphans that we serve at PTC. The Harbor staff party was last Sunday. On Saturday Ira and I were finishing printing out new Harbor cookbook. This book was put together by our PTC participants and staff. Our participants are also creating other beautiful items. I am attaching some photos so that you can see beautiful creations.

We have a desire to make more ornaments like these and I would like to bring them to America and sell as gifts. The proceeds will be reinvested into The Harbor. If you have an interest let me know please.






Hosting Christmas staff party for 48 people took a lot of preparation. On Sunday morning we went shopping, which took a lot longer than we anticipated approximately 2 hours. Then we went to PTC apartment and tried to make as many dishes as we could, which is also a huge challenge because this apartment does not really have fully equipped kitchen. There is no stove so we use electric burners. There is a tiny sink and “the kitchen” is so small that two people are already too many because you cannot turn around without bumping into each other. Our menu was: cabbage salad, green salad, grilled chicken wrapped in bacon, cheesy scalloped potatoes. Trying to save funds we have decided to do something unordinary for Russia. We asked our staff to bring drinks and dessert, which they did, but not enough so we ran out of drinks very quickly. We began to prepare food around 1:30 p.m., but had to be at another apartment by 3 p.m. The party was hosted at Presbyterian Seminary apartment. Ira and I were cooking as fast as we could meanwhile Tatiana Harbor assistant director and one of our graduates Tanya were finishing arranging gifts and helping on the side with cooking. At 2:45 p.m. I went outside trying to catch a car to take food, gifts and Christmas decorations to the seminary apartment. I thought it was going to be very easy to catch a car well I was wrong. It took almost 20 minutes and even though the distance from PTC apartment to the seminary apartment was short, but since we had tons of bags and other stuff it cost a lot more than I thought. We eventually made to our destination. Luba Harbor director with John Mark were already expecting us. This was awesome because we had extra hands, which we needed badly. Ira, John Mark and I concentrated on cooking meanwhile Luba and Tatiana were decorating the apartment. At 5 p.m. our guests began to arrive, but our food was not ready yet. The good thing is our meal was planned for 6 p.m. so we had time. Ira began to stress out and I was trying to stay calm. We asked another Harbor staff Maria to help us out so things went faster and smoother.

Prior to our meal Tatiana arranged fun game “Hot Can” where people had to pass can around while the music was playing and when the music stopped then you had to draw a small note from the can, read the question and give quick answer. This brought warm atmosphere especially because we had guests from Russia, Ukraine, America and Britain. Sergey and Maria Harbor mentors led praise and worship. Ivan Harbor pastor did a marvelous job on sharing powerful Christmas message. Meanwhile Ira and I were still in the kitchen finishing our meal. Ira was not thrilled being at the kitchen because she was missing out the fellowship. Finally the meal time came and everyone was hungry. The food turned out fantastic and we hardly had any leftovers. After the meal we played white elephant game and there were about 30 people. It was a bit long, but fun. Then we had dessert and tea. At the end we took one of our PTC trainers Kolya who teaches computers decorated him as a Christmas tree and one of the girls was a Santa Claus who presented special gifts to every Harbor staff, volunteers and family members including children.


“Hot Can” game & Pastor Ivan sharing Christmas message


Kolya “Harbor Christmas tree” & Ecka Harbor mentor enjoying her special Harbor 2009 calendar

As you can see in the pictures the party was a success. Now we are getting ready to our Christmas party with the graduates this Monday (Dec. 29). We plan to invite as many graduates as possible, which is 56. Some of our graduates are married and some have children so they might come with their family. Please pray that we can encourage them as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Not all of our graduates have accepted Christ as their personal Savior so this is another opportunity where we can plant another seed.


Sergey Harbor mentor & PTC assistant & Nadia Harbor graduate

Pastor Dima & his wife Aleena

Thank you for your eternal investments. The Harbor wishes Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. From the bottom of our hearts we are grateful for your faithful partnership.

