May 30 - Day 9

10:20 AM - We just got done visiting Joe's family's orphanage, Kingasepp. It was a nice place, filled with funny, smiling, loving children! Of course, I again adopted kids into my heart and prayer list. 3 of them, all siblings, and all five or younger. The sisters are Zhanya, Nastia, and the boy is Valera. They were all super cute! Zhanya and I hit it off pretty quick, smiling and cuddling for a good while. She never stopped smiling! Never did get a giggle out of her, but her eyes and her face were constantly smiling. I love her! She's so cute! I did not regret leaving her at her current home, because the staff is friendly, and the rooms are bright and full of laughter.

This orphanage was the most fun to visit, since we got to spend so much time with the kids! It was a great way to start off our day and our second week overseas! Today we are leaving Russia, which leaves me with mixed feelings. I'm tired of the bland food; the dirty, graffiti-covered, run-down buildings. I wish the people here would smile at me, and that the homes in the country gave me a feeling of relaxation and hope, not of despair.

On the flip side, the kids, the patients, the directors, the memories, and the overall experience in Russia have been all together more than I would have ever thought or hoped for. I have learned so much about this country, this mission, these people, and a little bit more about how God is working through me, and maybe an idea of His plan that He has in store for me. I really look forward to the Baltic States, but Russia has been an awesome experience, indescribable, really, and somehow, I know I'll be back.

12:25 - Ivangorod was our last Russia orphanage that we visited. Right now we're at border control between Russia and Estonia. We could be here for several hours, or only half an hour. It all depends on the officials.

Any way, Ivangorod is home to many children who have Down-syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. We were entertained by eight or so kids, and they performed four songs for us, and then we played with them for a while before we had lunch. (By the way, Pastor had me taste raw salmon... Not too bad, actually!) We got to go play with some groups of little kids before we had to go. It was a really great experience! Today was really great for a final Russian orphanage visit.

Yesterday, I left out a pretty important part of my day, not on purpose, but just because I was exhausted. We drove past an orphanage that has 400 kids in it, the majority of whom are bedridden because of mental or physical handicaps, or both. We were unable to go in because we got there so late, but we were looking at pictures of the kids who live there. Between the pictures and the stories, it sounds like these kids deal with some pretty serious birth defects, some from alcohol, smoking, and/ordrugs. I was moved to think of my little friend Bethany, and her life now.

Bethany Rose Rehbein is a six-or-seven-year-old girl who is full of smiles, loves music, and likes to dance. However, Bethany deals with many issues, much like the kids at the Pavlosk orphanage. Her birth mother did not take care of her during pregnancy, and Miss Bethany has a brain half-filled with water. This sweet angel can't walk, talk, move her body with adequate control, and she's losing her ability to see. The doctors gave her a year to live when she was one-year old, maybe less. Today, seven-year-old Bethany is learning to use a walker to move around, thanks to her wonderful adoptive family.

I couldn't help but think about Bethany yesterday, and where she'd be if she had been born in Russia. She wouldn't be 7 today, I can guarantee that. Bethany Rose didn't choose to be born like that. She also didn't choose to be born in America, but by the grace of God, she was, and she was and is still loved by the people surrounding her.

The kids in Pavlosk didn't have any choice, and Russia is not kind to the wonderful lives that fill that orphanage. On the same idea, I had no choice. I did not choose to be born to a loving family, in a qualified hospital, as a healthy child. And yet, here I am. God made me able, strong, and willing. I believe that the best way to praise Him for the gift of my health, is to reach out to those like Bethany, those like the Pavlosk residents. We can only give those children to God, and in turn, give them the love that God would have us share.

"Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you." --2 Corinthians 13:11 NLT