Icelandic Volcano!

When I left for Russia, I could have never imagined that a volcano in Iceland would affect our mission trip! There was no way to plan for that!

On Wednesday, I was doing e-mail in the Kohtla-Nomme orphanage that evening and read a Skype message from a friend that told me about the volcano eruption. I went to news websites to read about it and the current status with the airline. I told our team that evening and then wrote the team in St. Petersburg.

News reports said that 40,000 Americans were stranded by the volcano. The airline industry said it was the worst airline disruption since 9/11. Tony & Martha Leone were to return to the states on April 18. They didn’t get to return until Friday, April 23. Jonathan Furr was also due to return from St. Petersburg to the USA on April 17th. He didn’t return until Friday, April 23 as well.

Tony and Martha stayed in a home owned by some Americans that were not there. One of our volunteers going with us everyday knew of this lady watching the home and we connected up. It was later I found out she also knew Mike Cantrell, president of MIR, our partner in St. Petersburg and he had stayed there before. That was a God thing as we were provided the connections to ensure the Leones had a place to safely stay while they waited out the volcano.

Jonathan Furr continued his stay at the Transition Home in St. Petersburg. He was able to log-on and do some work remotely from Russia since his job is in computers and he can connect from anywhere with an internet connection.

I realized a little later that for our team, we were allowed to make it to Russia and Estonia BEFORE the volcano erupted. It allowed us to do our ministry and continue to work for the Kingdom. Had the volcano erupted a week earlier, it would have prevented us from starting our new work in Estonia, prevented the St. Petersburg team from going, and likely would have cancelled our entire trip! Nevertheless, God was in control and we completed our mission and our teams returned home safely… a few of us later than expected! It’s amazing what something like this can do to affect a mission trip!

Sillamae, Estonia Orphanage

This is a sweet little orphanage east of Johvi, Estonia about 45 minutes from the Kohtla-Nomme orphanage that we were staying at. The director of the Kohtla-Nomme orphanage made arrangements with the director of the Sillamae orphanage to coordinate our teams’ time that we could be with the kids. Are arrangement was that we would work with the orphans at Sillamae from 5-6pm. As the week went on, our time gradually was extended after the counselors saw what we were doing!

There were about 15 school-age kids that would be waiting for us each day. After the first day, they were waiting outside for our arrival the second day. At the end of each day, they could ask what we were doing tomorrow! They thoroughly enjoyed all the games, crafts, and activities we had planned for them. We had to move fast as I had planned to be there two hours and not one hour!

On Friday we were all set to share the Gospel. I set the stage with an active game. After the game I sat the kids down and talked about what we played which was a lead-in to our Bible study. Today was a short comparison as we talked about God, and the moment was right to invite Tony Leone to share the EvangeCube. It’s amazing that when folks pray, moments like this just seem to work perfectly. We usually had a two year old that would come with the group. Sometime he would be a distraction. Today he didn’t arrive until right after Tony had finished presenting the Gospel! We had no interruptions! The kids were able to hear the Gospel clearly along with a couple of counselors!

We gave the orphans some parting gifts and then I passed out the book of Luke to each child. The book was provided by the church in Johvi, Estonia we were working with. Of course, the kids asked what we were doing tomorrow. It’s was hard to tell them that this was our last day. But I know great relationships were built and we will be able to come again!

The Kohtla-Nomme Orphanage

When we arrived late on Sunday evening, most of the kids were already in bed. We were shown our rooms and then several of the counselors wanted to know more about us. They had only been told that some “English” people will be staying with them for a week. We told them about ourselves and what we would be doing. Everyone was friendly and hospitable.

The next morning we waited until the kids departed for school so we wouldn’t interfere with their morning routine and then we spent the morning planning our day and having another meeting with the head counselor. She called the orphanage director in Sillamae to coordinate our times with the kids. It was arranged that we would work with the orphans in Sillamae from 5pm – 6pm, travel the 45 minutes back to Khotla-Nomme, eat at 7pm and then at 7:30pm begin our work with the orphans there. All orphanages have fairly rigid schedules with kids in school, homework time, and special activities or clubs like dance, music, and other interest classes that we have to compete with. So scheduling work at two separate orphanages is often difficult.

The first two days in Kohtla-Nomme was difficult as the kids had never had anyone stay with them. Many didn’t want to have anything to do with us. They had had groups in there before that would “preach” to them for an hour, pass out some small gifts, and then leave. The kids didn’t want to be preached to. However, our approach has always been to do games and activities with the kids relating to the Bible truth we were wanting to share. It took a couple of days, but by Wednesday we had a group of core kids that would participate in what we were doing and would listen to our story after an interesting game.