Love and blessings, The Harbor & Alex
Dec 21
St. Pete Unites People
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"In order to see kindness you have to start doing it" by Leo Tolstoy

One of the things that I have missed for the past four years is the fellowship with The Harbor staff, residents and graduates. This has been a busy week filled with different fellowship opportunities. On Friday I met with some of our graduate girls. They have completed our third year Next Step phase post adaptation three years ago. Thus, it was amazing to see how they have changed and grown during these years.

I have arranged through Vika one of our graduates to meet the girls in the metro at 6 p.m. Prior to our meeting Vika and I went to check out one of the potential apartments for PTC. Unfortunately, this apartment is not going to work for us. Please keep praying for our new PTC apartment. Then Vika and I went to our destination. There we met Nastya, Anastasia, Oxana, and Lena so there were six of us. When I saw the girls I greeted them with a smile and a hug, but they did not respond that much. I was surprised because I have known them for quite some time. I guess since I have been gone for 4+ years they might have become shy or something. We went to Teaspoon Cafe, which is known for its crepes. At the end of our fellowship they have warmed up tremendously. I asked them some questions and would like to share some of their answers so that you can see how they are doing.



Vika is currently working for two different Christian organizations and is a student studying Business Management & Tourism. She is a strong Christian and sings in the choir at International Church. She has also learned English and frequently works as translator with missionaries. She is outgoing, happy, passionate, committed and faithful person.

Pray for her continuous spiritual growth and be the role model for many children that she ministers to through her mission organizations.









Nastya is a nurse and she has been working at the mental hospital for over two years. This is emotionally draining job and she is tired a lot yet she still finds time to have some fun. She loves computers and spends a lot of time researching the Internet. Unfortunately, due to her job, which is fairly negative environment she has drawn away from God and church. In the past she went to church time to time with other girls, but not anymore.

Pray that God would soften her heart toward and she would give her life to God in His time and not ours. Nastya wants to get together with me and pray that God would use me as an instrument to communicate the message of hope and salvation.


While at The Harbor Oxana was always a very happy girl and able to make anyone smile and laugh. Little did I know that she has been part of the comedy theater since second grade. She is finishing college in couple of years. She also had a lot of health issues when she was with us, but now she is feeling much better. This is a huge answer to many prayers. Oxana also went to church, but not anymore.

Pray for her spiritual growth, health and studies.



Lena is a strong believer who has grown a lot in the past four years. This is her third year in the university studying landscaping. She is going to church every Sunday and participating in different Bible Studies. She loves English and would like me to teach her while I am in Russia.


Pray for continuous spiritual growth and active ministry in giving back.









Anastasia has been one of the biggest highlights of our ministry in seven and a half years. She has gone through one of the most powerful transformations. This is her last year at fashion college and then she is considering going to another university in pursuing either counseling or business management. This Christmas she is going to spend with Katya and her family who was our former psychologist. Katya recently had her second child.

Pray for Anastasia's safe trip to Yakutia, spiritual growth, tough school year and successful completion. Direction and guidance next year school, job, and ministry wise.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this update and able to see the power and hand of God in every girl's life. This would not have happened without your prayer and financial partnership. Thank you for changing the least of these lives.

Love & blessings, Alex

Dec 18
Teaching at The Harbor PTC
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Before I left for Russia I had two page list of things to do while I am in Russia. One of the things that I had to do was to teach computer and English class at our PTC. At first I was not thrilled because I wanted to teach cooking class, but now I see why this was offered to me.

Quick clarification what PTC is (Professional Training Center). This center has been in operation for over a year. It is opened for orphans from any city or suburb orphanages. Children who are still in the orphanage typically come on Saturday and we teach them six different professions on the introductory level. Harbor residents and graduates come during the week and we teach them professions more in depth so that they can find a job upon completion of their education and training at our center.


