Isolated From The World
Three-meter (9
ft) high grey concrete walls topped with double barbwire encircle the compounds.
There are huge iron-gates, often rusted shut, in the wall, and other entrances that
are guarded by police officers armed with submachine
guns. In the yard is a
two story concrete building where more security
personnel are stationed. Any attempt to escape
from these compounds would prove futile.
These prison camps are home to thousands of children across Russia. They have little or no hope of becoming healthy, stable citizens of society,unless God intervenes.
Be a part of God's plan in the lives of these children.
Make your tax-deductible donation at our ON-LINE DONATIONS
Click
to view video of Russia's children in prison
(60 seconds, 8.3 MB)
Brochure created for Christmas Campaign:
Your Love is their Miracle pdf
Warm Winter Clothes Needed
Inside live children, ages 10 to 18.
Their heads are shaven. Their clothes
resemble oversized rags. Their footwear
barely holds together. Laces are nowhere to be seen.
The smell of urine is in the air. The supervisor explaines that the
boys urinate in their beds every night, due to the traumatic
conditions at home. They have been forced onto the streets
and eventually wind up in prison.
Pastor "Oleg" from the Ural Mountains region recalled frequently received calls
from the authorities appealing for humanitarian aid. “Bring bread, no
fruit, vegetables or butter – just bread!” had been the heartbreaking
message. They had run out of food and allocated government subsidies
had long been exhausted. The subsidies were insufficient to begin
with. Because of its own poverty the Church has been powerless to
respond in a meaningful way.
God Can Restore A Life
One of IRR/TV
team members, Kosti, an ex-convict himself, shared an experience from
his life.
“My dad came home drunk on Christmas Eve. Instead of getting Christmas
presents and singing Christmas carols dad tore up our home. As he
barged through each room smashing furniture, he took a thick leather
army belt and beat me and my sister until we bled.
In desperation mom tried to intervene to intercept the horrendous blows
from dad’s belt. Dad grabbed a bread knife and struck mom repeatedly.
Bleeding uncontrollably mom had slumped on the kitchen floor and with
her last ounce of strength had pled for mercy on behalf of her children
“do not harm these children!”
Miraculously Kosti and his sister had managed to escape the house.
Fleeing into the winter night they found shelter by a heater in the
hallway of an apartment building.
“Our greatest celebrations can turn out to be nightmares” added Kosti.
“But God can restore a life that has been smashed in a thousand pieces.
For God there are no hopeless cases. Your life may seem like a curse
but God can make it a blessing to others—no matter who your parents may
have been!
If you wish to know more about this special
gesture of God’s love in children's prisons in Russia you may
contact our staff by email at childprisoner@irrtv.org or call toll free: 1 877 674-5630.
To help with a tax-deductible gift visit our ON-LINE DONATIONS
Orphans and Outcasts
In rare cases some of the convicts are
only 10 years of age,
others are just
beginning to learn the alphabet at age 14.
I remember one boy, Ivan, especially well.
Passing by the prisoners lined up before us we stopped in front of him.
Ivan had been brought to Kamyshinskaya prison camp six months earlier.
“How much time do you still have to serve?”
“Six years.”
“What about your mother and father...?”
“I don’t
have a father or mother.”
I could see pain in the boy’s eyes. They begged for warmth, love. He
was astonished at our unannounced interest in him—as if he was saying,
“I can’t believe I really mean something to someone!”