Thursday was an interesting day. When it was time to be with the kids, most of them were out walking, sitting on a picnic table out front smoking and listening to music on a cell phone, or poking the fire where they were burning brush. There was only a handful in the room to begin our activities. So, I had the others start the craft activity and I went out to stand with them to see if I could encourage them to join us. The head counselor and her sister who lived nearby was there along with some fo the kids. The translators were upstairs, so I used my limited Russian skills to tell about my family, where I was from and to ask them about their lives. After about 20 minutes I told the head counselor that I was discouraged that more kids didn’t want to be with us. She seemed to understand and I left to return back to our group. She must have rounded up the kids and strongly encouraged them to come be with us. So, another 8-10 kids came in and I told a Bible story. It led to some questions and we had a heavy discussion about faith in God.

One girl named Karina was a believer and several older boys in our meeting were atheist. She passionately defended her faith and this led to our lively discussion! With the help of our translators, I let the discussion go on so that questions could be answered. Several conversations were going on at once and even the translators were having difficulty giving me bits and pieces of the general subject of discussion. We were amazed when Karina went to her room and came back with her Bible. She read the chapter we were discussing in the Estonian language! This all set the stage for our final day.

On Friday evening, I wasn’t sure what would happen. It seemed that on Thursday the lines were drawn as to who believed in God and who did not. I’m sure the discussion of religion had never been brought up before in a group setting. But now it was Friday and the moment was set to share the gospel. We played a game, and then I sat them down to talk about it and how the game related to faith in God. They listened as I made the short comparison. The moment was right and created a perfect lead-in to share the Gospel. Tony Leone was ready with his EvangeCube. It was amazing to see how they listened quietly and were intrigued by the cube. It was also amazing that there were no interruptions!

The seeds of Gospel truth were planted that week and I’m sure there will be more lively discussions as they think about their relationship with God. That evening we gave them some small gifts bags that we had prepared for them. We also gave them Bibles of their own that were donated by the local church we were working with. I encouraged them to discover the truth inside that book, but that it was their choice and decision. Knowing how youth keep things private, I told them that if they prayed to God and asked Him into their lives… even while lying alone in bed at night… He will hear their prayers. I may never know if those words encouraged them to choose Christ, but I do know that there are orphans at Kohtla-Nomme that now know how to have eternal life.

Estonia Arrival!

We all arrived on Saturday evening in Estonia. The Tallinn airport is nice and has only 14 gates! It was a quiet modern airport and easy to get around. We had all our bags and were in a van heading to Johvi within 40 minutes. The trip from Tallinn to the Kohtla-Nomme orphanage near Johvi is was about 2 hours. We stopped half-way to eat some shish-kabob called “Shalik” on our way. We didn’t arrive at the orphanage until nearly 10pm. We were settled in rooms and briefly met the director who was leaving on vacation and needed to be in the airport at 3am. All of us as the staff that were there met around a table for tea to introduce ourselves and allow them to ask questions. All they knew was that some “English” people were coming for a visit! So we explained that we would be here a week and that we were Americans from Texas. We built relationships that evening, but I had really planned to have a meeting like this on Sunday afternoon, not the night we got in! But they had questions and wanted to know more about us. It was about 12am before we got to bed after being up about 30 hours!

Sunday we went to church and worshiped together for about 2.5 hours that morning with a group of about 40 members. Our new friends prepared lunch for us at the church that afternoon. We met with Pastor Artur Pold that afternoon. He was leaving to go to the USA on Wednesday so that would be the only time we got to see him. Later that afternoon they took us around Johvi and we visited some waterfalls pouring into the Gulf of Finland. It was a nice day to do this and with some snow still on the ground in piles, it created a temptation to throw a few snowballs!

On Sunday evening we met with the head counselor and the schedule told to us on Saturday evening was changed. She coordinated with the Sillamae orphanage on the timing on when we would come. For most orphanages, it is better for them for a group of visitors to come in the evening. So, there were competing time slots. Nevertheless, we worked it out and we travel to Sillamae 1 hour to work with those kids from that orphanage from 5-6pm. Then travel to Kokla-Nomee from 6-7pm. Eat a quick dinner and then begin our program with Kokla-Nomee orphanage from 7:30-about 9pm. Then we sometimes get to have some social time with the older kids in the orphanage who are not interested in the crafts that the younger kids would do. It’s a great way to reach them.

