Gifts - Fri, Apr 25th

This was our third year of ministering to Sosnovo in partnership with the Sosnovo Baptist Church. On the last day, our team gives then kids some gifts that include a t-shirt and things in a gift bag prepared especially for them. It never fails… we always seem to have more kids in attendance on the last day than we do during the week! It’s amazing how a few small gifts will suddenly bring the kids to the room on the last day! Kids are the same no matter on what side of the world you are.

SAC usually brings the kids t-shirts and this is usually the favorite items. This year I choose a t-shirt that looked more like a soccer shirt. Soccer is important in Russia and the kids there keep up with their team just as American kids keep up with American football. The local team for St. Petersburg is called “Zenit”. Their team colors are blue and white. So, the shirts I got for them were the same colors of their favorite team. They seem to appreciate my choice and thinking about that when choosing! We gave them to the kids and the adult counselors so they all could be a team!

We also gave them some other small gifts that included a “world” ball, pens, pencils, toothbrushes, Bennie babies, small gloves, and some small puzzles. It was interesting to watch as the gifts were given out. The kids excitedly opened their gift bag and explored each item. They don’t usually receive gifts like this, so this occasion was special for them. However, for things like the pencils, pens, and other school supplies, we watched as the counselor asked the kids to bring it to her so she could collectively keep them for future use by the kids. Part of me wants the kids to have an “individual” gift for them to have and own. Then part of me begins to understand the perspective of the counselor. They don’t get supplies often and then kids will loose things quickly or they will steal from one another and the use of the item will be lost. Many Russian counselors here and at other places we visit will take many of the items we give to the kids individually and save them collectively for future use. My heart wants the kids to have something individually, but the reality of life as an orphan in an institution means that individuality lost. I’m thankful that God does not look at us collectively, but individually and loves us so much as if we were the only person in the room! I pray that these kids will find that love of Christ when they get older and will remember the individual gifts given to them by the Christians who came from America to care for them!

The Russian Coin

Two of our trip participants to Sosnovo were Greg and Susan Furr. As we were walking through the streets and paths of Sosnovo, Russia, Susan noticed discarded coins along the way and would pick them up. These discarded coins are called “Kopeks”. These are the “cents” or the fractions of the Russian ruble. The one is this picture is the lowest value of them all. It is 1/100’s of a ruble. You would need 2,300 of these coins to make up one US dollar at the current exchange rate. Russians see many of these coins as not valuable enough to make the effort to bend over and pick it up. It seems it’s the same way with the Russian orphan.

On the plane heading back home to the USA, Greg and Susan wrote these words to put on a prayer card with one of the coins found on the streets of Sosnovo as a prayer reminder for the orphans living there.

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The Russian Coin

I lay here on the street forgotten and unused, people walking over me, with mud and dirt encasing me so that I am scarcely recognizable as something of value. I was made to be appreciated but someone decided I was of little worth so I have been tossed aside onto a path well trodden to be crushed into the muck and grime of my surroundings.

Now by God’s grace, someone has found me and picked me up. I am no longer a monetary means to purchase goods but now serve the greater purpose as a reminder to PRAY.

I have been transformed into this reminder that all over this world, orphaned children of all ages are cast aside and labeled as having little or no value.

The Father in heaven, though, has not forgotten them.

Each time you look at this coin remember to mentally 'pick-up' the orphans of Russian and pray that God will send His light into their live and for God’s love to be revealed to them.

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“…whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water… will by no means lose his reward.” - Mathew 10:42

The Broken Door - Thu, Apr 24

I was sitting with Nadezhda, director of the Day Center, and she told me the story that had recently happened with a couple of the young boys attending the Day Center activities. Nadezhda was cleaning up one evening and went into a closet in the Day Center to put away a few things. There she found these two boys praying. The boys were startled and Nadezhda asked what they were praying about. They said they were playing and had accidentally broken the door of their neighbor’s apartment. They were terrified that the police were going to come after them and they would be in terrible trouble. They were praying for God to help them.

Nadezhda talked with them and prayed with them about the matter. She called the neighbor and she agreed for the boys to come and do the repairs on the door. Whatever they did to break the door, these 10 and 11 year old boys went and made the proper repairs to the satisfaction of the their neighbor. They were relieved and the matter had gone away.

About the time Nadezhda had finished her story, the same two boys came into the room where we were having tea. Nadezhda told them that she had just told the story to me. The boys smiled shyly and I saw an opportunity… I asked them, “I heard about your prayer. Did God answer your prayer?” They nodded and smiled in agreement. I wanted them to connect the forgiveness they had received from their neighbor directly with their prayer and coming to God. I wanted them to remember this occasion and imprint that upon their lives. I think it did!

The Soccer Match - Wed, Apr 23

We were told all week that Andre had made arrangements for the Orphanage and the Day Center to have a soccer match on Wednesday afternoon. Andre is a new young worker that is helping Nadezhda at the Day Center build relationships with the boys in the community. They wanted all the Americans and the translators to play! I thought that would be a great way to build some relationships as the boys in Russia like soccer better than anything else!

We changed our schedule to finish up that day much earlier at 4:30pm so the boys from the Orphanage could go with us to the soccer match. Most of the school-aged kids are boys and I was excited to be able to do an “outing” with the kids off the Orphanage grounds. There were two 17 year old youth’s that had come to escort the kids to the soccer field on the other side of town. These guys patiently waited as we finished our Bible storey, crafts, and other activities with the school-aged kids at the Orphanage. We had to be at the field at 5pm for the start of the game so we made our way to the bus stop. Following behind me was the two youth and a couple of boys from the Orphanage. I was waiting to see the other kids follow, but apparently it was only going to be two boys going! I was disappointed as I thought that most if not ALL of the boys from the Orphanage would be participating. It didn’t turn out to be the event I thought it was going to be, but it was important to those Day Center youth that Andre was building relationships with. So, I, Greg Furr, and Jonathan Furr all agreed to play soccer with them!

