Mentoring Program

LifeLine Missions has been hosting short term mission trips to St. Petersburg Russia since 2002.  We will continue leading these short term teams two to four times a year to camps in the summer and orphanages in the winter. At the same time it is important to remember those who have graduated orphanage and are acclimating into society.

The idea of a mentoring program began with a vision God gave after a visit to an orphanage in Peterhof outside of St. Petersburg.  The director, Valery, told me of one of his young grads who was living independently in the city.  Valery said he had tried to contact the young man, but couldn´t reach him.  He decided to visit his work place and there he found the young man was doing the work assigned to the other workers and was sleeping on the concrete floor instead of going home at night.  Valery told us that he was not permitted by the government to follow up with these young people as they were no longer his responsibility if they were living independently.

After hearing this story, I began to pray about how we might be able to help in such situations.  God planted in my heart the idea of a mentoring ministry.  At the same time, He was planting the same idea in the hearts of Miki and Charlie Chastain of Acts of Advocacy.   As we met about this opportunity, it was amazing how God had planted the same ideas in all of our hearts.

There are several transitional homes in St. Petersburg that take in a few orphan grads for about two years to help them learn life skills.  These are great homes and touch the lives of several young people.  Our goal was to meet these young orphan grads right where they were; in their own flats, living independently and learning how to keep an apartment clean, grocery shop, budget their money and care for their own personal needs.

We have partnered with The Grace Center and Hope for Children mentoring programs for young orphan grads as they become independent and begin to live on their own.  Many of our orphaned friends are being helped by these programs.  We hope to continue this ministry by using successful orphan grads to mentor those just coming out of orphanage.  Who else knows more about what it is like than those who have lived it.