Teaching English

We had prepared 10 English lessons all with about 20 words for each lesson using pictures and fun activities weaving the Word of God and Bible stories into the hour we were there. Our team put a lot of time and effort into these lessons… but things always change on a Russian Mission Trip that I had told the team to be prepared to “flex” or be flexible. Our ESL had to have a LOT of “flexing”!

Most of the 430 kids at this camp apparently had several years of English lessons from school. They knew most of the basic words we had brought to teach. Even the Bible Stories we taught were well known by the kids!

On staff at the camp were two guys attached to an organization that would pay English speakers to come and teach English at the camp. Camper’s parents paid extra for their child to attend these classes. John and Teddy are great guys and we all made fast friends. This helped us to understand the level of English the kids had at the camp. Their ability was higher than we anticipated and they wanted more conversational English, especially with the older kids.

We had to make some major revisions in the lessons that we taught. We also only got to teach one or two of the 10 lessons we had prepared. Our first meeting with any of the 17 groups we did lesson one. A few days later maybe the same group would sign up for a class and we would move to the second lesson. But much of the lessons had to be revamped while we were there to accommodate the level of English that was known.

Toward the end of camp we led some of the older groups in a game show that required them to use some conversational English. We created the “Dating Game” where we pre-wrote questions in English that the kids would have to answer. The game was a hit once they understood the concept and it spurred conversational English. However, it wasn’t meeting the ministry goals I had intended. It was only on the Monday after Parents Day that I saw an opportunity! Read the next blog entry about “Angel Day” and what we did to incorporate the Word of God!

Camp Life

The camp is beautiful! It was begun in the 1950’s a few years after the war between Russian and Finland in 1939 just prior to World War II. This area used to be part of Finland until a treaty was signed with Russia giving this slice of land to the Russian’s.

The history is interesting. While exploring the camp, we were shown an old mansion owned by a former Russian General who escaped from Russian as Stalin was coming into power during the great purge of the Red Army in 1937. During that time up to 50% of the Army officers were executed including the vast majority of those with the highest rank. This General escaped this purge and built this huge home in what was then Finland. He was living a good life until the war between Russia and Finland. His home became part of Russia after the treaty and he was discovered and executed. The home was grand and it was a shame that it was in ruins 80 years later. However, it was interesting to explore!

The camp is near a couple of lakes, but it takes about 20 minutes to walk to them, so daily swimming was not part of the camp activities. The lakes are part of the national park system here and the camp property borders these public access areas. Other citizens from the community would come out on the weekends and build a campfire, cooks some “shasleek” (Shis-Kabob), and eat some watermelon that had been placed in the lake to cool.

The buildings around camp are mostly from the 1950’s and appear to have the architecture and styling from that era. We were housed in the main Administration Building on the second floor across from the infirmary. So we got to see many of the kids during the two sick calls every day. Other “cabins” that would hold two groups of kids composing of about 60 campers, were clapboard one story buildings with rooms that would hold 4-6 kids in bunk beds. They had bathrooms, but showers were in another building. This other building was a four story building that resembled some of the orphanage buildings I’ve been in before. Each floor has a sitting area in the middle and this is where we would meet groups and do our activities for the groups of kids in this building. The camp is surrounded by tall pine trees and sandy soil that would wick away any overnight rains.

The camp has a major athletic field with bleachers and areas for Volleyball and other games. It also has a smaller dirt soccer field near the center of camp with a wooden basketball court on one end that often would be used as a stage. Most of the camp could be accessed by one paved walkway that went from one end of camp to the other.

The cafeteria was in the middle of camp and we were schedule for when to show up for meals. Breakfast was at 9:30am, lunch at 2:30pm, and dinner at 7:30pm. We also had a snack time at 4:30pm. The meals were good, but by the end of camp we all were tired of eating buckwheat and rice! It was more of a pleasure follow the lead of the kids and pick berries in the forest and eat these! These berries red and black berries about the size of peas were sweet to eat!

The camp would also put on a Disco every other night at a pavilion near the main athletic field. They had a small stage, a portable sound system, and lively dancing every night. The kids have a LOT of energy! We watched the kids at the disco, but most of our trip participants and translators liked to play a card game called “Phase 10”. So, after a long day of activities, some still had the stamina to play cards until the sun went down. Of course, the sun doesn’t go down here until after midnight!

Getting to Know Them, Tue, July 22

Within the hour our team arrived, I met with the General Director of the camp. Tamara, is a pleasant woman who has a great deal of experience and is well known in international camping circles. She told us that Parent’s Day would be held on Sunday and asked us to hold off sharing the gospel until after Parent’s Day. I understood her position and we agreed that we would use this first week to build relationships with the kids through our activities.

