We hit the ground softly as we landed in the country that holds half of my heart. I looked into the faces of the team that just flew halfway across the globe to share God's love with some children and fed off their excitement. I saw excitement, fear of the unknown, and a hope to see what God had instore for them. There was laughter seeing as the layover in london was a mad dash to get to our next flight (we were running late) and exhaustion written on all of us but the kids :) We got through passport control and I was excited to see all our bags piled onto a cart by some men. I didnt' have to worry about going through the customs I thought! Wow, then Icounted the bags... I noticed 8 bags were missing. Dread filled my heart. Olga met me inside by the bags and we went to the lost luggage counter together. It was so sweet to see my sister over here, our eyes shown with love. We hit the counter and the lady behind it was not going to be helpful. We had to bring all of us over to the counter to fill out countless, useless papers, and over an hour and a half later, after frustration and every other emotion, I looked at my team and saw the oh no face. I thought to myself, welcome to Russia, and welcome to God's business... Satan never fails to try to derail people who are going to do God's work. We left the airport and the snow was falling. I have never been here when it was snowing, so it was like seeing a new place. I bounced back and forth from looking at familiar land marks to the faces of those on the team. It was a joy. We unloaded our bags and the Christian University and I am happy to report we are overly blessed with good conditions. I have not heard one complaint...that is a miracle with 13 people! ;)
Our first day, I tried to prepare our team for what they were about to encounter, but you really can't prepare for this kind of situation. We were to go to church and then go to a children's hospital--where children were first placed whether they were found abandoned by a dumpster, or caught as a street kid, or parents have dropped them off. They stay here for a week or two with the nurses and doctors until they are cleared medically and then placed in the appropriate orphanage. These children are mostly non responsive, not easily trusting and far from disciplined. We didnt have material planned for a VBS so we just played. One of the very first children we saw was Mesha...she was handicapped and sitting on a bench. She had actually been there for a while and because of her disability she will probably never leave. She has no use of her legs... yet her face and heart where filled with joy and anticipation as she greeted us. She asked us many questions and we got to know her. We then played with all ages, from a four month old to a 15 year old. Some kids were precious and the two moms of the group got a sibiling group each to play with. Their faces shined with joy when they told me how responsive "their" kids were. They had a fun game going where the adult would point at a picture in the book and the child would say the russian word. They would repeat it. Yet in the other room, many noticed how untrusting they were. One of our men, who said in his own words "is great with kids" tried to get a little girl to eat her snack and she refused, he left with a realization that he was not in kansas anymore. These kids have it tough. For me a moment came when the four month old smiled as he grabbed my hand. This is the first baby I have seen in a russian orphanage and his smile was proof he came from a loving family. I found out later, his mom had just died and his father could not work and take care of him...therefore he was sent to an orphanage. They let me hold him, but silly superstitions about back structure made me have to hold him with his head down the whole time. The childs head already showed signs of being flattened by being left to long in the crip. The heartbreaker was found out when we all got back on the bus and I told Olga to tell my team about Mesha. Mesha--the first girl we met, was thrown from a five story building by her mother and crippled for life in a moment.
Our devotion time has been precious and as we met with each other to discuss, many of our team loved and was deeply moved by our Russian church experience. The preacher was amazing and many gleaned a lifechanging truth from the Word of God. Many of our team talked about not realizing what we have in America and how blessed they were to have parents who loved and cared for them, and many talked about how Mesha could crawl through life with joy even though her most trusted relative threw her out of a building. I was in tears for many reasons that night and I am proud of our team.
The second and third day we did our VBS... I will let them blog about these things... they each have amazing stories. I am just very proud of both my family here in Russia and my team from home uniting. I can't wait for you to hear their stories!
For now, pray for us... we said goodbye to half of our journey and we will not be going back to two of the orphanages..many of the team are dealing with the grief in knowing they had to say goodbye.
We have not had internet or phone cards until yestersday so please forgive us for not blogging until now. We promise to have something on there :)
God is moving and it's exciting to be apart of this team
Love,
Shannon
Our first day, I tried to prepare our team for what they were about to encounter, but you really can't prepare for this kind of situation. We were to go to church and then go to a children's hospital--where children were first placed whether they were found abandoned by a dumpster, or caught as a street kid, or parents have dropped them off. They stay here for a week or two with the nurses and doctors until they are cleared medically and then placed in the appropriate orphanage. These children are mostly non responsive, not easily trusting and far from disciplined. We didnt have material planned for a VBS so we just played. One of the very first children we saw was Mesha...she was handicapped and sitting on a bench. She had actually been there for a while and because of her disability she will probably never leave. She has no use of her legs... yet her face and heart where filled with joy and anticipation as she greeted us. She asked us many questions and we got to know her. We then played with all ages, from a four month old to a 15 year old. Some kids were precious and the two moms of the group got a sibiling group each to play with. Their faces shined with joy when they told me how responsive "their" kids were. They had a fun game going where the adult would point at a picture in the book and the child would say the russian word. They would repeat it. Yet in the other room, many noticed how untrusting they were. One of our men, who said in his own words "is great with kids" tried to get a little girl to eat her snack and she refused, he left with a realization that he was not in kansas anymore. These kids have it tough. For me a moment came when the four month old smiled as he grabbed my hand. This is the first baby I have seen in a russian orphanage and his smile was proof he came from a loving family. I found out later, his mom had just died and his father could not work and take care of him...therefore he was sent to an orphanage. They let me hold him, but silly superstitions about back structure made me have to hold him with his head down the whole time. The childs head already showed signs of being flattened by being left to long in the crip. The heartbreaker was found out when we all got back on the bus and I told Olga to tell my team about Mesha. Mesha--the first girl we met, was thrown from a five story building by her mother and crippled for life in a moment.
Our devotion time has been precious and as we met with each other to discuss, many of our team loved and was deeply moved by our Russian church experience. The preacher was amazing and many gleaned a lifechanging truth from the Word of God. Many of our team talked about not realizing what we have in America and how blessed they were to have parents who loved and cared for them, and many talked about how Mesha could crawl through life with joy even though her most trusted relative threw her out of a building. I was in tears for many reasons that night and I am proud of our team.
The second and third day we did our VBS... I will let them blog about these things... they each have amazing stories. I am just very proud of both my family here in Russia and my team from home uniting. I can't wait for you to hear their stories!
For now, pray for us... we said goodbye to half of our journey and we will not be going back to two of the orphanages..many of the team are dealing with the grief in knowing they had to say goodbye.
We have not had internet or phone cards until yestersday so please forgive us for not blogging until now. We promise to have something on there :)
God is moving and it's exciting to be apart of this team
Love,
Shannon
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