Trip planning and fundraising

As an update, we will be flying Delta again this year.  Between the better customer service as well as prices being very competitive this year, we chose Delta.  We are excited about landing in a familiar airport and having lunch at our favorite mall. 

We'll spend much of the first afternoon in Red Square and the Kremlin.  We have a number of first time travelers so it will be good to take them through some of the sights.  I imagine we'll hit cathedral square this year, but we don't have firm plans.

Saturday and Sunday will begin our time with the graduates in Vladimir where we'll spend fun times and provide lessons on life skills and attitudes. 

Monday we'll be at the orphanage and we'll stay through Friday.  Our plan is to have lessons, games, crafts, and skits.  There is lots of planning to do between now and May. 

Again, if you'd like to donate, you can send a contribution to:

Covenant Presbyterian Church
2845 Parliament Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80920

Or www.covenant-pres.org and click the donate button and specify that it is for the Russia trip.

Thanks, and there will be more to come. 

First day in Russia

Well, we all made it through two stops safe and sound to Russia with all of our luggage. We even had one kid come to see us as soon as we got into Vladimir.

I did have one disappointment today in that a friend of mine who lives very close to where we had lunch could not be contacted, and we were not able to see each other.

The weather was nice and warm. Our hotel is decent and has wifi, which for me is the main requirement.

I'm including a couple of pictures, including one of Chris touching a door on the airport shuttle. You can see that he should not be doing that.

All are healthy. Tomorrow we will work with the kids at the Vladimir Ministry Center. We'll cover Conflict Resolution, Personal Finance and one other topic related to spiritual growth.

We are excited. And now it is almost 2 a.m. here, so I should go to sleep.
Blessings to all of you and thanks for your prayers.

Doug

On your mark, get set...

Well, we are only a day and a half away. We will be in Russia soon. Tonight we had our last meeting to pack and to pray for each other and to make sure that everyone gets to the airport on time.

It is exciting, yet scary. There is so much to do at home, and yet so much need to travel to Russia. I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. We have new team members coming and experienced ones as well.

So, Covenant Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, we are almost gone. We just need to get to the airport on Thursday morning on time with all of our passports.

Then...GO.