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Sablino Youth Center
 The Sablino Youth Center was established in 2004 by Father Nikolai Aksenov, the long-standing Rector of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Sablino, Russia. With significant financial help from MVERN, its decrepit Sunday School building has been transformed into a spacious and welcoming center for the community. The Sablino Youth Center now is essentially the centerpiece of Father Nikolai’s remarkable ministry and has become a model for similar undertakings in other small villages throughout Russia.
At the present time, approximately 60 to 75 Russian youth, ages 7-17, gather after school, on Saturdays, and for a summer camp, for classes in music, art, drama, English, religious education, and sports, and for education about alcohol and drugs. The youth center is open to children from throughout the region, providing both a stable oasis and a diversion from the temptations of drugs, alcohol, and gang membership. Working with potentially at-risk pre-teen and teenagers, Fr. Nikolai is creating groups of youth with similar values who will support each Fr. Nikolai also is organizing both historical and art displays by professional artists and is making the facilities of the center available to the community. |
other while attending the schools of the nearby larger town. He literally may be saving lives by preventing exposure to drugs and alcohol.