A New Hope House for Voronezh
Vova (front left) reached out to me and asked, “What if we took the second floor of the old Hope House and created a space for Down Syndrome adults to learn independent living skills?”
Vova was one of the first residents of the original Hope House when we opened our doors in 2006, and after living with us there for several years was one of the first to successfully transition to live independently on his own. Several years ago, after we had relocated back to Texas, I got a message from Vova asking what I thought of the idea of him using the second floor of the building we still rented, which served as Hope House when he lived there, as a center for helping adults with Down Syndrome learn independent life skills. I thought, since we were using other parts of the building at the time for ministry purposes but not currently the second floor, then why not.
Vova had demonstrated the motivation and commitment, and I had seen him take the helm of the Down Syndrome ministry in Voronezh for many years already with the encouragement of one its main benefactors from Oklahoma, Frank Baxter. He quickly went to work with his team converting the space and decorating it appropriately, and before I knew it a brand new ministry was up and running. And, it continues now, even during these trying times.
As it’s turned out, since the war began, this new ministry, the new Hope House, is one of the few reasons we are still paying rent there at all. Much of the ministry there has been either phased out during the war or put on hold.
Please keep all of the ongoing work in Russia in your prayers, the ongoing work with orphans in the region, camps, ministry to the widows, the work Vova does with the Down Syndrome families, and certainly this life skills ministry of the new Hope House.
As is referenced on our Financial Snapshot page, we can not currently fund these Russian projects through our East-West accounts, but we are continuing support through personal means. So, if you’re interested in partnering with us particularly with this and the other Russian projects we continue to support with Gennadiy Petrov, please reach out to us offline.