Sunday was a great day, but also a day of rest from the long trip. We were excited to begin our activities the next day!

The Grog and The Light

A game we played at Child in Danger was called “The Grog”. A blindfolded “Grog” would try to freeze tag kids coming into a room with a hidden flashlight. The flashlight was in 3 pieces. They had to find the pieces, put them together to make the flashlight work, and shine it on the “Grog” to make him melt away. The kids loved being chased and it reinforced our Bible lesson about how light can make a dramatic effect on a dark place.

This week, we are making a dramatic effect in a dark place. We have experienced some unusual hardships, changes, and disruptions. Our newly formed SAC Prayer Team is activity praying for us while we are on mission. Many that receive the SAC Prayers Request e-mail update are also praying for us. These prayers are making a difference!

On Friday, October 16, we made plans for a tea for the older children at Child in Danger. It gave them an opportunity to be more grown-up with and activity that interested them. After an hour of talking I asked them if they wanted to know why we had come. They all responded yes. I told them about our missionary work and then I asked if they would like to know the simple story of how to have eternal life. Again, they all responded yes. I gave a simple presentation of the Gospel. I asked them if they would like to pray and receive Christ and have eternal life. They all responded yes! Four kids were saved that evening at Child in Danger! The light of Christ made a difference in a dark place.

At Lomonosov Children’s Hospital on Wednesday, October 21, when doing crafts with the kids. I shared the Gospel beginning with a flashlight. I asked them what it was. “A flashlight”, they all said. I then tried to turn it on and it didn’t work. I asked them why it didn’t work. After some investigation, they discovered it didn’t have batteries. I picked up a pencil and asked if I put that in the flashlight would that make it work? They responded noooo! I picked up some coins and dramatically tried to put them in the back and I asked would that make it work? They responded noooo! So I reached in my pocket and put in the batteries. It worked! The flashlight needed the right thing inside to make it shine its light. I then explained in the same way you need Jesus to allow God to shine His light in the world. I explained how they could receive Jesus and carefully explained that a prayer would be the start of a relationship with him. I prayed and 3 of the 6 kids said they prayed to receive Jesus. Again, the light made a difference in a dark place!

At the Boys Home in Petrohof, the week has been an attempt to tame the wild. Probably it’s better to say it’s something like herding a school of fish with a couple of little nets! These at-risk boys at this school have never been visited by a foreign team. Nothing went right on the first day. There was more cooperation in the comedy classroom classic TV drama called, “Welcome Back Kotter”! Our approach on Tuesday had to be changed radically. The Bible Study lessons I had written were dismissed. We had Pastor Andre explain the Gospel directly to the kids using bead bracelets. A grab of bracelets lead to some older kids have 4 or 5 bracelets on their wrists. Other kids had none, but the message was shared despite a very disruptive environment. Wednesday was a bit better. I had made up a schedule of rotation between Games, Crafts, and Bible Lessons. I split the older kids from the younger kids, but some still floated in and out and with other groups. In the Bible class, I had brought on of the guys from the Drug Rehab Center to give his personal testimony. The kids were surprised. In the younger group, I had about 16 kids listen intently as he shared his testimony of drug use, prison, and a messed up life until he found Jesus. His testimony was in Russian, but you could hear a pin drop as he shared. The boys sat quietly for 20 minutes! After he finished, several of the kids surrounded him and shook his hand or gave him a hug thanking him for coming to visit them. It made an impact. Most of the older boys didn’t show up, but one boy did and Victor shared. This one boy was amazed listened and asked many questions. Slowly, the light of Christ is beginning to make a difference in this dark place!

At the same time, the peace of God has come upon me and I feel that things are going well and we are doing what God has set before us.

More Changes!

Our first day of ministry in St. Petersburg brought more changes. Why should I be surprised? It’s a mission trip and you are supposed to be flexible!

We all went to Children’s Hospital #15 this morning ready to meet kids and do ministry. After several delays, we were finally in the activity room to begin a craft at 11:45am, however we would only be given until 12pm and then we would need to leave. Our team was able to minister to 8 kids with a craft project that took most of the time. However, as we were making plans for the next day, we were told that Americans need to have a ten day quarantine! They were afraid that some of us would be carriers of the swine flu and they wanted to make sure their children didn’t catch it. It seems that the hospital had a bad experience a couple of weeks ago that caused them to make this new rule in the past few days. So, since none of us have been here for 10 days yet, we are ineligible to come back. Again, it seemed that we were knocked out of our planned morning activity. Two weeks ago the Crimson Sail Shelter canceled due to government activities with the kids, and now our back-up plan to minister at the Children’s Hospital has been thwarted. Change and flexibility… that’s the essence of a mission trip!

