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!
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