The Los Angeles Times article is entitled “Once-Mighty Russia fades to a dying population,” and it just came out October 15, 2006. In it, some incredible statistics spotlight the tragic condition facing this part of the world in which New Life Ministries seeks to reach.

Before I share an extended quote from it, I must say it brought to mind the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah receives the report that “And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who escaped exile are in great trouble and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its [fortified] gates are destroyed by fire.” (Nehemiah 1:3)

In my work here, I have often read this verse and thought about the Soviet people. Surely they are in great distress and reproach and have been through 70 years of godless communism that has ravaged the souls of the people. I think of the tens of millions who died under Stalin’s watch, through the purges, through the famines, through the wars. I think of the condition today of the ‘walls’ and the people, and how their seems to be no moral fabric, no protection over the hearts of the people, especially the young people…and how Russia “is the only major industrial nation that is losing population. It’s people are succumbing to one of the fastest growing AIDS epidemics, resurgent tuberculosis, rampant cardiovascular disease, alcohol and drug abuse, smoking, suicide, and the lethal effects of unchecked industrial pollution….abortions outpaced live births last year by more than 100,000. An estimated 10 million Russians of reproductive age are sterile because of botched abortions or poor health…the average Russian man can expect to live about 59 years…massive drinking has resumed….the average Russian drinks 5 gallons of pure alcohol a year (largest amount per capita in the world).” (Once Mighty Russia fades to a dying population, Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2005)

What about the young people to whom we focus our ministry? The article points out that “the United Nation says Russia has the worst AIDS problem in Europe, fueled by ‘extraordinarily large numbers of young people who inject drugs.’ But the disease has spread widely through the population, and more than half of all new cases result from heterosexual intercourse. Officially, 340,000 Russians are infected with HIV or AIDS, but the UN says the number could easily be four to 10 times higher.”

“Compounding the problem, most Russian victims are young. The prevalence of the illness among young people threatens to add Russia’s demographic meltdown by killing them before they can bring a new generation into the world.”

Do we see? The problems listed here all have a moral root. The answer is Jesus Christ. I don’t mean for that to sound oversimplified, but it is the truth! Only Jesus Christ can change a heart, and cause them to pursue a godly path. Only Jesus Christ, through changed individuals, begin to weave a moral fabric into any society.

That is why we need to, we must, we are compelled to, just as we receive this “Nehemiah report” of a country where the people are “in great distress and reproach,” respond as Nehemiah did!

That is offering ourselves as God’s servants to pray, and then to go and “rebuild the wall.”

Here is our plan to make a difference in young peoples' lives there...