Mas

Mas. The Spanish word for more.

That's what Christmas becomes when you take Christ out of it. Now, I will now claim that this is an original thought. I'm sure someone else has thought of it before.

This was all occurring to me as I sat through a rather tense (at least for me) Christmas Eve celebration. This particular family believes that holidays are meant to be celebrated for the purpose of seeing loved ones, tasting everyone's cooking abilities, and giving each other gifts. It also seems to be a prime time for practicing one's debate skills and seeing how long one can be in the lime light of the evening.

Tonight's discussion turned to the recent issue of Duck Dynasty and the controversy over one's rights to record their religious beliefs. What a beautiful night to remember where it Christian beliefs came from and to be thankful for the babe who grew up to be our Savior!

Instead, our host, gracious though she was, chose to voice her disdain for public Christianity. How awful, on the eve of Jesus' birth.

It made me stop and think how ugly America's Christmas has become. We've become so focused on the way-to-early Christmas things being sold, the sick and semi-dangerous shopping rushes, and who will produce and receive the best gifts, which, lest we forget, are given in remembrance of the most Precious Gift, our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. We've lost our focus, and I would like to bring it back before the next generation celebrates their first Christmas.

As my ranting session comes to a close, I'd like to share a classic on this eve of CHRISTmas, and wish you all a safe and blessed Christmas that you are able to celebrate, share, remember, and give thanks for with family and/or friends. God bless you, readers.

Linus tells it like it is.

Finishing Up Entries - Video

Final Day

So, this isn't actually a journal entry - Hospital 8 kind of took it out of me, so what I'm blogging now is from my memory and my photo library.

We had a really great last day of mission work, and it was really hard to leave after such a great day. We started out at Kingasepp, which is sponsored in part by a church in Hastings, the same one that Michael (the one we nicknamed Coach,) goes to. We met a few of the kids, but most of them were at summer camp. The ones we met, though, were ADORABLE. I latched on to a super shy little girl, who wouldn't even look at me, even when I gave her bubbles. This is one of the best pictures I got of her:

I mean, we got a little smile out of her, but not much of one. Not yet, any way. There were two other girls that came in to interact, and they LOVED the bubbles! They played with Michael (the nonCoach one... It gets confusing...) the entire time we were in there. They were all sorts of giggly and happy to accept fruit and gifts from us. 

Eventually, my little friend got involved with them, and then she opened up and smiled to. I found out that the girl in the blue dress is sisters with her, and when the older one pulled the younger one in for pictures, I started to get some smiles, and she even came up and blew bubbles in my face! (By the way, I may have been cleaner when I left that orphanage than when I entered, what with about three containers of bubbles emptied onto my face...) Here's my favorite picture of the sisters:

 As we drove to our last orphanage of the day, it kind of hit me: This was going to be it. This was my final day with my "Russia family," my last interaction with kids in an orphanage, my final moments as a missionary. At this point in the trip and in my life, I wasn't sure if I'd ever be coming back. I was taking so much in every day, that I hadn't really considered the job offer from Priozorsk. I wasn't sure if being a missionary was what I was supposed to do, or if I would ever make it back on even a short term trip. These kids were going to be my final interactions, as far as I knew.

I tried really hard to not let that affect my attitude as we entered our final orphanage, one that we had never visited before. The Bible story, led by Michella, Michael, and Coach, went great. The kids were very polite and very attentive. When we were handing things out, one of the things we handed out was a soccer ball, and we were asked to play with the kids. That's all we did, for a good thirty or forty-five minutes. As we played, a huge thunderstorm started rolling in, but nobody really seemed to care. We had such a great time, even if we did get badly beaten by the Russian kids... Yeah, sorry American soccer players, but we kinda ruined your reputation... We were not good, but we were entertaining, and that was what was important.

