Week Four and Returning Home.

First of all, sorry it has taken me so long to post this last blog. I got back to texas the 22nd and have been relaxing a lot and processing all that I have learned in the past month.

The last Sunday in Russia, we went to an all english speaking church that was mainly missionaries. After the service, we got to talk to the other people and hear their stories. This was really awesome to me because I see God working in college station or working with our team in Russia but meeting people from all over the world (England, Australia, Holland, Africa) just shows me how BIG God is.

Originally our plan for the last week was to go to camp Monday-Wednesday but since we only had two interns, we decided to go to the Crisis Center Monday and Tuesday and go to camp just for wednesday morning. So Monday, we got to go back to the Crisis Center, which we were all pretty excited about. I wasn't sure how long kids normally stayed at the crisis center before they move them to their permanent orphanage, but I was hoping to see some of the kids we got to play with the first week we were there. When we got there, the babies were asleep so we took two little girls, probably about 2 years old outside to play with the older kids.  I didn't recognize any of the kids. Its very hard for me to realize that every three weeks, they have 20 new kids becoming orphans. Tuesday, we went back to the Crisis Center and got to play with the babies. We recognized three of the babies but there were 4 new ones. We got to play with them for a couple hours until nap time. 

In St. Petersburg, kids normally leave the city for the summer to stay with their grandparents somewhere in a small village or go to camp. Orphanages send their kids to camp for the summer to let them take a break from the city. Wednesday morning, we got to go out to one of the camps to visit orphanage #2. Once we got there, the kids just came running up to meet us and give us hugs. Since it was the last place we went, we had a lot of supplies for them. They were so excited! We played with them for a few hours and before we left, we gave them all gift bags.  Olga, the person who organized our trip visits the orphanages on a regular basis. She said every time she comes to this orphanage, the kids always ask her if she has found any American parents for them yet.

Thursday we did some sightseeing and pack up to leave. I can tell you that I was not at all ready to leave Russia. It's really hard to leave those kids and think I might never get to see them again. I have learned so much from those kids-its hard to imagine that they had a better time than I did. I am just so thankful that the Lord was able to use me in more ways than I probably know. Maybe someday soon I will get to go back. 

Week Three.

Oh it has been an emotional week. One of our interns, Melissa has Cystic Fibrosis. She has had two double lung transplants and has had lung cancer. Before she came, the doctors checked her and made sure she was good to go. Well sometime last week, she started to catch a cold. It hasnt been too bad but because she has CF, it wasnt good.   On Thursday, she decided it wasnt a good idea to finish up the last week here in Russia. Because we did not want her to travel alone, one of the other interns, Lydia decided to go back with her. After many phone calls to America and many people at work trying to figure out a new flight and MANY changes in plans, they were finally able to leave this afternoon. If you could please be praying for safe travels and everything to run smoothly, our whole team would really appreciate it. They stay in London tonight and then will be going to the United States tomorrow.

Besides all of that, this past week has been more than amazing! We returned to Nikolsky Monday night and the next morning, we got to hang out with the little kids. There were 3 boys and 2 girls probably all between the ages of 4-6 years old. We got to do some crafts with them and then play outside.  Then we went inside with the older kids and did the Solarium cards. Theses are just a lot of cards with pictures of different things and we got to ask them different questions like 'pick a picture that describes how you feel' or 'pick a picture that describes what you want in life.' It was neat to hear what they had to say.

On Tuesday, our team was still kind of drained from the week before but we all prayed about it and Wednesday we were all a lot happier and ready for the week. We started off with the little kids again and made noise makers with them and then let them dance. They all really enjoyed that. Then we got to go with the older kids and our translator, Anya shared her story with them. She was an orphan and came to know the Lord right before she graduated from the orphanage when an American mission team came to visit. She recently found her mom after looking for her for 4 years and is in the process of trying to meet her. The kids can really relate to her story and some of the kids shared how they got to the orphanage. That night, while we were all making friendship bracelets, a couple of the boys asked us if we would be back next summer. We all said we wernt sure and they said they would wait for us. We asked them if we came back, what they would want us to bring them. They said American t-shirts then quickly changed their answers to computers.

Thursday morning, we had the kids make animal masks and then act out Noahs ark. They were all a little grumpy but we had them dance a little and play with play dough. With the older kids, we explained the Lords prayer to them (they asked what it meant a few days before) and then we did friendship bracelets again. There is one friendship bracelet that only I knew how to do and I the kids didnt understand how to do it when I explained. One boy, Igor asked if I could make him one. Of course I said I would but later when I was making it, I was complaining a little because I was so tired of making these bracelets. That night when I gave it to him, he gave me the biggest hug. It was so sweet, I felt pretty bad for complaining. That night we also gave them gift bags. Originally, we didnt have much stuff to put in them but because we knew we would not be going to camp anymore, we had so much extra gifts & candy to give them. Their gift bags were stuffed! They were so happy and thankful when they got them!

