Lives Transformed at the Drug Rehabilitation Hospital
As we round the corner and buildings comes into view, I am flooded with a myriad of emotions. Housed within these buildings that now surround us like sky-high sentinels are hundreds, maybe thousands, of women. These buildings seem to speak of their neglect and as we approach the entrance and the long climb up several sets of stairs, my heart begins to pound with expectation. What will we encounter beyond these doors? A brief explanation is made through a small porthole in the door and we enter Area 29 of the Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Center in Moscow.
My eyes are now darting from face-to-face all around the room we have entered. Introductions are made, and I rather surprisingly realize the first faces I am seeing are doctors, nurses, and the administration staff of Area 29. We are greeted cordially and shown to another room where we prepare gifts we have carried with us. Soon the staff has been gathered to the room and our leader greets everyone with a smile as she presents the offering of our gifts.
I now realize the women I now face are educated medical professionals; yet I find myself searching for the charisma and confidence I always sensed in a room full of American doctors and nurses. Could it just be me, an American woman visiting a Russian Drug and Alcohol Rehab Center, or is there something really lacking here? Why are these women wearing tattered smocks, worn-out shoes and clothes? These are medical professionals, esteemed in the United States. They receive our gifts eagerly with near embarrassment over these small offerings of Mary Kay, a chocolate bar and Pastor Denise’s new book in the Russian language. As I take in the faces of these dear women who have filed into this small room, I realize that our visit today is not only to minister to the patients of these professionals, but to reach and touch the hearts of these who today are victims of their society—a society that has given them little reward for the disciplines of their education.
Soon we are ushered to the dining room of Area 29 where women of every age are beginning to gather. Again my emotions are running rampant as I scan the room looking from one face to another with so many questions exploding in my mind and heart. Why are some of your heads shaved? You look like my grandmother. Your eyes are glassed over. Do you have children at home? Do you have a home? Have you burned all your bridges? How many times have you been here only to return again and again? You look depressed. Please don’t try to kill yourself again. God loves you. Jesus died for you.
As I continue to watch the faces of women so obligingly assembled around us, my heart begins to speak to them. Ladies, there is a healer who wants to heal your broken heart, restore your family, give you a life worth living. You need to know there is a God and He loves you. And I wonder…will the words spoken today deposit enough hope within their hearts that they believe the carefully chosen words we will share?
The keyboard is now in place and Anya’s voice fills the room like a choir of angelic hosts. The atmosphere of Area 29’s dining hall is transformed into a concert hall and smiles begin to appear on the faces of many. In just moments we begin to see the doors to their hearts opening up as the soothing, caressing melody wafts through the room. Hardened faces begin to soften as an immediate connection is made with many of those seated before us.
The music has also drawn other women who did not respond to the coaxing of roommates or the hollow announcements from the scratchy PA system. They begin to line the back wall as Anya continues to serenade and bathe them in the presence of God. For some of these women it has been a very long time (if ever) that they have felt such peace, such comfort.
The stage is now set for the powerful testimonies that follow. Soon Pastor Denise stands before them, and her words, filled with faith and power begin to embrace them and coaxing them to sit up just a little bit straighter in their chairs. A quick scan of the room reveals an even greater door has been opened into many hearts and everything within me is urging these women to believe what they are hearing.
There is a God that loves you. These are words of truth. He has the power to set you free. This is your day of visitation. Please don’t let it slip by you. Someone does care about you and he sent us to tell you of His great love for you.
Can you hear His words of love today or does oppression cloud your thinking? Please receive these words. You may not be here next week when we return. They may not let us return another day. Today is your day. This is the hand of God reaching out to you, touching you. Can you hear Him? He loves you. You are forgiven.
Do you hear the words of this woman who is standing before you? She speaks on behalf of the One who died for you. You are forgiven. The weight of this debt you are carrying is forgiven. He wants to empower you to overcome the hell of alcohol and drugs. Will you receive Him? Can you believe Him?
Our visit has now drawn to a close. Our team is milling around the room, passing out New Testaments, small note books and chocolate (of course.) Thankfully, we have the occasion to pray for some, consoling others and taking one last opportunity to breathe life into these scarred and calloused lives.
As we head toward the exit doors, many of the women hover around us waving goodbye and saying repeatedly through the pleading of their eyes, “Please come back. Please remember us.”
The last voices and faces we see are of the doctors, nurses and administrators. Their countenance conveys they are pleased. They too are clinging to the words and deeds they have witnessed today. They seem grateful that someone may have an answer for these women they have tried desperately to help but to no avail. They have seen these women they are treating have climbed the stairs to Area 29 ten, twenty, thirty or more times to “dry out” only to return to the poison that has imprisoned them for a lifetime.
After all our goodbyes, we descend the long stairway to the exit. I am filled with so many, many emotions and a flood of questions and thoughts race through my soul. How grateful I am for this opportunity. How thankful I am to share in God’s Kingdom work and what a privilege it has been to look into the eyes of those He loves and speak of His lovingkindness and mercy toward them. And I realize I will carry many of these women in my prayers in the coming days and weeks. I know I will not soon forget what I have seen and felt today and I perceive that an even greater faith has arisen in my heart. I will believe for more. More lives must be touched and God will use us. He is able. He does all things well. I will trust Him who is able. And in my heart an even greater commitment emerges that declares, “We must do all we can to rescue these precious lives, no matter what the cost.”