Sunday, June 9, 2013: Day 14

Today was extremely emotionally challenging for me. We went to Hospital 8, which is the hospital for elderly people who are homeless. I tried to prepare myself mentally (we had gone there last year,) but I still wasn't ready to go back in. As we pulled in to the tight driveway, I started to shake. I was crying by the time we got out of the van.

When we got past the awful staircase that patients are bounced up when they're brought in, I locked up. It was so hard for me to consider going back, and once we got into the rooms, I had to force myself to smile - those people don't need any more tears.

Karen helped me out, though - getting involved takes my mind off all of it. Karen had me spoon feed a guy who couldn't si tup, who could barely support himself to lean up on his arm. It really did help me to help someone else. When he (Nickoli was his name,) was done, he just held my hand and stared at me and smiled at me. He spoke very little English, and my Russian barely gets me through "What is your name?" For a while, we just talked to each other in our own language, had a conversation that I'll never know the literal translation to, but could see the meaning to it in his eyes. I left his room and couldn't stop crying.

The lead paint is still peeling. There's still too many people to a room. The food looked atrocious. The bandages were less than fresh. That place isn't a hospital - it's a slow torture chamber, and I left people in there. Again.

That has to be the worst part - walking away. I didn't recognize anyone in there, which means ,more than likely, the people we saw last year have passed away. The chances of anybody recovering in that situation are slim. I have to wonder how many people do walk out of there - but then I stop, because I'm afraid of the true statistics.

I feel bad for not taking more pictures (I took 2 and then had to stop,) and for not making more powerful connections, like I did with Nickoli. I just couldn't make myself move. I just stood in the hallway and absorbed everything - the woman who said "Don't waste a Bible on me - I'm nearly blind, close to dying, and I'm a Christian. Give that Bible to someone who needs it;" the 33-year-old woman who is stuck in the hospital; the woman curled up in the fetal position, unmoving, apathetic, basically ready to go; Nickoli, barely strong enough to prop himself up on his arm; the 56-year-old war vet who is nearly completely healthy except for his missing limbs.

Images like that are engraved in my mind, forever.

Friday, June 7, 2013: Day 12

Oh my goodness, today has been excellent. We started off at Pavlovsk, the largest orphanage that we work with that's home specifically to children who have disabilities.

Side note: We tried going to this building last year, but were unable to get in. I posted that story in this entry: May 30th, 2012, and it may be beneficial to readers to reread it before continuing...

We went to a building where they have classes for kids who are able to participate. We saw an art class, a cooking class, a building/constructing class, and a choreography class. They put on two WONDERFUL performances for us! The teacher was wonderful, and he made me smile, besides the kids, who were just having a great time. Here's a video of one of their performances...

I think one of the most disheartening things about visiting this orphanage, or others that are of a similar nature, is all the kids who are in there because of physical handicaps, rather than mental. Not because they're unhappy, because they all seemed quite content. It's because of their futures - every one of these kids, with any sort of infirmity, is headed for a "human warehouse," as Pastor calls it. This just has to be one more situation where I need to be grateful for what is rather than wishing for what could be. At least these kids have 18 years (sometimes more, depending on the institution,) to laugh, smile, and learn about God's love. All the workers seem to love their job and the kids, and the kids are all smiling and happy. It really is a nice place - just hard to think about what comes after for them.

Side note: After some reflection time upon returning to the States, I remembered being very upset by this orphanage last year, despite the fact that we weren't able to go in. We had been informed that this orphanage would be hard to visit because of the kids who were bedridden - their situations were often bad, and they weren't necessarily as comfortable as the children I got to meet on this day. However, last year, we were unable to get in, and I consoled myself with the idea that I was not emotionally prepared to meet those kids. 

This year, we were able to go in, so I thought that I'd be more ready, more prepared. But this year, we didn't go past the classrooms. We only saw kids who were mobile and active, participating in extracurricular activities. 

Two years in a row, I haven't seen those kids who I saw pictures of last year, who I heard stories of, who I was warned I wouldn't want to take pictures of because I would only hurt more every time I looked at them. Something tells me that God's protecting me from what I would see, that I'm just not supposed to meet them in person.