Friday morning, the kids were getting ready to leave for camp so we didnt get to say bye before we left. This was really hard for me to just leave them because I really love those kids but I know had to be part of Gods plan. I was wondering if it is easier for the kids if we dont say bye-it definitely wasnt easier on me.

Now that Melissa and Lydia are gone, we are down to two interns and two translators. Because we have such a small team now, we decided to spend Monday and Tuesday back at the crisis center which Caitlin and I are really excited about. Wednesday, we are going to spend the morning with the kids at camp. Then we fly out Friday morning. I guess my next post will be from home.

Prayer Requests:
-Melissa and Lydia have a safe trip back to the United States
-Praise the Lord for returning our energy, help Caitlin and I finish the last week glorifying the Lord

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Week Two.

Last Sunday, A team from Grand Parkway church in Houston came into town and we met up with them Monday morning on our way out to an orphanage called Loopahinka. This was Grand Parkways 4 year to go to Loopahinka so as soon as we got there, they started recognizing the kids. They showed us our rooms, fed us lunch, then introduced us to the kids. Then, we went outside to play. We brought out the string to make friendship bracelets and the girls loved that! After we played outside, we went back inside to play games until dinner. After dinner, we made a fire and had smores with the kids. They had so many smores, I am surprised no one got sick. We got to talk to one boy, Ivan who always seemed to be alone. He had only been there two weeks and said he hadn't really made friends yet. He said he only had to be there for a year before his parents came back to get him and when we asked him why he was there he said because he made bad grades in school. 

Tuesday morning started with crafts. The kids got to decopodge little boxes and then make scrapbooks (Grand Parkway had pictures of the kids from the past years). After lunch, the boys went off to play kickball/basketball and the girls did hair and nails. For hair and nails, only two girls showed up. Margret, from Grand parkway told her story and how the Lord has helped her through all that she has been through. After they did the nails, Diana started asking a lot of questions and after talking for about an hour, she accepted Christ. After that, we had the kids paint wooden crosses. We tried to talk to them about the meaning, but they were just making jokes. After the crosses, we had an evangecube (a cube that folds showing the story of Christ) on the table, so we got to share the gospel with a few of the boys. Ivan had never heard this before so we got to talk to him about what he thought. After dinner, we had a valentines party where everyone had bags and we could write valentines. 

Wednesday morning, we left loopahinka. Before getting to our next orphanage, we got to go to peterhoff fountains which was really beautiful. The next orphanage we went was nikolsky. This orphanage seemed to be a happier place than Loopahinka. The little kids wanted to be played with and have their pictures taken. The older kids seem a little more distant though. They have a lot more than the kids at loopahinka so are less interested in what we are doing. After dinner, we did the smores again. Most of the kids came around for this and enjoyed it. Melissa (another intern) and I got talk to two older girls, Sasha and Lusya. They are both about 16 so will probably be graduating soon. 

Thursday we started the day with tye-dye shirts and then decopodged boxes again. The kids are in and out but most of them will come in for the crafts. We had the evangecube out again, and a boy named Victor asked questions about it. At Nikolsky, a lady from town comes in to lead a bible study so he had been reading his bible and after talking with the team, he accepted Christ. After dinner, we had a big carnival and handed out a lot of candy. 

Friday, we did crafts in the morning again and then after dinner, we had a valentines party. We left Saturday morning to go do some sightseeing and shopping with the grand parkway team. and Sunday we got go to a church that was in Russian and English. We did some more sightseeing and then we had a farewell dinner with the Grand parkway team and the translators. 

I know this is a really long post but this has been a really long week! Tonight, we will be going back to Nikolsky and will be there until Friday.

Prayer Requests: 

-Being at the oprhanages, everything is a lot busier--If you could prayer for breaks that we would have good time with the Lord

-we will be back at Nikolsky and we pray that we can form deeper relationships over the next week and be bold to have conversations about the Lord

Week One.

We arrived in Russia last tuesday and have spent the week in St. Petersburg. On Wednesday, we walked around the city a little and after lunch got to go to the crisis center. The crisis center is where kids are brought when they are new to the system. They go there when either the parents cant take care of them, someone finds them in the city without parents or any other situation which would cause them to be orphans. Once we got there, we first got to play with the babies. We took them outside for an hour, then went back inside to feed them.  The center is extremely low on workers and volunteers so if no one comes to hold the babies, they are stuck in their cribs all day. After spending time with the babies, we went into a room with 3 girls and 1 boy (probably all in between the ages of 4-7). One little girl was crying and Olga, the lady in charge of us asked her what was wrong. She said "I want to go home, we all want to go home." We brought balls to play with and stories to read them. I played catch with one of the girls, Paulina while the others read a story and colored. They had such deep questions about God and the story they were reading. Before we left, Paulina gave me a sticker, which was all she had in the world to give. She didn't care that I couldn't understand her, she just wanted someone to love her and play with her.

