Do you know what russian prison is like? I hope not, and thank God for that. It’s a world where life is governed by harsh, unwritten laws established by the criminal underworld. A world where any deviation from these “rules” can cost a person not only their freedom but also their dignity, and sometimes even their life.
In Moscow, there is a group of our Cuban friends, whom desperate poverty in their homeland forced to seek a better life in Russia. They don’t know the language, they don’t have documents, and to survive, they are forced to do what the streets demand: they dress in women’s clothing and offer intimate services. In the evenings, they become “girls,” but in their daily lives, they try to remain inconspicuous, dressing as ordinary men.
One day, in the Moscow suburb of Khimki, they were stopped for a document check. Unfortunately, one of them, Javier, was in women’s clothing at the time. They were detained for lacking proper registration and placed in a holding cell for three days.
Can you imagine what a Russian prison is like for a man in a dress? I have no words to describe the horror they might have endured. Javier and his friend found themselves in a place where their vulnerability could have led to unspeakable suffering. They may have become victims of violence. For two days, they were given no food or water. Only after that were they able to call us, and we managed to send them a package with food, water, and fruit.
Now, they face deportation. They haven’t yet had the chance to repent, but we did our best to show them the light and love of Christ, as much as we could.
Javier and Rogelvis are the men in the photo.