Sosnova 10.21.06

Today we went to a little town about 60KM outside of St. Petersburg called Sosnova. John has been coming out here for a couple years now to partner with a Christian day center and orphanage in this town. For today we were only meeting with the day center.

We road train to get here and let me tell you that was an experience just in itself. These trains are no frills, wood benches for seats, no heat (it was about 35 F in the train), and no bathroom. It stopped about every 10 minutes it seemed as we inched our way over nearly 2 hours to Sosnova. For entertainment I watched the various vendors pedal their wares up and down the aisles. Sergey bought some chocolate and a bag of crab flavored Lays potato chips. Let me tell you that eating crab flavored Lays is something that I will not do twice. It took about an hour to get that taste out of my mouth. Did I mention it was cold!?!

The day center was a very small shack for lack of a better term about the size of half a portable building you might find at your school or church. Inside however was a group of about 20 kids ranging in age from about 6 to 14 who all seemed bright eyed and happy to see us. John and Sergey went to have tea and meet with the director of this facility and I had tea with the kids. I had no translator and of course the kids spoke no English. I won't lie, it was very awkward and uncomfortable at first and I was really at a loss as to how to connect with these kids.

However, after tea we all went into another small room where they play games etc and things started to warm up. I brought out my pictures of my family and shared them with the kids who started asking me all kinds of questions which I was able to answer most of with my limited Russian. I pulled out my Russian to English translations to try to ask more in depth questions beyond the usual "what's your name" etc. but what happened was surprising. The kids all swarmed me to look at various phrases and the whole time evolved into a very fun and interactive English class. I taught them English and helped them with pronunciation and they did the same for me with Russian. It was a blast!

So why are these kids here and what is the need? Well these kids are classified as "at risk"for a variety of socioeconomic reasons. Some have parents who are alcoholics, some are physically abused, some are very poor, and some live in spaces so cramped it is unfathomable as an American. Think about a family of 8 living in a space that is about 12 square meters and that is what some of these kids deal with. It is basically 1 room and everybody eats, sleeps, and lives there. Privacy is non-existent and from what I understand the parents show little to no discretion around their children.

As a result you have many girls who are a little more mature than they should be for their young ages. Their behavior is a little inappropriate at times and there is a great concern for many of these young ladies. We were asked on more than one occasion to pray for guidance for these girls. That is why our presence and the presence of others is so important over here. The more positive role models the children can be exposed to the better their chances will be.

I leave Russia on 10.22.06 and it will be sad to leave all these kids behind, but I am continually encouraged by the work we are doing here.

Last Day in Lomonosov

10.20.06

So today was the last day at the baby home in Lomonosov and I had to say goodbye to all the little children who just started to know me. (Check out Anya's smile!) It was twice as hard because we only had about an hour with them to play games and hold them. Each day the children seemed to warm up to us even more and today was no exception. The biggest difference today is that they were starting to speak to us, in Russian of course, but still speaking to us none the less. Again it was sad, but I spent a little time asking the director of the home about the kids and I learned some encouraging news. Several of the children we got know (including my new friend Katia) will be adopted out to American homes next week; seven in all will be leaving the home. This is just fantastic and although I will never see them again I am happy for them still.

This is probably the hardest part of this type of mission work; saying goodbye and not knowing if you will see any of the children again or what will become of them. When I was at orphanage 14 I also learned that two of the boys I worked with their have "graduated" from the orphanage and are now in a trade school. This is difficult as you can imagine and it is something you have to be prepared for when you do this type of work. However, do not let this be discouraging to you or inhibit any desire you have to do mission work with children. Our job is not to take responsibility for these little ones, but rather let God handle that. All we can do is share a message and show our love the rest is up to God. Often times I find myself being very arrogant thinking I am here to save the world, but the truth is that I cannot, I am only an instrument through which work is done. Someone has already taking care of the whole save the world thing!

I am on my way to a new town tomorrow called Sosnova to work with a new facility. More on that later.

My New Girlfriends (Sorry Stephanie)

These are my new best friends from the baby home in Lomonosov. The first one is Katia and the second is Anya. This is my third day working with these children and they are starting to warm up to me and the rest of us working here. Its great when you see in their eyes that they recognize you and are even happy to see you. Don't let the picture of Anya fool you she was having a good time today. It took me 3 days to get this smile out of Katia and Anya just isn't going to give her smiles to just anyone.