Later that afternoon, we all ended up at Child in Danger. There were 13 children waiting on us to do activities. They were a great group! We were able to do a craft together, play some games, and lead an age appropriate Bible Story with the kids. We attempted to get them to memorize the focus Bible verse, but only one child was able to memorize the Russian verse from a small poster. Of course, more kids became much more attentive once I gave two Dum Dum pops to the one boy! We explained that we would be there all week and ended our time together in prayer.

During our craft, I was able to talk to the director and found out that 7 of the younger kids are at an age where they don’t go to school. So, with that we decided to come to the Child in Danger Shelter in the morning, play with the younger kids, go to lunch, and then go back and minister to all the kids with crafts, stories, and Bible Stories. So, now all is well and we will be spending all our time with the kids from Child In Danger. That a change I can do!

The other major change is the weather. Today it began snowing as we arrived at the Children’s Hospital. As we came in the snow came down harder and harder. By the time we had to leave, the snow was almost blowing sideways and was beginning to stick on the grassy areas. The sidewalks were full of slush and our coats were getting wet. It snowed for more than 5 hours! It was the big thick flakes that are great for making snowballs. Of course, you know what happened next!

Certainly there are lots of changes here. I’m sure there are more to come!

Last Day in Sosnovo

Time goes quickly and the last day was upon us too soon! We started off with our Bible Story, but today it was going to be a Gospel Presentation. Lots of kids in Russia have seen the Gospel Bead Bracelets as a way of presenting the Gospel, but only a few from the Day Center knew the meaning behind the colored beads on bracelets they would make later in the hour. I’ve done this presentation before know that I have to be simple and quick as there are always distractions. This was no different, but the kids were attentive and listened as I spoke and Pastor Slava translated for me.

As I was explaining all the beads, I was praying that the Lord would give me the right words to say that would be translated in a way they could understand so that they could know Jesus. I also tried to determine if it was right to lead them in a prayer at the end for those that wanted to be saved. Sometimes I don’t as I don’t feel the attention of the group is right or if the hearts don’t seem to be open. However, this time the stage seemed to be set just right and I sensed the kids having an open heart to hear the message. I prayed a simple prayer and then asked if any of them had prayed that prayer for the first time. I was glad to see six hands go up! I felt these were honest confessions and that they had wanted a relationship with Christ! I was so pleased!

After our presentation, the kids made Friendship Bracelets with the color beads as a reminder of the meaning behind the beads. The kids also memorized the verse from John 3:16 and were awarded prizes for memorizing the daily verse. Then we added up the number of stars each kid received during the week and who would win prizes. Winners were selected and presented at the closing.

We were treated to a short show of songs, dance, and a cute skit! Then it was time to award the winners of the week of competition. Five winners were selected and the kids got more that a piece of candy for their accomplishment! Four of the winner received a framed picture and the winner of the memory verse competition won a soccer ball! That soccer ball was very treasured and he had all the SAC Team members sign it as a memory of the event!

After this the kids were presented with t-shirts that I was able to round up. They were leftover from a previous mission trip and there was enough to give to the kids at the Day Center as I had no room in my bags to bring t-shirts like I normally do. In each bag I placed a copy of the ‘Book of John’ in Russian that Pastor Slava had on hand in the storage room. The kids seemed pleased, although it was not as much as what we had given before. But no one complained… even when the t-shirt wasn’t their size. Nadezhda, the Day Center director also presented us with hand-made gifts from the church.

A few days later after we had left, Pastor Slava had stayed in Sosnovo to attend Sunday services. He told me that 4 of those 6 had come to church that morning! They were seeking! The young preacher who had come to Sosnovo to preach was surprised by the number of youth that had come to the service. Pastor Slava told me that he adjusted his message to address these youth that had come! They are now talking about starting a youth ministry at the church!

The long term work of a dedicated Day Center director, noticeable building improvements, the happiness they felt participating in the events of the week caused hearts to change and the fruits of Christian labor to be manifested! “Slava Bogum” (Praise God!)