Backpacks Delivered!

On Saturday we had made arrangements to travel to Sosnovo, a small town about an hour north of St. Petersburg, where our teams have worked at an Orphanage and church Day Center for at-risk kids in the past. Traffic was congested as it took nearly three hours for us to arrive. The van that took us was usually used as a Marchucka (a small metro bus) and the driver had spent the last month driving his family over 7000km on vacation to the Black Sea.

When we arrived at the Orphanage the kids recognized us as we approached. They called out Da Da John (Uncle John) as they have called me before. Our visit was unannounced and the director was to arrive shortly. She was not happy that we had come without calling first, but I had lost her phone number. However, she quickly saw an opportunity as two guys who could help her move some heavy furniture. So, we moved three shelves from one room to another in amongst the renovation of several rooms. She was very pleased afterwards and our protocol misstep was forgiven!

We gathered the school-aged kids in a small recreation room to hand out backpacks. The kids had already seen us carry in the three big boxes and were anxious to know what was inside. I had them sit on the floor around me so I could talk to them. There were about five new kids, but the other ones remembered us talking about God in April along with some of the crafts that we had done together. I told them the ones sitting quietly would get to select their choice of backpack. As they selected they seemed happy to try out the zippers and parade around with the backpack on their back. One boy even collected all the tags on the backpacks for his personal collection!

In the hall I had a short discussion with the director. I had heard rumored through some other friends that the Orphanage would be closing soon and I wanted to hear from the director what was really happening. She told us that the Orphanage was not closing and instead will be adding a group after the first of the year. The building is undergoing extensive renovation in anticipation of this growth. They have also begun a foster parent program. Currently there are 21 school-age kids, 9 pre-school and toddlers, and 10 children in foster care.

I had the brief opportunity to see one child who will be adopted soon. Karill was in the youngest group and we spent a few minutes with them today. They had just woken up from their afternoon nap and he was still asleep when we arrived. We gave these kids backpacks even though they are not in school; the director said they could use them for trips to the hospital when the kids had to go for a few days. Karill was a little groggy from just waking up, but he soon perked up and was willing to have his picture taken.

After our short time at the Orphanage, we returned back to the apartment we had been invited to stay the night. Valentina had prepared us a big lunch and tea. It was good to be there and being just a five minute walk from the Orphanage. Later that evening, her son Alex came to visit us. I hadn’t seen Alex in over a year and half since we first worked at the Day Center in Sosnovo. Alex had just become a Christian and was anxious to be around other believers and help out.

Alex, who is now 21, lives in the area and had previously, had a job in cabinetry. Knowing he had woodworking skills, I wanted to get his advice on an idea for the Day Center I had come up with a few months ago. My idea was to find some project that the older male youth in the area would find interesting and would encourage them to become active in the Day Center and the church. As I explained my idea of making wood pens and what tools could be used he seemed interested and said it would be something that would be of interest to other guys in Sosnovo. He volunteered his time for a couple of hours twice a week to be involved in this project. He was anxious to get started!

Alex had to leave after a two hour visit, but later his older brother Stass came by for a visit. Stass, 25, is a first year medical student looking toward a career in pediatrics. He had many questions on religion and the different denominations and knowing which one is the “correct” belief. We discussed many issues and probably could have stayed up all night. We agreed to meet next weekend to discuss more of his questions. Please be in prayer as I share more about the foundations of faith!

Mission: Backpacks!

You wouldn’t think that buying children’s backpacks would look like an episode out of Mission Impossible, but my effort to get 200 of these gifts for the kids at the ministry sites proved to be a little bit of an “adventure”.

Dasha, our SAC program director in St. Petersburg had made arrangements with a commercial seller over the last few weeks for us to purchase some backpacks at a significant discount to give to the kids at the various ministry sites we serve. We made our appointment with this seller at 3pm on Thursday.

It took about an hour to get there. I had to exchange money first to pay for these and then we were off to make our selections and pay for the backpacks. When we got to this building after walking from a metro station for about 15 minutes, there was a delay in getting in. Apparently, this building used to be a high security government building. Even though there was no high security work being done there anymore, the building retained the security rating and only authorized personnel were granted entrance. Usually they need about 2-3 hours to work up paperwork to arrange for a foreigner to come inside the building, but the seller had not prepared this. I was just a customer of this one company that occupied part of the building that sold bags, including the backpacks that I wanted. Of course, the seller wanted us to come in as we were ready to make a purchase. So, as is common in Russia, you can always find a way…

Since entrance had not been prearranged, the seller spent several minutes making “other” arrangements to sneak me into the building. Ahh… the adventure begins! Remember, all I want to do is buy backpacks for some orphans in our ministry sites, but it’s not always so easy!