I need to spend a lot more time telling you all about this place and I will have to link to some other photos because I cannot post them all here. What I can tell you is that these children all need love and lots of it. It is going to kill me to see them for the last time tomorrow knowing that I may never know what will become of them. There are a lot of very special children who who I will introduce you to over time so keep coming back even after I get back from Russia. I want to post what I can about this baby home and children that I met.

Пока (bye)

Sunrise in St. Petersburg

Mornings always come too quickly here in St. Petersburg, but they can be beautiful. This is the scene from my hotel window Thursday morning just as you folks in Texas were heading to bed.

It is getting colder every day, but I have to admit I enjoy it. I just don't want to be here when it gets to minus 30 in another couple months!

The Lost Boys 6 months later

So by what I can only describe as a "God thing" I had time today to go to orphanage 14 where I served back in April. I was very anxious and nervous that the boys I worked with last time would nto remember me or not care that I was back. However, I made them a promise that I would be back and I wanted to show them that I kept my promise.

When we got to the orphange there were to other very large groups working there that day and things were a bit hectic. However, by coincidence two of the translators I had worked with previously in April were working with these other groups today. It was great to see them again and catch up a bit. After sitting through a couple of programs one from the kids one from a church choir from Beaumont, TX I was able to get some time with my boys.

As soon as they saw me I was greeted with handshakes, hugs and smiles. I did my best with what little Russian I have picked up and spent some time with them alone which was a lot of fun for me. I was so amazed at the warm reception I recieved and it just made everything about today worthwhile. I don't always expect positive feedback from mission work, but man it sure feels great when you get it. I can't really describe how great I felt after spending some time with these guys again. I have to admit I am tearing up a bit even now as I write this.

One of the fun things I was able to do was give them some Matchbox cars. The joke last time was that they wanted the rich American (me) to buy them a car. So I reminded them of this when I saw them today and of course they remembered. I told them I bought cars for them all, and they immediately got the joke, but were pleased none the less. They were all very appreciative and all immediately started playing with these silly toy cars. It was fun for everyone. (Thanks Peanut!)

I told them I would see them again sometime next year and went on my way to the Metro station to head back to the hotel. It was hard to leave, but I had so much joy in my heart after seeing them again I feel completely recharged and ready to go back to Lomonosov tomorrow.

October 18 and All is Cold

Well I woke up today at 5:00 AM after about 5 or 6 hours of sleep. I guess that's the way it goes when you try to work through a 9 hour time difference from home. The started liked that and looked to get worse with the temperature in the mid 30's and plenty of rain. The good news is that it got so much better from there!

Here is a great shot of the Neva river in the early morning. I can't really give you a feeling of the cold wind and rain, but if I stood still longer on this bridge I might have frozen.

John and I had our first meeting 9:00 with the director of orphanage 24 (Pictured) in a part of town I was unfamiliar with, and well away from where you would normally find any Americanskis. This orphanage has not been reached by any organization, but they were very receptive to us. John explained what SAC is about, how our programs work and gathered a lot of information about the kids there, all 100 of them! We were given a tour of the facility and after about two hours it seems like we will have a new orphanage to minister to in St. Petersburg. It is such a blessing that they were so open to us and willing to let us come in, not only to bring gifts and aide, but to also share Christ with the children. God is at work here in Russia and I see it every day.

10.17.06

Ok so I am all caught up and posting quickly while I can. I have Sergey and John waiting on me for dinner. Today was fantastic! We were able to spend some real quality time with the children today. The one thing we have learned though is that the kids range in age from bed babies to about 4 years old. We thought there would be some older children (5 or 6) so we have had to adjust our plan a little bit with crafts and what not. These kids just need love and human interaction. The reality is that the staff is very kind at this facility, but they cannot give each child the social interaction they need to develop properly. The more peopel these kids see and the more used to seeing other adults, especially males, the more friendly they will be when people come to look at them for adoption. That may sound strange, but it is best for these children to be adopted before they get into a orphange. The reality is that when people come to look at these kids, most are looking for a pretty, friendly, healthly child as if they were selecting a pet at a pet store rather than saving a life. If we can do anything that helps them be adopted then I am all for it. We are not exactly sharing the gospel here, but we can show Christ-like love and compassion and serve in other ways.