Thursday morning we took a small tour of the city and went to the Hermitage (an art museum). After that, we went to lunch and back to the Crisis center. When we got there, we spent time with the babies and then went to the older kids. This time, they were getting ready to go play outside so all the kids (about 18 of them) were all in the hall. As soon as the four from the day before saw us they got really excited! They said "they moved us to a different room so we didn't think you would find us." Once we got outside, Paulina and I went to catch grasshoppers. Other kids would come up and try to talk to me then Paulina would tell them "she doesn't speak Russian." I asked her her to say 'grasshopper' in Russian and she tried to teach me a lot of words-many I could repeat but if I could she would just laugh and try again. We made gift bags for the 4 kids we played with the day before so we didnt know how handing out the bags would work with all 18 kids. They didnt care who got what from the bags, they were all just so happy to receive a gift and share it. Our team really enjoyed going the the crisis center and hope that we have time to spend one more day there before we leave.

Orphan Outreach has a graduate program for older kids coming out of orphanages to help get them settled and on their feet. On Friday, we got to meet one of the girls and on Saturday, five of them came over to our apartment.  Both days we were able to talk to them, ask them questions about what they are doing and they asked us a lot of questions. Then we were able to cook with them. After lunch, we played games and talked. They wanted to learn some English words and they taught us some Russian words. We had some ice cream and before they left, we gave them gifts. I have a friend, Sarah who graduated with a degree in Russian and she translated a few recipes for me to give to the graduates. We also gave them some measuring cups and spoons so they would be able to use their new recipes (Russia uses the metric system). They thought the word "snickerdoodle" was very funny. Also, in snickerdoodle cookies, you use cream of tartar. They thought it was tartar sauce and thought that was so funny. But the really enjoyed the gifts (Thanks so much Sarah!!). They even  asked if they could come back before we leave. They said if we get the chance, they want to make the snickerdoodles.

This morning, we got to go to a Russian Baptist church. The whole service was in Russian but it was really amazing to sit through. I was really looking forward to hearing them worship in Russian and it was so cool to  to know that I dont understand what they are saying, but God does. We also got to take communion at the church. I really enjoyed taking part in that and knowing that we are all part of the body of Christ no matter where we are from or what language we speak. At the end of the service, they asked any visitors to stand up and say our names and where we are from (I think they could tell we weren't Russian). We all got up and they welcomed us and said "God bless you." After the services they came and talked to us but said their English was bad but were glad we came.

Next week, we will be traveling to two different orphanages with a team from the United States. We will be at one until Wednesday morning, then at the other one until Friday. The other team will be leading all the activities, our job will be to serve the team.

Prayer Request:
-Serve the team well the next week
-We have been a little discouraged with the language barrier-we do have a translator but it is still more difficult to make a connection
-The graduates need funding to find a building to meet. The building would be used to have meetings, teach the graduates how to cook, etc.
-We can stay in touch with the graduates and form deeper relationships with them once we return to the United States.
-The kids we spent time with at the Crisis center find good orphanages (or homes) where they will be able to hear more about the Lord

Thank you so much for your prayers! Should be able to post next weekend.

Home is wherever I'm with You.

Tomorrow I will be leaving home and will be on my way to Russia. For those of you who don't know, I will be traveling with an organization called Orphan Outreach. They are a Christian non-profit organization set up to provide basic need to orphans in four different locations world wide (Honduras, India, Guatemala, and Russia). 


On this trip, There are a total of four girls going, including myself, from all over the United States. On Monday, we are all meeting at the Chicago airport, will fly to Frankfurt, Germany and then onto St. Petersburg Russia. While in Russia, we will be going to different orphanages and teaching the children about the Love of Jesus. 


While we are in Russia, we will have internet access on the weekends, so I plan giving yall updates then. Before I go, I wanted to explain why I decided to do this and share my prayer requests for the next month.


почему--why?
About a year ago, I was trying to decide what to do when I graduate. I am a nutrition science major and had no idea what I am supposed to do with that degree once I am done with school (still don't really know what I am going to do with it). Anyway, I thought about doing a job that would allow me to work with malnourished kids. So I started to google that and found a summer mission trip. I e-mailed the people and it just didn't seem to work out.  Then, I decided to forget about the malnutrition and try to find something where I could work with orphans.  I found Orphan Outreach on google and from there, the Lord helped everything fall into place. After first applying, I wasn't sure if I was doing this because I wanted to or because the Lord wanted me to. After I met the team and we started planning the Vacation Bible School, I knew this is exactly where the Lord wanted me. I am so very thankful for this opportunity to serve Him and cannot wait to se what He has to teach me.


Prayer Requests:
-Language is not a barrier--we have one translator for the four girls
-Through this experience, I learn more about who God is and grow closer to Him
-Help our team be flexible and be able to easily adjust to change
-Allow the children to have open hearts and desire our love and the love of our Father
-Let our team above all, bring Glory to God


Also, I still have about $600 to raise for this trip. If you could, be praying that the Lord would bring in that money over the next month. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!!