We had a successful trip

Wow, we had our summary meeting tonight at the hotel after returning from a tour of the Kremlin. Everyone was positive.

"The five teenagers we brought with us were awesome."

"We just scratch the surface of these kids everyday lives. We need to continue to pray for, write to and visit these kids."

"I became like a new parent this week."

"Working with these kids requires risk. It's a relationship. It's not just lecturing to them, but it is like being a parent or other role model."

I had a great time with Nadya, the girl my family sponsors. She is nervous about leaving the orphanage in the fall. She does have some dreams and goals. I also told her about my dreams and visions for her. I then prayed with her before we left.

Another girl, Karina, gave me a brief note that was begin translated just about two hours before we left the orphanage last night. The translator showed it to me, so we went to talk with Karina. the line that got me was "I want to ask you so many questions, but I just can't think of what they are right now. I know that God has put you in my life for a purpose." I went to speak with her and found that she also had many fears about leaving the orphanage. I was also able to talk with her and pray with her about her future.

That's it for now, but here are a few photos.

Things Are interesting here in Russia

So far things have gone pretty well.

We have had a few hicups. Today the karaoke machine wouldn't play the disc that had many American songs. We ended up singing I love Rock and Roll, then the Russian girls sat and sang with many Russian songs and we talked with kids that didn't want to sing.

So far the Bible lessons have gone well. We've also had relatively good success in family groups where we've tried to get to know kids on a small groups level. We've also used that time to look at spiritual issues and where kids see God. Yesterday about half of the orphanage went to a day trip with one of the local Orthodox priests. It gave us some opportunity to talk to kids about what they saw and about what the priest told them.

In my group I have been able to tell a bit about my testimony and why I believe God is working in my life. Others used the story of the crossing of the Jordan River and the rock mound that Israelite made to remember what God has done. Some told of the things God has done that they remember and put a rock on the pile as a symbol.

We also have done well with teaching ultimate frisbee, which has caught on well. Crafts have also gone well as usual. More boys have done crafts this year, as we have introduced T-shirts. The search for 60 t-shirts in Izmailavo was interesting and took me and Jeff and Nadya much longer than we would have liked. We walked many aisles of the marketplace before finding a vendor with plain white t-shirts.

I need to go to dinner, so I'll stop for now. Everyone is healthy. Pray for us. Pray for continued health and for further development of relationships. Some of the kids who are graduating have some options and have not made final decisions. They need wisdom.

Pray for us as we go to the ministry center in Vladimir tomorrow--for safe travel and for a positive impression of what Children's Hopechest is doing.

We miss you all.

Hey, We made it safely

Well, we took off this morning (or was it yesterday) from Denver. We've been in Russia for about 12 hours. We've seen Red Square and done a little souvenier shopping.

We rode the metro as well. That was pretty interesting.

Here is a photo of me in front of St. Basil's.

Tomorrow - The orphanage right after breakfast.

The Team is Ready!

Last night we finished packing all of our group items for crafts and for Bible lessons. We also discussed final plans for getting to the airport on Thursday.

We'll be in Pokrov for nine days with weather in the high 50s and low 60s.

Pray for the health of the team as one of our members has developed an allergic reaction to some medication. Pray also for strength.

I'll try to update this blog as often as possible while we are in Russia. There is internet access at the orphanage, so as long as I can get to an English interface, I should be OK.

Funding came in well and we received a donation of 14 soccer balls. Praise God for what he has done to get us to this point.

On a personal note, I'm very tired with work and with arranging this trip. Pray for me that I will get rest somewhere along the line.