However, that doesn't stop me from thinking that they still need our prayers - in fact, it makes me think that they need our prayers more than ever. Those kids are hurting a lot, are trapped inside feeble bodies or feeble minds, and have been brutally cast aside by their society. I pray that the love of God still reaches them, that they are blessed with gentle and loving staff members who care about the children, not just about their pay. I pray that somewhere, within those walls, these kids can build a relationship with someone, learn to love someone, at least one someone, and that their lives are not complete loneliness. I pray that one day, I will be able to hug their perfect bodies in heaven, bodies that will have no blemishes, no disabilities, no limitations at all, bodies that will join me in praising our Father in heaven, forever and ever.

On a much brighter note, we visited Volosovo today!!! This time around, almost all the kids were there and the little ones were up from their nap! Last year, most of the older kids were in school, and the younger ones were napping when we got there, so we didn't get much interaction with anyone aside from the director, which was fine, but it was nice to meet the kids this year!! We had so much time to interact with the kiddos! Also, they were super hyper and a ton of fun. 

Our director, Olga, is a very, very nice woman who works hard for the orphanage and the kids. She is very grateful for Friedensau's help and sent me a gift for the church - a paper Chinese folding paper swan - it's gorgeous. It was such a fun day, and I loved getting to see our orphanage again - such a blessing for me to go back!

Thursday, June 6, 2013: Day 11

Today was really neat! We started off at the orphanage that James's and Rachel's family sponsor. Technically it's a shelter in Tihkvin. The director there is a wonderful, firm woman, but at the same time, we can see how much she loves the kids and her job.

She shared with us that the Tihkvin community is home to a war memorial, dedicated to two young boys, about sixteen years old, who joined the Russian army to fight the Germans. The shelter has taken on the responsibility of keeping up the maintenance and appearance of the memorial, very similar to how my high school NHS adopted a highway to keep up. The kids seem very excited about their new responsibility.

James, Rachel, and I shared the story of David and Goliath again, and it went over super well! Nickoli had a young man approach him and say that he knew that story because he'd read the Bible - THAT was an awesome moment!

When we were handing out Bibles, we had a VERY high demand for them. Unfortunately, we ran out of Bibles before we ran out of kids. When the girls were asking for a Bible, they asked me in English! These girls were beautiful, too, with infectious smiles and golden brown eyes. I wrote them a note on some paper, and they understood at least some of it - it was really neat. I also signed my name in Russian for one girl, and she really seemed to at least appreciate my efforts! The 3 girls who I took a picture with were Sasha, Nastia, and Darina. Super smart, beautiful, and outgoing - I hope those girls continue to do well and become successful in their futures!

From L to R: Darina, Sasha, myself, Nastia, and Rachel

 After the shelter, we went to the abandoned baby orphanage in Tihkvin. They house children from ages 0-3. When we went there, it was right after the 2.5-3 year olds woke up. They came in to the room we were waiting in where they each had their clothes laid out on their own chair. Each kid knew which chair was his/her's, and they went straight to put their clothes on.

The chairs laid out with clothes before the babies came in.

I went to help a little girl, and when she was dressed, she climbed into my arms, wrapped her own arms around my neck, and wouldn't let go.

We stayed like that for about ten minutes, just holding on to each other. I could feel her grasp harder, if that was even possible, each time I shifted. Her head was buried in my neck, and we rocked and cuddled - I fell in love IMMEDIATELY. 

Saying goodbye was hard. Nickoli said I probably gave that little girl more attention in those ten or fifteen minutes than she'll probably get in the next month. As sick as that makes me, I have to keep focusing on the positive: at least I had the opportunity to hold her, for however brief a time. 

Our final orphanage of the day was a little bit interesting. We hadn't ever been there as a whole group before, only Nickoli and Valentina had ever gone out there before, so the director was a bit nervous, and was even more apprehensive when we settled down for a Bible story. However, we shared, captivated the kids, and all went over well. There were several older kids there, and we didn't hadn out too many Bibles - I think the fear of the unknown overtook them, but were were able to connect with them, which was good for an initial meeting. 

