Pokrov - Day 3

I am sorry that I'm behind.  I've been so tired.  So, Day 3 was Wednesday and It was our most "normal" day of any day in the week.  The day's lesson was about the White Witch and the way wrong can appear to us as something beautiful.  We finished watching The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and Anna presented the lesson with a skit about King Midas.  Everyone likes gold.  In some ways it is valuable.  When you want too much to much of it and you do not put it in its place.  You give up all the other good things in life.  This is how the White Witch tempted Edmund.  Beauty, Power, and good food and drink are a part of life.  But when we crave them so much that we lie and cheat for them, then we have given up life itself. 

The main outside activity was a set of games led by the orphanage P.E. teacher.  We had several relay races. 

Don drew pictures of Colorado on several t-shirts and a couple of bags.  It was very impressive and the kids loved it. 

The days become draining as we sacrifice sleep for fellowship and ministry. 

Day 5 - Pokrov Day 2

Tuesday was our first full day at the orphanage.  The day’’s activities were primarily indoors.  The orphanage staff lesson was about positive emotions and we spent the morning doing various activities to express our positive emotions.  Each group made a poster about love and talked about how love is that greatest of emotions and that it is also the longest lasting.  Sometimes love is only seen over the long run.  We walked the halls making others happy by complimenting them.  We encouraged others by writing them nice notes.  We had fun by jumping around in an inflatable bounce house.  We also were allowed to relax in a room set aside with tools for relaxation and energizing.  Some use a foot massage machine; others lay on a bean bag chair that was like a giant headphone.  I was privileged to lie on my back on a large water bed to feel the mild movement of water on my sore back for 15 minutes with soft music playing. 

We almost finished watching The lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and had our lesson about Lucy and honesty as well as how it hurts when people are not honest with us.  One tool we used was to ask kid and adults to write down ways people make us not trust them.  Then we sent up a jenga tower and each time a card was read, someone removed a piece from the tower.  Finally the tower fell.  Sometimes people can do a few things that show us mistrust, but we can restore trust.  Sometimes when a person continues to show a lack of trust, the tower falls, and it has to be completely rebuilt.  But is it never the same tower. 

We are privileged to have been tasked with painting new lines on the new asphalt for the basketball court.  That project began today and the court will look great.  Later in the week, when it is finished we will have a small basketball tournament in celebration.  This is a great gift to the orphanage, not just for basketball players, but for any activity that requires a large paved surface.  It is the only substantial large paved surface on the property. 

We began making t-shirts and  playing ultimate Frisbee and soccer.  It seems as if there are more soccer players here this year, so perhaps we’ll get a good game going on Wednesday.

Today was also spa day and Julie had the privilege of painting the Executive Director’s nail.  The Executive Director said, “I never have the opportunity to have my nails done.”  What a blessing for Julie.  

Pray for the team as we seem to be passing a cold around to one another.

The mosquitoes are big, but God is bigger.

Day 4 - Pokrov Day 1

We left Vladimir this morning.  I had a great experience this morning as late last night I arranged a meeting with a girl I had not seen in eight years.  She left the orphanage shortly after I was there in 2005.  She found me on a social networking site this year and wanted to see me.  I was also able to arrange for one of our interpreters to come and have breakfast with us at the hotel. 

Anna and I were able to meet with her and catch up a lot.  She went to live with her parents and now is a competitive roller skier.  That was a great conversations and she expressed her appreciation to us for even what we did eight years ago when she was eight years old.

The first day at the orphanage flew by as we arrived at about 11 o'clock at our hotel.  We quickly got to the orphanage and had our opening meeting where we introduced ourselves.  We had a nice lunch and then watched two movies made at the orphanage.  One was very funny and made by the kids themselves.  It was very well done, especially for a first effort.  the other was a professionally made film about the loneliness of being an orphan that was made on the orphanage property. 

We then watched a portion of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  Unfortunately, we were not able to finish it and our options are limited.  Many kids have seen the movie before. 

The kids put on a nice presentation of songs about childhood.  It included singing and dancing, mostly by the younger kids. 

After that we had dinner with 18 members of the orphanage staff.  It was a very special evening in a nice setting. 

Day 3 - 2nd day at Vladimir

On our second and already our last day at Vladimir, we got up and went to the orthodox cathedral again and went in for part of the service.  Some of us bought candles to light to symbolize our prayer and the smoke rising to God. 

Then we went to a Wesleyan church where many of our interpreters attend.  This is the four or fifth year that we have attended worship at the church.  Because we are often there on the first Sunday of the month, we usually are there for communion and we get to split into small groups and pray for one another.  Our group of 19 almost doubled the size of the attendance.

Going for lunch at the food court at the local mall was a good experience as Macks, one of the orphanage graduates joined me for lunch.  A few other grads joined us as well. 

Once at the ministry center, we spent some time talking with grads, and I was able to meet with Fedya and Sasha and their four year old daughter Lize.  One of the gifts that she received was a princess dress that she loved. 

Chari gave a lesson on parenting.  MacKenna, Nathan, Anna and Kate helped her with skits.

We then worked with the kids on issues in relationships with the opposite sex.  We began with a brainstorming session on what girls want from guys and guys want from girls.  American men began with Russian guys and American women with Russian young ladies, then we switched.  It was slow at first, but once the guys got talking, it seemed as if we could go forever.

After that many of us went to a large store called Globus for a buffet dinner.

Day 2 - Vladimir and the ministry center

Leaving Moscow on Saturday morning led to heavy traffic.  Our driver took back roads all the way to Vladimir, which meant a 90 miles drive took about six hours over sometimes very bumpy roads.  Several team members experienced some car sickness and bathroom stops were at a premium.  It did allow us to see a side of the country off the beaten path.  We saw dachas, small open shopping markets, and rural neighborhoods in various stages of development, sometimes brand new beautifully landscaped homes next to homes that had been standing for a hundred years. 

We finally made it to Vladimir and checked into our hotel.  After eating a traditional Russian lunch at a nearby restaurant we made it to the ministry center where kids had been waiting for hours.  There were a large group of kids, perhaps 25 at the peak.  We spent some time getting to know each other as we have new travelers and there were orphans that we had not met before as well. 

Don gave a presentation and discussion on communication skills and how to properly express feelings.  Many of the young people participated with example that Don could use to help them work through healthy ways to communicate with others.

We had our traditional pizza dinner with the grads and then some informal time together.  One big hit was Reggie's guitar playing and singing along with Josh, Nathan, Christie, Julie and Jake.

On the return to the hotel, we stopped by the largest cathedral in Vladimir.  The cathdral stands on the top of a hill that overlooks the main local river and provides a beautiful view.  From that area you can see about five or six orthodox churches that dot the hillside.

Returning to our hotel for some much needed rest, we  had a short team meeting and some of us sent of emails to family and headed off to bed.

We arrived.

We arrived in Moscow after celebrating Nathan's birthday in the middle of JFK airport.  We sang Happy Birthday to him and it was enough to get the notice of one security person who came to see us having Nathan put on a little safari outfit.  Nathan took it well, and i'm sure he won't forget it anytime soon.  He didn't do all of the dares we challenged him too (mine was for him to do 17 push ups in the middle of the airport), but it's his birthday. 

We went to Red Square and the Kremlin.  We viewed one of the cathedrals in Cathedral Square in addition to Tsar's canon and the Tsar's bell.  We walked through Red Square where there was a festival going on.  We may try to get back through next weekend. 

After a long day, a few of us took a short walk to the mall across the street just to get out of the hotel. 

We are off to Vladimir today.