Today began with a double worship service for many of us. Seven of us got up early and went to an 8 a.m. Orthodox worship service. It was 2 hours long and, if you do not know, it is all standing. I actually got light headed and had to sit for a while with the elderly women on a bench on the side of the church for a while. The church is almost 900 years old. Think about that as an American. what buildings would we have that are 900 years old. It is not well kept, but still beautiful inside. It would have been more interesting if we could have had the liturgy in English, but still it was a beautiful service.Then we went to the Wesleyan church where many of our interpreters attend. There was another group from Indiana that is there to run an English day camp at the church. It is both for the benefit of the church as well as outreach to the surrounding community members who might want to learn English. We had communion and broke into small groups to pray with others.
I also was able to meet Natalie Prikhoda (Натале Прихода), the church administrator whom I met on FB as she was looking for help in her business management program. I brought a book for her on leadership and some of her favorite candies as they do not have Wint-o-green Lifesavers in Russia.
One of my favorite people was there. Zhenya Demidova was there and will also be one of our interpreters for the trip. I am glad that she is along. I will be attending her wedding in Minnesota in August.
We then went to lunch nearby and then back to the ministry center. At the ministry center, I was able to speak with many kids and get to know our new interpreters better. We began our session with Jeff Kintner discussing why read the Bible.
A highlight of my day is that while I gave a gift to Sasha for her and her husband Fedya, Sasha invited me over for tea in the evening. Korvan Funk and I went to visit her and Fedya (and their beautiful daughter Leeza) for tea and cake. This became even more special as I'll explain later.
After this Nancy Steele did a session on personal health, including a session on alcohol. Alcohol is a big problem in Russia. Some of the kids asked how much can you drink, and what is wrong with drinking too much? Nancy did an excellent job from the health perspective. Then some issues came up that touched on the legal issues and practice ramifications of excessive alcohol consumption. Our police officer, Chris Burns, was able to address several of these issues and things that he has seen happen as a result of alcohol consumption as a police officer.
We then had further free time with the kids. We also took a group picture. I was then able to spend a little time with Ilya Petrovski, an old friend from my first visit to Pokrov. He graduated in 2005 and is now 22 years old. He is a fine young man and going to the army soon. He has also graduated from the pedagogical college.
A very interesting thing happened just after the group picture. A girl was standing off to the side dressed in a pretty noticeable hot pink outfit. I was a little surprised to say the least. As she moved closer, I realized that it was a girl that I met on my very first visit as well. A few years ago she had fallen into a deep depression. I was a afraid for her life. She also became very rebellious and even left the orphanage a year early than normal at age 15. Now, I believe that she is 19 years old and finishing telephone operator school. However, she would like to go on to the university and study marketing. I believe that she can do it. We ended up having a very good conversation.
BJ and most of the younger members of our group then went to play volleyball with members of the Wesleyan Church. Others went back to the hotel. Korvan and I went off to Fedya and Sasha's home.
It was a humbling experience. The family of three live in a one room dormitory, which means that many of the common amenities such as a bathroom, sinks, and stove are in a separate common area. Their one room is about 250 square feet. The convertible couch is the only piece of furniture besides the dining table and the crib. It is not in terrible shape and they did not complain about their situation, but, especially by American standards, it was an exceptionally humble abode. This wonderful family had bought a cake for me--certainly an imposition on their small family budget. I was so very touched. They apologized for how small their home is. (Sasha was in the US living with families with huge homes less than two weeks ago). Fedya's siblings were adopted to the U.S. and he has never been to see them. I hope to find a way to pay for an airline ticket for him to see his siblings and to visit the U.S.
The other humbling thing about this couple is that they often expressed how much they appreciated me coming to visit them and that they really hoped I had a good time. I expressed to them that a home does not depend on the size of the dwelling, but on the size of the hearts of those in the family. I've never been so humbled in my life. I hope so much to be able to go back and see them again.
I was met with yet another surprise when I returned to the hotel with Korvan. He and I were discussing plans for tomorrow when we would leave for the orphanage in Pokrov when Alyosha Smolin, yet another former interpreter called and said that he would like to see me and BJ on this last day that we would be in Vladimir. He was at the hotel within fifteen minutes. BJ, Losha and I walked across the street to a store and got some ice cream and talked for a while. It was so wonderful to see Losha and realize what good friends we have made in Russia.
I did forget to take a picture, not that I think about it. That's too bad. Losha is a great guy.
Well, it's late and a few things have happened since then, but I'll need to wait until tomorrow to write about them. One of them is a big secret.
I continue to improve my Russian as I see God work so mightily in these kids' lives. What a wonderful blessing to these unwanted children of God to be affected so much by the lives of ordinary Americans who are willing to step out in faith. Thank you Jeff, Nancy and Chris for your presentations. Thank you God for bringing Sasha, Ilya and Lilya into my life.
