Harvey "The Great!"

I'll admit this now, but I was a little concerned about having my first African American on a SAC Mission Trip. There are hate groups here that roam freely without much determination from the state to remove them. As a result, I wasn't sure how Harvey was going to be taken when we got to the orphanage.

On that first day at the orphanage, I was announcing the leaders of the small groups. I heard some screaming from giggly teenagers when Harvey was introduced. I first interpurted that some of these kids didn't want to be with Harvey. When I asked a translator what was going on, it was the exact opposite! EVERYONE wanted to be with Harvey! Harvey hadn't said a thing or even cracked a smile, but he was Mr. Popular on Monday afternoon!

We found out later why he was so popular. In the eyes of the orphans there white Americans look just like most Russians. So when an African American appears, they know that he is a TRUE American!

Harvey has a strong, quiet sence about him. He stands about 6 foot 2, the size of Peter the Great (founder of St. Petersburg) and looks like that actor on the TV program, "The Unit". He also has a quiet sence of humor. When we were attempting to embarrass my son Sergey, Harvey commented that he was blushing too! Later that week when we boarded our 9 passanger bus, Harvey sat behind the driver and said, "I just can't sit in the back of the bus!"

On Saturday, we were touring the Cathedral in the Peter and Paul Fortress and Harvey decided to sit on an available chair. While he sat their a couple of kids approached. Their class was on a field trip from way outside of St. Petersburg on the other side of the Eral mountains. These kids started asking Harvey questions like; Where are you from? How old are you? Why are you here? Come to find out, they had never seen an African American or even met an American before. Soon, there were many kids surrounding him as they were more interested in him than the inside of the catherdal they were visiting!

The teacher appologized and brought the attention of the kids back to the tour, but as they walked around, I could see heads turning and following the movements of a true American! Harvey has been received well here! Our team nicknamed him from there on out as "Harvey The Great"!