Our primary reason that brought us to this camp was to teach English. This was a good publicity for this international camp to be able to say they have native English speakers teaching English. Probably they were not prepared for the first word we taught them. The kids were always ready to great us and repeat the lessons they learned in their school on how to greet someone in English. “Hello! How are you? I am fine, thanks! How are you? I am good! See you later!” We began teaching the way to greet a person from Texas is to say “Howdy!” Well, we began teaching that and soon the whole camp was saying “Howdy” to us every time we passed their group! It was a great way to connect with the kids! They would see us walking together as a group and they would go out of their way to say “Howdy” in unison and give us a big wave! We would respond with a Howdy back. I’m sure there will be some confused English teachers in St. Petersburg this fall!

During our first ESL classes, each of us had prepared a small display board of pictures about our lives and families. All kids in Russia seem very interested in what life is like in America and pictures are a great tool for sharing stories, culture, and life in America. It generates questions and the kids begin to know us. As we began to know the kids, we were surprised at how much English many of them knew.

We would offer hour time slots to teach English, do crafts, and play sports and games. For English and Crafts, we would start off our time with a song. Natasha, one of our translators that have worked with SAC many times before is a talented musician. She would play Christian children’s songs in Russian for the group. The kids would recognize the songs and loved to sing along and do the motions. Most of us Americans would do the motions and smile like we understood the words!

Then at some point I would do a crazy game with them. I would get them all hold hands in a circle and have them take one shoe off and toss it in the center of the circle. Then I would mix up the shoes, have them walk, and then tell them at the count of three to find and put on their shoes… without letting go of their hands! They all laughed and it’s a great ice-breaker!

Playing new “American” games with the kids was also a great way to build relationships. We brought Frisbees and plastic balls and bats to play baseball. The kids really enjoyed the Frisbees and Glenn Estes came up with some great ideas for games that the kids really enjoyed. We set up a Frisbee Golf Course among the trees during the first week. We taught the kids American baseball, however most kids just wanted to bat while the rest of us American played the outfield and chased balls all over the field! Glenn also introduced them to Frisbee Football which was a big hit with the kids, especially the older kids.

The camp also had lots of “shows” where different groups would put on a performance. The kids here are very talented, specially the two Dance groups that had come to camp. I think the kids practiced their dance routines several times a day. We enjoyed watching them and praising them each time they performed. It was another way to connect with the kids and build relationships.

Arrival at Camp - Mon, July 21

Our team departed Dallas on Friday afternoon with no problems other than Jenya having a little problem with liquids and makeup in her carry-on luggage! She thought she was allowed a gallon bag, not the quart size bag that the TSA actually allows! She had to make some “adjustments”! It was a good flight and all the bags arrived with no problems. The “Agora Hotel” we were taken to was a small hotel near the center of town. It’s run by a Christian Ministry and they converted an attic into a five room hotel that includes breakfast. However, it was a work-out to get all the luggage to the fourth floor and navigate all the stairs, but well worth the stay once we were there.

On Sunday we attended the church services of the Logos Baptist Church that were being held at St. Petersburg Christian University in the south part of town. The team member got to ride the metro system for the first time which is always an experience! After the two hour service we did some touring on Neveski Prospect before having dinner at Carl’s Junior. We thought it might be our last hamburger for a while!

While everyone was asleep, on Monday morning I travelled across town to retrieve a bag of mine at our partner organization and to borrow a guitar. I arrived back at 8:30am tired and ready for breakfast. After our meal we packed our gear and headed for camp. It was about a two hour drive to the camp located north of St. Petersburg among the trees and lakes. The temperature was in the low 70’s and very comfortable!

We immediately noticed when we arrived that several of the kids were wearing Gospel Bead bracelets. It seems that a team from Australia had been there the previous session witnessing to the kids. So, the kids were prepared for our visit!

There are 430 kids at this camp and placed into 17 different groups. Some are placed by ages while others are placed by a certain specialty like a dance group, or a group from another country like France. I was asked to attend a counselors meeting at 8:45 each morning to find out the plans for the day. About every day the camp had a theme day that included days like Carnival, Olympics, Angel Day, Parents Day, Family Day, and Military Day to mention a few.

Our group was quickly assimilated into the camp life. Our first request from the camp was for us to perform a skit during the counselor’s performance night. We did a skit that needed no translation called “The Mosquito”. It was enjoyed and the kids were now introduced to us!

We all ready to teach ESL, do crafts, or sports with the kids. I saw that the counselors had various schedules that I could never learn so we could insert our team. So I started passing around a sign-up spreadsheet at the counselors meeting and they began to sign up for our team to come and meet with their group. This started our real engagement with the kids and staff on a daily basis.

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!