Last Day of Ministry – Fri, Oct19th

It was our last day at the ministry sites! The week seemed to fly by fast as we worked through all the problems and working to bless a few kids with the touch of Christ! It was a great week, but it was about to be over!

It was tough to say goodbye to the toddlers we had come to know and play with during the week. We knew it was going to be difficult for them the next few days as they look for us when they come into the activity room looking for something to do or someone to hold them. They will cry and be unhappy, but we’ll know that at least for a week these kids had felt the love of Christ as He worked through us to minister to those kids. They may forget the activities, but I know they will long and strive for that same comfort again now that the seeds of Christian Love have been planted.

Upstairs at the Lomonosov Baptist Church we had our last lunch. It wasn’t a last supper although the table was long and the fellowship was loving! It was however, our last lunch with Pastor Andre and the ladies who had prepared our lunch all week. One of the ladies the day before had made a little cloth handkerchief for Ansley, age 7. Later that afternoon, Ansley made one of those cross mosaic trivets and wanted to give hers to this lady. She was touched and in tears when Ansley gave it to her. I think that special gift will take its place in a special place in her home somewhere. She seemed to treasure the gift of the cross from a little girl.

At the hospital we told our last Bible story, did our last craft and then gave the kids backpacks that we had prepared for each of them. I think the kids and the staff were surprised to receive gifts. At the end and closing to our hour of time I showed the kids how to play some of the table games that we left for them. The kids had nothing to do during the day and I knew they would enjoy these gifts long after we had departed as a memory of our time together. We hoped that they would remember that this team and these gifts came from the Lomonosov Baptist Church!

Our trip back to the hotel was long. Since I had access to the bus, I needed to deliver the remaining backpacks to the other ministry sites. We had loaded them in the bus the night before and they took up most of the backseat. We had to go to the Fuydor shelter, the hotel to drop off the ministry suitcases, to the Road of Life Transition Home to drop off backpacks, and then uptown for pizza at Patio Pizza, a popular place for SAC mission trip participants. I thought this wouldn’t take too long, but I failed to consider St. Petersburg traffic on a Friday evening. Our trip normally took about 50 minutes, but with all these errands, it took 4 hours! It was a long ride, but I think God had a purpose in that ride. You can see that special article in the next SAC printed newsletter that will come out in a couple of weeks!