We have about 30 children from city orphanages and 20 Harbor residents and graduates. Every Saturday I have to be at our PTC by 10:50 a.m. so that we can pray for the day and be ready for the first group. Our PTC is located in downtown in non-residential space. This apt. was converted into non-residential, but it is somewhat in the basement; thus, it is kind of damp and has mice. Thus, we had to find a cat whose name is Frosya and she is doing a marvelous job catching mice time to time. Please do not think that we have thousands of mice. You have to understand one thing. St. Pete has a lot of big trash cans that get emptied only once a week, but thousands of people throw a lot of trash so it is a great place for rats and mice to live. Basically we grow our own rats and mice. Quite shocking for the city that has a nickname "Venice of the North".



The first group of kids come at 11 a.m. with a caretaker. There are about 6-10 kids ages 9 through 18. At first we sit down and spend time playing different games. It is an opportunity to build the relationship and get to know each other. Then kids brake into different groups according to classes they wish to take. My computer/English class has on average 4 guys. At the moment I am teaching how to use Microsoft Word 2007 and some other basic PC user skills. My morning group of guys has been studying computer at the orphanage for two years with a gentleman from Microsoft. I thought well, they must know quite a bit. Well, I was wrong. Thus, I am trying to change their approach of studying computers. I am trying to motivate them to actually learn something by making a deal. If you study hard and learn as much as possible in one month and pass my quiz then I will give you a prize. Well, that sparked their attention so they promised to memorized everything. I have two more classes before their first quiz. I will let you know how they did.


One of our classes is cooking and we actually do have some guys who are very interested in it. Typically Ira teaches them how to make one dish & at the end of our classes we always sit down around the table and enjoy what our guys or girls have prepared for the entire group. This is a very special time because we can talk about different topics and see different personalities of children. We do not pray before our meal, but our plan this Christmas is to host special Christmas parties for different groups of kids and tell them about the birth of Jesus and who we are and the most of all that we are Christians and why we are helping them. Please pray for this because it could open some amazing doors for us.


Working with orphans who are still in the orphanages sometimes is more challenging than with our residents or graduates because our residents and graduates know what is acceptable and what is not whereas these children do not. Thus, many kids smoke, swear and who knows what else they do, yet their hearts are so hungry and thirsty. Many of them are very bright and want to receive an opportunity to become someone else. They have not learned that this might be their opportunity so we must be loving, caring, patient and committed. Please pray for their hearts and characters to change and that God would use us as an instrument to influence them spiritually. I thank the Lord for this great opportunity because I am able to be a male role model, which most orphans do not have because most orphanage staff are female.

This week I have been looking for a much bigger apartment to house our PTC and tomorrow Luba and I will be visiting two potential places. Please pray that one of them will be it because this would allow us to serve more orphans in much better conditions and do more things.

I appreciate all of your comments, prayers, thoughts, emails and support. Thank you for your love.

Blessings and love, Alex

Dec 18
New Place in St. Pete
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It has been over a week since I have been able to write anything on my blog due to no Internet connection. When I first arrived to Russia I had arranged temporary place to stay. I was there for about four days & during that time I had to find something else more permanent.

The real estate in major Russian cities has gone up so much since 2004. Some apartments in St. Pete worth more than in Miami, yet St. Pete is very different from Miami. Furthermore, both Moscow and St. Pete are cities of extreme. There are two ways you can find apartment; one through a friend and the other through an agent. The problem using agent is the cost. I would have to pay one month worth agent fee and pay additional one month security deposit fee; thus, the cost would be enormous. The average price for one-room studio apartment is anywhere from $700-800 per month. A friend of mine has told me that there is one room studio apartment not far from the Gulf of Finland, which is considered very nice area, but it could get cold cause it is next to water. The cost for this apartment is a bit higher than I was planning to pay, but I realized if I take this place then I would not have to pay agent and deposit fee so I took this apartment; thus, I saved almost $500 doing this way. Otherwise I would have end up paying about $2,200 in one month, which is very steep.