All in all, we had a really great day! Tomorrow we get to go to my church's orphanage, and I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Wednesday, June 5, 2013: Day 10

Today was such an incredible, overwhelming mix of emotions - but ended up being a great day. We went to the Priozorsk orphanages, 1 and 2. The first one we went to has three buildings, and is home to numerous children who have any kind of disabilities - mental, physical, anything at all. We visited several rooms and made many, many new friends! I have my two crosses away to young girls, who were between 10 and 14 years old and were in wheelchairs. One was named Sasha:

Sasha and I at Priozorsk 1

I couldn't quite get the other girl's name, even with our translator's help! Those first couple of rooms were a lot of fun to visit, lots of smiles and interaction!

One room we went into was occupied by five boys who were waking up from a nap. One of them, again with a name I couldn't grasp, is 8 years old, very sweet, and very bright. He was born with spinabifida and is paralyzed because of it. His paralyzation is the sole thing that keeps him in his wheelchair, and in the orphanages. Here's a picture of me with him:

Karen says that she's seen him grow up, and has seen him in four different orphanages, all for handicapped children, in the past eight years. At one point, money was raised to get him a nice wheelchair, but the director at one of the previous orphanages kept it, claiming it was his. Now the boy is confined to a generalized wheelchair again.

The further we went in the tour, the more we saw kids who were severely disabled. One room we went into was specifically for children who were bedridden, most of who are undersized for the worst part was when we left that room: I had been rubbing someone's back and they started screaming when I left - they hadn't finished when we passed that room on the way out of the building. Here's a picture of two friends that I made in one of those rooms:

A 15-year-old confined to a bed.

A 6-year-old child in a crib - he's wrapped himself around my arm in this picture, his immediate reaction when I put my hand in the crib to rub his back. 

On a much happier note, though, we were also able to revisit the orphanage that Michael's church supports, the one where I met Anya last year. I was so nervous pulling up in front of the orphanage. I saw Anya's friend from last year, Luva, run up to the van, and my heart jumped; Anya wasn't in the small welcoming committee, and I was worried she wasn't going to be there. It didn't help my worries when she didn't come rushing out of the orphanage to greet us.

Side note: Sorry if this comes across as semi mello-dramatic, but I try to paint as vivid a story as possible, and I feel like it may come across to the audience as somewhat of an overkill, but this was a pretty momentous moment in my trip.

As we got out of the an and were greeted by kids, I started to prepare myself to not see her. After all, kids are moved all over the place, as though they were chess pieces and the orphanages were the squares on a chess board. My chances of seeing her again were all over the place, especially since school is out, so kids are off at camp or visiting family.

As I started to interact with the other kids, the front door opened, and I saw Anya's face peek out. If you've ever had those moments when everything around you freezes and it's just you and the focus of excitement - that's exactly what happened when I realized I was looking at Anya.

I don't believe I'll ever forget the look on her face when I called out her name and she recognized me and ran into my arms. We were both laughing, I was crying, and she clung to me, exactly like she did when she first met me.

Moments like that are exactly why I wanted to come back on the trip. I want to reunite with as many people as possible, just to have another opportunity to share the love of Christ, to hand out a cross or a Bible, to smile at someone, hold someone's hand, anything. And Anya's smile upon recognizing my face convinces me that this is completely and 100% totally worth it, especially when she asks me questions such as "When are you coming back?" Soon, sweet angel. I pray very soon.

Anya and me, moments after being reunited. 

