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One-third of the world's population is under the age of 15.
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86% of the people who accept Christ do so before the age of 14.
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78% of the world's 2.0 billion young people are growing up in non-Christian settings.
The above statistics lay a tremendous challenge before the church and its mission efforts. Within the former Soviet Union, the difficulty of reaching these children is compounded by several factors, including a general suspicion of foreigners, gaining and maintaining access to children, the transiency of the population, and keeping up with orphans as they move through the system and corresponding institutions.
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40% of orphans will turn to drugs
60% of orphans will be jobless and homeless
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As orphans in the former Soviet Union reach age 16, they are forced to leave the orphanage, sent to live in dormitories with little or no supervision and learn a menial trade, or worse, left to make it on their own in the streets. Many of these young people turn to drugs, prostitution, and other crime to deaden the hopelessness and provide basic needs. Beyond this, many become teenage parents unable to care for their own children, thus enabling the cycle of more orphans.
While children in Russian and Ukrainian orphanages may have interaction with multiple adults in administration and caretaker roles, these relationships are mostly authoritative. There is a lack of positive adult relationships within the orphanage system that the state cannot provide. This results in children growing up without direction, without someone to mentor and guide them through difficult times and critical decisions.
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