Faces of The Fellowship: Yuri

The Fellowship  |  June 3, 2021

At 60 years old, Yuri seems both old and young at the same time. Born with an intellectual disability, Yuri sounds like a young child when he speaks. But when he walks, it’s with the body of a weak, elderly man, who has faced many physical challenges over his lifetime.

Neglected and lonely, Yuri is one of the forgotten. A child of God who has no one except for his cat to keep him company. A child of God who has no one to care for him or love him… no one except you.

A stroke and a broken hip severely hampered Yuri’s mobility. And then, unsteady because of both, he fell and broke his arm… twice. Now he has difficulty doing even the simplest of tasks.

Yuri’s one-room apartment in the former Soviet Union is just as broken as his body. The few pieces of furniture are falling apart. The bathroom and kitchen are rusted and dismal, exposed pipes leaking everywhere. Much of the year, cockroaches creep across the dirty floor. And in the frigid winter, Yuri cannot afford to warm his one-room world.

The one joy that Yuri experiences is the knock on his door that means his Fellowship homecare worker has arrived. This is his one lifeline, delivering food, warmth, and care — all thanks to the Fellowship friends who want this precious child of God to know he is loved.