I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you
among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted,
O God,
above the heavens, and let Your glory be over all the
earth.
Psalm
108: 3-5
My name is Eduard
Nikitin. I would like to tell you a little about
myself as well as what I do. I would also like to ask that you pray for me and
my ministry in "Youth
With A Mission" - (YWAM). I am 25 years old.
I was born on 26 August in the city of Kolpino,
near St. Petersburg.
My mother married and divorced six times and her husbands beat me often for
small mistakes I made. Because of the abuse and my strong-will and independence
I left home at the age of 8 and started living on the streets in attics and
basements. I continued to study and finished 9th grade and went an to college and received a degree in cold metal mechanics
or as maintenance man. Of curs, street life was not easy, in order to survive I
turned to stealing and other criminal activities. I saw many evil things around
me and ended up with a group of Fascists. In 1996 I organized a group of 5
people for a robbery that also included bodily harm however we got caught by
the police. While I was awaiting trial in 1998 I was living in a Christian
shelter called "Life" where I heard about Jesus Christ and saw His
love, mercy and goodness through the workers. The most important thing that I
learned was to have hope and goals in my life. I repented and received Jesus in
my heart. I started reading the Bible and learned a lot from God's Word.
Knowing the law I was expecting to spend 3 - 7 years in prison. So when I
testified at my trial I told them about my new found faith in God, what God
meant to me, and how He had changed my life and that whether or not I went to
prison I would tell others about my faith. However to my surprise a miracle
happened!!! They set me free!!!!!
My brothers in "YWAM",
who I had in 1998 helped me with a place to live, food and asked me to help in
their ministry "Rainbows of Hope", working with street children. I
helped in this ministry for one and-a-half years and during this tine they told
me about a missionary program called - "Discipleship Training
School" - (DTS).
Of course the school cost money and I had none, but I had a strong desire to do
this school. Some of friends in the mission told me "if it's God's will
that you do the school, He will provide the money for you". I prayed and
that's what happened!!! God provided me with everything that I needed for the
school and I finished it in 1999 in Moscow.
I carried on working in the mission in Moscow,
serving on the base where needed while I grew spiritually. I lead some
evangelism groups and also did some administration work. God spoke to me that I
would work with street children and teenagers with problems in the future.
Starting in 2001 I began working with the "YWAM" base in St.
Petersburg, there I worked with the mercy ministry "Convoy of Hope",
"The Barnabas Project" street kids ministry, as well as
some office work. After three years I felt like it was my time to move forward,
to grow more in the Lord.
In the five years work in mission I have seen the necessity to start a project,
in the direction of mercy ministries to develop help for people rejected by
society. In May of 2004 I come to work with "YWAM" base Rostov-On-Don,
Russia where I agreed to
staff the mobile DTS.
However even during the DTS I began
to see the need in Russia
and started here in Rostov-On-Don where I am presently serving and living. I
began to seriously plan this ministry in January of 2005 and began the actual
"The Open Zone" project in May of the same year. The project consists
of three parts: 1) working with children and teenagers from dysfunctional
families. 2) Care for the elderly and disabled. 3) Development of services in
church.
In May 2005 I began to put into practice the first practical steps for the
projects implementation. The ministry to street children, it's
purpose: to assist the restoration of healthy families in order to stop the
growth of social orphans. "See that you do not look down
on one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven always
see the face of my father in heaven" - (Matthew 18: 10). At the
moment 6 churches in Rostov-On-Don and the Rostov region are taking pert in the project.
We visit the children bringing them food and fellowship and when needed
medicine and things for personal hygiene. This has opened the doors for us to
worship God with them and to teach them biblical principles. Once a week we
have the opportunity to bathe the children and give bible lessons in the
"Salvation Army" building. The children are found in underground
passages, parks and even in graveyards. During the day the children beg, steal,
sniff glue, and other chemical substances. And at night they spend time in the
basements, heating systems, and attics. They are often subject to the threat of
abuse from different people. The children gradually fellowship with us, analyze
their deeds, recognize their own wrong, and agree with the necessity to forgive
their parents in everything, who they blamed for their own failures. From the
start of "The Open Zone" project till now three teenagers have repented,
two of them have returned home. In the future we plan to open a day-centre for
children, where they can eat, shower, wash their clothes, learn how to do
useful, healthy things, and also receive psychological, social and educational
help.
Working here, in "YWAM" base in Rostov-On-Don
as a full-time staff member, means that I need to find my support from friends
and other Christians - prayer and financial support. To be able to live and
have my needs met I need $300 US per month. This amount would cover my rent,
food, transport, medical, and all other personal needs. I would like to ask you
to pray about either supporting me each month to help pay a part of these
costs, or to become a prayer partner in my ministry to the others. If God leads
you to support me, please e-mail me: <evgevn@mail.ru>
if you would like to receive my monthly newsletter, please email me!
With Love
in Christ
Eduard.