This apartment is about twenty-five minute walking distance from the metro. Thus, I get very good cardio-vascular exercise daily when I go somewhere or come home. If the weather is nice then I do not mind walking this far, but if it is raining and snowing then it could be nasty. Thus, you must always dress properly otherwise you can get cold very quickly. Even though the temp in St. Pete has been anywhere between 32 F-26 F (above zero), but it is very windy and dump cold so in reality it is much colder. My apartment is located on the 11th floor so I get really nice view. There is a huge Park Inn hotel right in front of my apartment building. I am including some pictures.


Park Inn Hotel
Gulf of Finland

The red building that you can see on the left side is the largest Aqua Park in the city. The cost to get into this park is $18. My landlord said, "Alex if you get bored then you can go there." Hmmm.

I do like my new apartment except there is no home phone so I have to use my cell phone a lot. I was able to find unlimited plan, but unlimited in Russia means something else compare to America. You always have to read fine print or ask questions otherwise you can be in trouble. I found out that unlimited plan means the following. I have 2 hours of free talk daily and if I go over that time than I have to pay 1 ruble per minute (about 5 cents). The good thing is I do not have to pay for incoming calls nor do incoming minutes count toward 2 hours per day.


I am attaching pictures of my new apartment.



This is my living room






Kitchen

Well, I have to run right now because I have a meeting, but I will write more because I have a lot of news and things to share that have collected in one week.