Tomorrow I go to Orphange 14 where I served in April. I hope to see most of the boys I worked with last time and spend a little time with them. I promised them I would come back and I want them to know I kept my promise

I have a few photos below and hopefully will have more time to post tomorrow.

10.16.06

Today was our first day at the "baby home" in Lomonosov which is about 30 miles outside of St. Petersburg near the Gulf of Finnland. We first stopped to meet at a local Baptist church in Lomonosov, and these people actually have a very nice church that they are rennovating. The inside has a rustic feel and reminds me of a chappel you might find at summer camp. The picture shows Sergey (John's adopted son) pretending to be a preacher; he said he wanted to "look serious like pastor."

The pastor at this church has been great to us so far and even though he speaks no English we are getting along fine through our translators.

The baby home is about 130 years old and is pictured, I will post more about the building itself later. We got to know some of the kids today, but didn't really get to do too much with them. There were about 30 people from Buckner there that morning and 2 couples there in the afternoon for adoptions so the staff was a little overwhelmed. Tuesday will be just us so things should go a little more smoothly.

10.15.06

Funny image of the day: "Feel yourself Russian" its on the back of this this carriage, and I can't decide if it is dirty or not. All I know is that feeling yourself French, German, Russian or any other way will get you into trouble in just about any country I have been to. Gotta love translations.

Monday is our first day at Lomonosov keep us in your prayers.

Sunday 10.15.06

Ok so internet access has been a lot harder to find than I thought, and forget about WiFi. So posting may be less frequent than I had hoped. I will date my posts while I am in Russia so you will know what day they corresspond to.

So I woke up at the customary 3:00 AM on Sunday even though I fell asleep with no problem. It would be a trip to Russia if I wasn't dead dog tired all the time. We left for church about 9:30, which was held at conlsulate or something because there really are not any Baptist churches here in St. Petersburg. However, when we got there we were told they were having a wedding so of course we stayed. It was pretty much the same as in America, but given it was at a Baptist church I guess that's what you would expect. Both the bride and groom (no that is not them in the picture) said Da everytime the preacher asked them a question so guess everything went ok.

On to lunch....

Lunch was at La Cucaracha, yes I found Mexican food in Russia! How sweet is that!?! I'm telling you now this is the best Mexican food this side of Finnland... I had a burrito which I did not regret too much as the day went on, but my favorite item on the menu had to be the "Apache Steak" which was described as "freshest steak, from freshly killed cow by our chef." Sounds good da?

All I can say is how can you pass up a Mexican restaurant in Russia called the cockroach. If you are ever here and need Mexican food I would say give it go.

Rest of the day was pretty slow, I even had time to check out the Maxidome which is basically the Russian equavalent of Home Depot so like a moth to a flame...

I made it to St. Petersburg without any trouble; so far so good. I'm online for a few minutes here at Sergey's (John Neese's adopted son) apt. This pic is Sergey's kitchen where you will find the a small sink, a small stove, a tiny fridge, and even a washing machine. It reminds me alot of those New York city apts. you always see in the movies.

I'm exhausted and trying to stay awake through dinner time so I can get on the local time. Weather is about what you would expect... rainy and cold, but a welcome break from the dry Texas heat.

John and I will be going to a local church tomorrow for Sunday service and we'll see what happens after that. These services can go on for anywhere from 1 to 3 hours depending upon the mood of the pastor. Monday we head out to Lomonosov to work at the "baby home."

So far so good. I have made from DFW to LGA and by cab to JFK; next stop Helsinki. I'm flying FinnAir which is only interesting because I have encountered a lot of people from Finnland while waiting here at JFK. The thing that is odd is that they all have spoken to me in English rather than Finnish... I guess I have some big sign that says HEY I'M AMERICAN! I try to blend when I travel, but apparently no matter what you do, if you are American everybody can tell.

I have about an hour to kill here so I may be back again soon.

Just a quick post as I sit here at DFW about to board my flight to LGA. Today I fly from DFW to LGA, at LGA I have to get to JFK and check in again to fly from JFK to Helsinki. I am little worried about how tight my connection is from LGA to JFK for an international flight, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Further bulletins as events warrant.