Velikoretskoye day 2

No one would ever believe where we are staying in this settlement! The orphanage has a summer house and physical therapy room that they use for guests that come. Lorna and I are in a room that has 4 beds with the dir. of the Kirov region for Hopechest and Natasha a translator who has been with us since Nolinsk. (They both have an astonishing sense of humor for Russians) Dave was in a small room with the 'bathroom' in it...it had a door, but the toliet was not arranged in the VERY small closet the way you would think it should be, SO Dave had to leave the room if we needed to use the bathroom. This morning as we got ready, he kept moving around to our different beds as we used the 'facilities.' I actually prefered the downstairs hole in the floor, but it could just be China memories...ahhhh...anyway, I digress...the orphanage is 30 seconds away from the front door of where we are staying! It is so stellar!

We went to the Russian Orthodox service this morning, mostly b/c Gyorgy suggested we check it out, one of the preists there teaches religion and history at the school. I can't understand anything at the service, obviously, and even worse because we went at 8 am. I am just beginning to understand the icons of saints, but what I can tell you is that if you walk in there and seek the peace that comes with knowing Jesus...you will absolutely feel like you do when you walk into WCC's sanctuary. But it has taken 5 years for me to feel that in a Russian Orthodox church and not always in all of them, probably some of it is that men don't have to walk in with skirts on and their heads covered, although Dave says he does look good in a skirt...I didn't ask...however, they are easing up on the skirt thing, but why should I have to hide my head in God's presence? Clearly I still have a lot to learn about Russian Orthodox!

After breakfast the most amazing thing happened! Here is where it pays to have the orphanage director and school director as the same person...Gyorgy CANCELLED CLASSES! They all went to the school in the morning then we spent time with the older kids again from 11 to 12:15 had lunch, then hung out with the younger kids for the first time from 1 until 3! It was awesome to start learning names and to what Lorna and Dave interact with the kids! The older girls all wanted a photo with Dave...I could take a jab at him here, since we've been throwing stuff back and forth...but I'll let it go! In the afternoon, I got into a pretty crazy game of Candyland with some funny little guys! This boy name Kolya who is 8 was the MOST expressive boy in the younger group! The kids names here are a little bit different, so that will take some getting used to.

I cannot remember if I have shared this yet, but the kids are from age 7 to 18, and there are 7 in university that still come to the orphanage during breaks. There is so much to remember to write!

During our time with the kids today the settlement kids were mixed in there too b/c Gyorgy doesn't like to separate them out too much, which is awesome b/c it fosters good relationships between all the kids. Many orphanages have crappy relationships with the town kids, and it is really great to see a dir. trying to counter that problem. I'm sure this is clear by now, but we are impressed.

I started out this trip with a burden on my heart to be the eyes and ears for so many of you that want to join a team and cross the ocean to build relationships with orphans. This is completely new territory for us, whether you've been before, have a new curiosity or even if you've felt that pull to join a team and haven't done it-now's the time! Back to my point, there is this song that I have been playing over and over again, and it has really turned into my prayer for this trip...this team...this decision.

"Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missin'
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted The ones who live far beyond my reach Give me your heart for the ones forgotten Give me your eyes so I can see"

('Give Me Your Eyes' by Brandon Heath)

I praise God for answered prayer, because that is what the end of this trip has been about. It started off slow, but then got incredible! And the weather! WOW! Just a bit of snow, and tons of sun!

After Kurlovo closed, I didn't think I would be here again without feeling like I was in the wrong place, and guilty that I wasn't seeing the kids I love from there. But we have found what we came looking for...God open Dave's, Lorna and my heart and eyes to what He has in store for us here. We have an amazing opportunity to start over. Yes, it was complete crap that Kurlovo closed. Did we do good there? ABSOLUTELY! Should we dwell on the negative of it? No. The potential for ministry here is huge, and it has been set aside for us.

We left Velikoretskoye today with a huge sense of accomplishment that we came to do what we were sent to do! We have a new orphanage to sponsor! We have told Gyorgy we will be back. He even offered to send the orphanage van to pick us up from the train in Kirov-so apparently he likes us too! There is also a lot of flexibilty in when we come back BECAUSE he does not send his kids out to summer camps. His response to my 'Why?', since we really never knew there was a choice, was 'Velikoretskoye is full of nature, why would I send them away from their home to get different nature?' And that is a good sum up of how this director runs his family. He also gave Dave a file with ALL of the kids individual photos and their names so we can match up the kids in the photos. Plus bonus photos for sponsors! YEAH!

From here we head to Moscow via overnight train with a new orphanage to sponsor, 46 kids who need sponsors and a new excitment about building relationships with those kids! As a past team would say 'Game ON!' Who's ready to sponsor a kid and write letters??? And who has a good nickname for Velikoretskoye - we are going to need it!!!