My translator was escorted into the building through one entrance. She was not a problem since she was a Russian citizen. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but I knew in situations like this from before that I just needed to be patient and wait to see what they were able to arrange. I waited outside the building for 10-15 minutes listening to a car alarm that evidently was too sensitive. Soon, the seller came out and told me (in Russian) that a car was coming to pick us up and take us in. The car came around and picked us up. I was told to sit in the front seat. The seller sat behind me. No one spoke English. As we got on our way, the driver handed me a brown document about the size of a passport without a picture. It appeared to be some document with stamps and official signatures. It was probably the driver’s or someone else’s security ID. He motioned and explained in Russian that I was supposed to open it and hold it up to the window when we drove past the guard at the gate! Oh boy, I thought… this will be interesting!

We rounded the corner and sped past security. They waved us on through and I didn’t have to hold the pass up to the window. So, I was in! I just kept quiet so others around me wouldn’t question why I was there. Of course, I was only a customer buying children’s backpacks, but the building security situation made for an interesting visit!

Inside the seller was very friendly and showed us a number of high quality backpacks to choose from. I was challenged to finds backpacks that would appeal to girls and boys along with young children and teenagers. After several minutes of calculating what would be best, I made the selections and received deep discounts as they knew the backpacks were going to be given to official Russian social institutions.

Then there was a little problem with the payment. I expected to pay in cash, but since it was a commercial purchase, they usually do purchase by bank transfer. Since I wanted to take several of the backpacks to Sosnovo this weekend, they quickly made arrangements so that I could pay for these in cash. We waited probably 30 minutes for them to prepare the paperwork to do this. At one point I saw a man carrying a cash register past us and I thought that maybe this was part of what they were trying to prepare! However, I think it was for something else. Within short order, the transaction was complete and they would deliver the backpack to us the next day. Now that the transaction was complete, they needed to be seek me out of the building again!

Again, my translator was taken out another exit. I was told to get in the backseat of another car that had darkened windows on the side with yet another driver. This driver spoke a little English and seemed pleased to get to practice it. I sat among other boxes in the back of his car. Again, we rounded the corner and the driver sped toward the gate. I sat quietly and watched as we got closer. The female gate guard appeared to stoop as if she was trying to see through the front window if anyone was in the back. Maybe she saw me and maybe she didn’t, but she made no motion to stop the car. We drove on through and rounded another corner and picked up my translator who was waiting for us. The driver then drove us onto the metro station where our little adventure came to an end!

Now it really wasn’t a big deal as the others at this place of business seemed to have had to do this before. It wasn’t illegal, but probably just a broach of procedural protocol. It just seemed to be a part of normal business in Russia to get around rules that don’t make sense to the business. Even though all of this, God knows my good intentions and my desire to help orphan kids. Passage was made for me with His protection all the way. With faith and prayer, God can provide for your needs too even when procedures and customs seems a little strange. He can even provide a little life adventure for the willing soul!

I've Arrived!

In the days before I left, there was a lot of scrambling to pack and get my bags so that they were under the required weight. I left Tuesday, worried that my bags would get through. As it turned out, I had no problem at the airport and no problem going through customs in St. Petersburg! Praise God! Thanks for all your prayers for this!

I arrived a little early in St. Petersburg on Wednesday evening. It took almost a couple of hours to reach the place I will be staying for the next couple of weeks. My son Sergey met me at the airport and as soon as we dropped off my stuff, we headed to McDonalds so I could have a late night dinner with all four of my kids. We had a great time and I enjoyed seeing the kids smile, laugh, and tease each other. I don’t think they had all gotten together like this since my last visit in April. It was good for all of us to be together.

I got back to the apartment I’m staying at about 11:30pm that night, after being up for about 30 hours. I was tired and went straight to bed. However, the St. Petersburg mosquitoes didn’t want to let me sleep! It felt I was up every 20 minutes or so turning on the light to swat another mosquito that was buzzing around my ears and making too much noise! I think I killed 6-7, but I didn’t get much sleep! So, I was up the next morning at 7:30am to do some unpacking and get ready for the day.

Sergey wanted me to meet him at McDonalds at 9:30am for breakfast. He likes to meet so we can talk and discuss things. It was good to sit there and visit with him, but it’s a 30 minute compute by metro to get to the nearest McDonalds close to his home in the Northwest part of the city. We had a great visit and there were several things he was anxious to show me and discuss. There were several serious subjects that he wanted to have a private conversation on including Masha’s situation. Please be in prayer as I continue to discern about what to do and how to best help her.