Hope you all are doing well. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Blessings and love, Alex
Dec 08
The Lord is at work
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On Saturday evening I went to Melana's home. Melana was my caretaker in the orphanage #51. I have known her for 24 years. Boy, time flies. Some of my classmates were there Edward, Maria and Sveta. It was a joyful celebration after 4+ years of not been able to see each other. Edward is now 30 years old. Sveta and I are the same age 31 and Maria is 32. Edward works in the printing shop. Sveta is a nurse in a clinic. Maria got married eight years ago and has a seven year old son Pasha. Melana prepared a fabulous meal. We laughed a lot remembering our childhood and had some tears remembering some of our classmates who are no longer with us after 13.5 years since we have "graduated" from the orphanage. It breaks my heart that three of our classmates are dead: two drug overdose and one committed suicide. Two girls are in the prostitution and so on.
On Sunday I went to the Nazarene Church. I was wondering how different it was going to be. The location is still the same, which is crucial for the consistency. It helps a lot that this church has its own building so they are not affected by the real estate nightmare or financial crisis. God is good! The church has about 25 people. The majority congregation is youth, which is good because they are the ones who represent the future for this country. Unfortunately, the church does not have a pastor because their pastor is in England getting his Masters in Theology. Yet, the church is surviving because people are still active and different folks fill in preaching the Word of God. My honest opinion the preaching was not very powerful, but better this than nothing as people say in Russia. Pray that this church can find permanent pastor because every church needs a pastor.
On Monday morning I met with Valya. She is 25 years old and was at my orphanage #51. I have known Valya for a long time and it blesses my heart so much to see the Lord at work. Today Valya is involved full-time in ministering to orphans who have "graduated" from the state system. She was working with Gary and Pam who are running somewhat similar program that The Harbor does. Valya was one of the organizers and a mentor in the program. Unfortunately, Gary and Pam recently came to St. Pete and observed how Valya and her colleague Natasha ran the ministry and they were not thrilled so they asked Valya to step down. Now Valya is unemployed and is seeking for God's guidance because she has given her life to serve Christ by reaching orphan lives for the rest of her life. Her vision is to visit every church in Russia and challenge them to care for the least of these in the Russian society because today this is government's responsibility as majority of Russians believe including many Christians. Pray for wisdom and guidance for Valya as she continues to find her new path. Pray for Gary and Pam's ministry so that it survives and continues to change the lives of many orphans. Orphans need to be reached for the Lord. I am going to keep in touch with Valya and spend more time so more updates will in the future.
After my meeting with Valya I went to The Harbor office and spent the rest of the day with Luba our Russian Director. Currently The Harbor has five apartments: three residential, one office and one professional training center. I have never seen three out of five apts. The office apt. is very cozy, but small, which is fairly typical for Russia. This is where Luba lives with two other Harbor graduate girls as well. Thus, apt. is being utilized in two capacities. Luba and I were discussing different topics related to The Harbor ministry and orphans. She shared with me very fascinating story. One day she was at the meeting with different directors and there was a lady who turned to Luba and asked her whom she was representing so Luba told her. The more Luba was telling her the more she was surprised to hear what The Harbor was doing in St. Pete. At the end this lady whose name is Mrs. Zanosina said that she is the author of a new book project that is being designed for the government. The project is almost done, but she wanted Luba to send some info about The Harbor so that we will be included in the book. Luba did not know how to respond to something like this, but she went home and quickly typed the info and sent to Mrs. Zanosina. She wrote back to Luba and thanked her. Later on she called Luba and said that I would like for you to come to the Committee of Questionnaire for the Legality of Order and Protection. Yes, I know this name is something?! Luba bought a box of chocolate and was very nervous. The security at this committee was unbelivably tight. Then Mrs. Zanosina came out and presented the book project to Luba. The book project was called, "Orphans and Street Children in Russia." This is a very special edition that describes the history of orphans and street children in Russia/Soviet Union and current charitable organizations helping the least of these in the Russian society. Only one thousand copies were printed out and given to various government officials in St. Pete and Moscow. The book is not available for public and no more copies will be printed out. Thus, it is amazing to see what direction the government is heading when it comes to orphans and street children. They create beautiful, amazing and powerful book that can change, motivate, inspire, challenge and guide thousands of citizens who do want to make the difference in the lives of orphans, but it is not available. How sad this reality is and we do covet your continuous prayers for Russia and its people and the least of these.
Luba also took me to our boy's apartment. Sergei our mentor was there as well whom I have never met. Currently we have only 4 guys living there because we lost 4 other. We are in the process of getting 4 new boys. Thus, you can see our constant challenge with so many orphans rotating. Many orphans want to have a different life, but they want to get there without doing anything, which we know it does not work that way. Thus, I covet your prayers for our current boys and new boys that will be coming in. Our girls are doing fabulous. I would like to share more things about our boys and their living style, but will have to come back to that in my next blog because this one is getting very long.
My final stop was our Next Step phase post-adaptation apt. There Vadim and Eka live and minister with to 4 graduate boys of ours. Plus Vadim and Eka have two of their own who are only 4.5 years old and almost 3 years old. We have Sasha, Sasha, Dima and Yura living in this apt. Sometimes you wonder do we really help them to become different people and after my visit last night I would say, "Yes, 100 percent." I saw a huge difference and very different young men than they were 2 years ago. These young men will be living in Next Step phase apt. for one year. Please pray for their spiritual growth, university studies, jobs and overall growth.