I rotated in to relieve Greg. If I remember the positions from playing soccer as an 8 year old, I think I was generally playing the half-back position. Basically, I helped guard the goal. The game was tied when I went in, but on the other side were about three 17 year old youth that could run circles around me with a soccer ball. Near the goal on one play, the ball came in too fast and I used my left face to deflect the ball. No, I didn’t do that intentionally, but it did leave a nice round dirt impression on the side of my face! I’m just glad it didn’t break my glasses! Oh, the things we do to help build relationships!

That evening, I was glad to sit down at dinner after washing my face. It was a tiring day. Nevertheless, tonight after dinner we had to organize the gift bags to give to the kids on Thursday and Friday. One of the ladies that worked in the hotel had worked in the Day Center in the past years that we have been there. She wanted to help us organize things! It’s neat how God puts people in places to help or to see what we do in the background. I’m sure she will share her experience with the adults in the church about what we do behind the scenes! I felt that her participation with us was an encouragement to her as we all worked together that evening.

We’re Off to Sosnovo - Sun, Apr 20th

Leaving to go to Sosnovo was hectic! In the past we have rented a 14 passenger van to take us the hour and a half drive up there, but transportation costs had gotten so high it was unaffordable. One company wanted 6000 rubles ($257) for one trip! So, we decided in favor of an “adventure”. Several of the experienced trip participants had never experienced the train. It’s an electric train that travels north and stops about every 1-3 miles to pick up passengers. It costs only 106 rubles ($4.55) a person! There are no bathrooms, no heat, and the seats are wooden, making the almost two hour ride a little uncomfortable. However there are interesting things that happen on the train! Vendors come through and sell everything from socks to crab-flavored Lays potato chips!

So, while the team took off towards the train station, my son Sergey and I contracted a van to take all the luggage and supplies. That van was almost $100 to rent and the three of us sat in the front as the driver dogged pot holes and Sergey translated. We made it before the team and had time for tea with the director of the Day Center! Nadezhda had made arrangements with her son and a deacon of the church to pick up the team at the train station.

Our original plan was to have the ladies stay in one of the members home while the four guys to stay in a hotel nearby. We were told before that there was no hotel in Sosnovo, but this one had rooms available supposedly only for the four of us. However, we got there and all the rooms were available. There were 9 of us and 9 beds! It’s funny how God works out those things! We all ended up staying there which allowed us to be together, translators and team members alike! There was also a large room we could use to have tea, make our own breakfast, and organize our supplies for each day. It was also only a 2 minute walk from the Day Center!

That evening we had dinner in a new café run by the owner who had served our team before in a different café across the street. She remembered us and served us a very filling meal!

I spent the next couple of days trying to convince her that we didn’t need a full three course meal every time we sat down! It was breaking my budget and our waistlines! We agreed on serving meals “family style” and this seemed to make everyone happy and keep costs low!

Monday we started our ministry first in the Orphanage. We spent the morning playing with the pre-school children outside. The temperature was about 62 degrees and the Orphanage counselors wanted the kids outside on a nice warm day like this. We did our stories, crafts, and games all outside. After lunch, our team split and half went to the Orphanage and half went to the Day Center to work with school-aged children after school.

Again, the Orphanage counselors wanted the school-aged kids outside. The pre-school kids were outside too, so this made it hard to do one thing with one group and not the other. Our attempt to tell Bible stories, do crafts, and other organized activities was difficult. There were LOTS of distractions. It has been that way before. The kids seem to have a low attention span as a group. The Orphanage labels these kids as “slow”. Even the sign on next to the door of the Orphanage says, “This Orphanage is for Mentally Slow Children”! Can you imagine living under that label growing up with a constant reminder that you were slow and no one expected much from you! It’s stigma like this that lead us to tell these kids that God loves them, no matter what!

Patty Adams working that afternoon at the Day Center ran into similar problems. She had been looking forward to returning to the Center after her wonderful experience last year. There were four teenage girls who were very active, led others, danced, and brought life to the Day Center. I was told when we arrived that these girls were not attending much anymore and falling to peer-pressure with other non-Christian activities. However, they had heard that Patty had come and they were there on Monday. Additionally, more boys were now coming to the Day Center since Andre, a new worker had begun. The dynamic had changed.

After doing activities, crafts and building relationships with the kids, Patty began to share her testimony toward the end of her time there. The kids laughed. Patty abruptly left and departed as her testimony was dear and very personal to her. The next day, there were two of the four girls waiting for Patty and they immediately apologized for their insensitivity. Things went better that day and the boys even wanted to make the paper flowers they were making!

Tuesday morning we all traveled to the Orphanage to spend time with the pre-school kids, but the director told us they were having a government inspection today and that we needed to leave. She had warned me that this might occur. So, we quickly left within 3 minutes of our arrival. We called that afternoon and we were allowed to return that afternoon to spend time with the school-aged kids.

At the orphanage on Tuesday, we got agreement to take the kids inside for an hour after some time of play to do the craft activities and story. I talked to them about respect and listening and things seemed to go better. We were falling into a routine as we worked through all the problems and issues in those first few days.