G.A.P. - A Deeper Look

For a deeper look into the various ministries of GAP, we could suggest a few options.  One, if you've got excess time on your hands (not sure who has that but...) you can peruse the many archived articles by clicking the link on the left entitled, Original Archived Articles.

Of course, if you haven't seen any of our videos yet, you will want to follow the link to the On-Line Video Playlist. Definitely constituting a deeper look.

Perhaps the most thorough update on the ministry will come from perusing the albums in the Photo Gallery.

If you prefer to browse the Gallery in slide show view, you can see the entire collection of photos in one click.  But, you won't necessarily know when you go from one album to another.  The albums all run together in slide show mode, but you should see captions at the top of the frame as they change, and an indication of which album you're watching.  If the captions don't appear, try parking your cursor in the slide show frame.  This seems to be required in the Firefox browser.

For those who peruse the albums, particularly those in slide show mode, here is a brief description of each album, giving you a bit more insight into each ministry facet and in some cases a bit of a status report.

The GAP Ministry Team

The ministry team for the You Are Not Alone Club consists of the four staff members we refer to as the leadership team, plus 8 volunteers.

You Are Not Alone club gallery

A pictorial journey through the You Are Not Alone club ministry. The club reaches out to orphanage graduates, most of whom are studying now in trade schools, colleges, and the University, reminding them that they are not alone. The program includes fellowship, fun and games, food, discussion groups, bible studies, special men's and women's meetings, special cultural and recreational outings, and assistance with their academic studies.

GAP Residential Ministry - 'Hope House'

Here you'll get a view of the residential part of GAP that was launched in 2007. It features 10 boys who live on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the ministry center. We live on the 1st floor and work to encourage initiative as they learn independent life skills. As you can imagine, with our poor language skills, much is being conveyed through modeling, but much is also being conveyed through the language of love. We are also assisted in this work by members of our ministry team, a few gifted interpreters, and our pastor who serves as an adviser to the ministry.

GAP Mentoring and Jobs Development

This album includes shots of the mentoring and jobs development program that was recently launched. This part of GAP attempts to partner kids with mentors as often as possible. Mentoring takes on many forms as the photos indicate. For now, the main facet of the jobs development program is the establishment of a video business. It currently employees two orphanage graduates and is beginning to generate some revenue. The plan is for it to become self-sustaining in the near future, and to launch additional self-sustainable business ventures as well.

GAP Advocacy

Because the 'advocacy' ministry is still in its infancy, we don't have much to show for it.  For now, it mainly represents a need for which we are praying for the resources to meet.  Both staff and financial resources.  Here you'll get a glimpse of the challenges the kids face in their attempts to find their place in the world.  The photos here of Tolik's house are indicative of this struggle. For orphans who qualify, the government promises them housing. Getting the housing is one thing. Inhabitable housing is often a different story.

The Kids of GAP

Check out this new album of pictures of our "GAP Kids". Browse through the album, or play it as a slide show, but as you do, please remember to pray for the kids. Perhaps you'll find this to be a good tool to use when praying for the kids. The first 8 guys live with us in the GAP residential program, the first 3 of those are part of the club ministry team.

The Kids Then and Now

Here are some frames where we have composited pictures of the kids from when we were first getting to know them, juxtaposed with recent shots.

Summer 2008 - a personal look

The summer of 2008, with two trips to the states for visa reasons, and Max and Natasha's wedding in the middle, we had the opportunity to get some very special time in with our states-side family. This album gives you a rather personal look inside our summer activities.

Israel 2008

East-West Russian Field Staff Conference and Tour, lead by our Acting Field Director for Russia at the time, Joe Wall. We were thrilled that Max and Natasha were able to attend this conference and tour, and get to spend time under the teaching of Joe Wall and see the bigger picture of East-West. There were 27 of us in all. 5 Americans and 22 Russians. We had some awesome fellowship together!  All of us foreigners together in the land.

The Woods of Voronezh

When the weather permits, we love taking a Sabbath in our Voronezh woods. In Russia, the woods belong to the people. Gotta love this country!  (sad side note: if you've been following the news lately -summer 2010- you're probably aware that our woods have been lost to the fires. The woods are currently still closed, so we've yet to be able to survey the damage first hand.)