I want to share more and will do that, but in my next blog because I have to go right now. Thank you for your love, prayers and support. It means a lot to The Harbor, its staff, residents and mentors. It means a lot to me.
Blessings and love, Alex
Dec 07
Exploration
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Today is Sunday and it is my third day in Russia. I am getting ready to go to church, but would like to bring you up to speed.
Friday:
I connected with my friend and we went to downtown trying to take care of some business. First, I had to connect my cell phone to the local network provider. It was something because I brought my American cell phone, which is like PDA/blackberry. The only phone of such type you are going to find in Russia is new 3G iPhone, but only a few people have it. After figuring out what type of plan I should buy we have purchased my new SIM card. The connection is good, but no email or Internet yet I am paying for it. Thus, for more than 24 hours I have been trying to figure out how to do that. If I cannot fix this glitch then I am going to cancel my email and Internet.
Then I tried to find a company that provides service such as renting mail box because I do not have home address here in Russia, but I do need to get my mail from the states. In the past when I was here I used a foreign post office, which provided inexpensive and reliable service. Well, now the price is so high so I cannot even consider them. I walked around the city trying to figure out if there was something else available and I did find some, but the price is also high. Thus, I do not know what I am going to do cause I cannot pay $45 per month for renting a mail box.
My last stop was to purchase metro pass so that I can get around the city and that was uneventful.
As I was walking around the city I noticed so many changes. There are malls every where, coffee houses on every corner. I just do not know why so much. The coffee houses are not cheap either. The drivers are driving like crazy and I wonder why so many people die in Russia.
At the end of my errands I have calculated my time that I spent and it was 3.5 hours of walking nonstop. I have not walked that much in one day for almost 4.5 years. Walking is good and healthy and I beginning to feel that.
Saturday:
The place where I am staying temporarily has four other guys. They are students at the Presbyterian Seminary. One student Sergey this is his last year and he will be returning home to Western Ukraine. The three other students are new so they might be here for awhile.
Since I have arrived I have not had a chance to go to the store to buy some food; thus no food to eat breakfast in the morning. So yesterday morning before going to The Harbor Professional Training Center I had decided to stop by a coffee house near by and grab a quick bite to eat. I decided to buy a very small glass of orange juice, cup of green tea and a small pastry. After paying for it and converting into US dollars I realized that I just paid more than $7. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I would never pay such price in America so I told myself this is the last time I going to the coffee house. Yet, I also thought how many Russians can really afford to buy this kind of food? Well, you would be amazed enough because every coffee house is crowded.
After my coffee house breakfast experience I went to The Harbor Professional Training Center (PTC). There on Saturdays we teach two different groups of orphans that come from different orphanages. It was about 6 kids, but typically there are 12. Some did not come due to bad weather and soccer game. I had to teach computer class and there was Ilya and Vitalik. I was little bit nervous because I have never taught such class even though I understand and know computers fairly good. So I have decided to check how much Ilya and Vitalik really know cause they seem as if they know it all! I simply tested them on the knowledge of Microsoft Word and the boys hardly knew anything. Both boys are smart, clever and quick. I am used to using computers in English so the commands that I was giving them I had to sit at the computer and look in Russian. The boys were watching me what I was doing and when I asked them to do something they saw what I did and quickly copied my steps and then said, "Here it is Alex." Thus, I told the boys practice what you have learned so that next week when I can test you. We shall see.
Afterward we had a nice meal which was prepared by other group of orphans and the kids went back to the orphanage meanwhile Luba-Harbor Director, Tatiana-Assistant and Ira-Harbor PTC Director presented to me B-day cake with candles and some tea. It was special.
In the afternoon I had a meeting with a gentleman from Dallas which went went. The purpose of our meeting was future network and partership between our ministries in reaching the least of these.
In the evening I went to my Russian uncle and aunt house and we celebrated my B-day.
Well, there is more, but this blog entry is long enough and I need to run to the church so more later.
Much love to you all and thank you for your prayers.
Love, Alex
Dec 04
The Eagle has landed
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I have safely landed in Russia. It is so funny to be around Russians because in Amstradam when the gates were opened to board the airplane all at once ran for the gate. This is funny.

I had some strange feelings when I landed in Russia and I am sure it is because I have been gone for so long. The first thing that reminded me of my native country is smoking, which is every where so I told myself, "welcome back Alex." Then I was concerned about going through the customs in Russia cause you never know what they might do so I prayed and asked for peace. Well, sure enough I went through green line, which is nothing to declare and everything went smoothly.

My friend Ed and Eugene met me at the airport and we went to Eugene's home. As we were driving I was amazed at some of the changes I saw. Boy, time flies especially when you are gone for so long.

At home Eugene's mom greeted me with a kiss and tears. We had a nice meal and then I went to missionary's apt. where I got settled in for the next week. I, Praise the Lord because there is Wi-Fi so I can get online, do my emails and send my first blog. This is awesome.

Tomorrow I have to get my cell phone sim card so that I can be online, figure out my mailing address arrangements and begin to search for more stable place where I am going to live for the next four months. God is good and He is continuing to provide. Thank you Jesus.

Thank you for your prayers during my flight and safe customs crossing cause it was safe. I am heading to bed right now because I have been up for more than 24 hours and St. Pete is 8 hours ahead of Eastern time so I need some rest.

More later so stay tuned.

Love, Alex