Side note: So, Anya's orphanage director, to be pictured after this note, was chatting with me and a few of the other members of my group, and she asked us what we were going to school for. When I said that I was going into education, she told me that I have a job at her orphanage whenever I want it. I'm posting about this almost a month later, and not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about it. Your prayers for the matter are very much appreciated. My first instinct is to say "Yes, sign me up, I'll graduate with my teaching degree and move here!" But I know that there are so many more factors to consider: if I want to move to Russia by myself, if I want to go there as a young first-year teacher, if I'll have time to learn the language, if I'll have anywhere to live, who I'll be leaving behind in the United States, how long I'll want to stay in Russia... I told one of my friends recently that, no matter how badly I think I want this opportunity - and have wanted it for the past year or so - fear keeps taking over. I'm terrified to go alone (though we are never alone, with Christ!) I'm scared to leave the life I've lived for the past twenty years, I'm scared about too many things. Please keep this in your prayers. I could potentially be Anya's teacher in a year and a half, if this is what I'm supposed to do, but I just haven't the foggiest about where I'll be needed most at the point in my life. 

The orphanage director who offered me the job and Michael, whose church sponsors the orphanage where I'd be working.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013: Day 9

Sorry I didn't write yesterday - I'll do my best to remember everything. We started at Madonna, where there's a parsonage and an Orphan Grain Train shipping site - we went there last year, and there was a barn that they were in the process of renovating so that they could store containers there. This may have been one of the highlights of the day: we were able to see how much work they've done on the barn since last year, and it was AMAZING.


Before pictures, 2012:

After pictures, 2013:

New roof! Or at least the beginnings of one.

The outside of the barn.

They have walls up, a floor put in, and a makeshift ceiling on, and when we went yesterday, there were parts of a shipment in there! It was so cool to see that project have progressed so much! It really makes me excited to see my church's orphanage and how much more they've renovated. 

After Madonna, we went to Svoniki orphanage. We had gone there last year, and it's the one run by a Canadian pastor and his wife in an old farm house. Last year when we went, it was cold and rainy, so we were inside. Yesterday, though, it was beautiful and sunny, the kids were having lunch outside, and it was wonderful. We saw some kids from last year, and met some new ones.

One of my highlights from that orphanage was walking with Sandra, the house mom, and 2 kids down to the chicken coop. As we were walking, she pointed out the various animals in their "animal garden," as she called it, and she told me a little bit about how much the animals help the kids and how therapeutic they are. 

Side note: One of my long-time dreams that I don't talk about much, for whatever reason, is to use horses as part of a therapy program for kids who have been abused or have special needs. It's one of those dreams that I never see taking off, but then again, I'm composing this entry from Russia - dreams happen, even if you don't expect them to. 

Any way, I told Sandra about that dream, and she and I chatted lightly about animals and kids - it was a really neat experience. Leaving that orphanage was hard - I was telling Jackie and Allen (the couple on the trip with us,) that I have super mixed feelings about not seeing kids at the orphanages. The good this is, they're possibly out and adopted and party of a loving family. On the flip side, they may have outgrown the orphanage, when we get to the special needs orphanages, they will have possibly passed away, but no matter where they are, I'm not reconnecting, not getting to see them again, and that's so hard for me. Already, at the 2 orphanages we've been to, there have been little faces replaced by other little faces. The only thing I can do is pray those kiddos are alright and that they're safe, wherever they may be. I suppose this is also another opportunity for me to say that we just have to put our trust in God, and believe that He and His angels have every single kid in their care.

When we got back to the lake house, we each packed a suitcase of clothes, baby blankets, and toys. That was pretty neat! Which leads me into today's events.

We crossed over into Russia today - we were pretty tense going through there. This particular border has been known to take a couple of hours. On top of that, each of us was taking in a suitcase holding children's clothes, toys, blankets, and a stack of Braille Bibles. The mafia is fond of taking stuff such as that, which is why we stopped sending containers directly into Russia and started taking suitcases in like we did today. Tension wasn't eased by the fact that they were scanning suitcases today. We didn't have anything dangerous, but if our contents look suspicious for any reason, it could hold us up for SEVERAL hours. 

By the grace of God, the only person who got held up was Karen, and it was because she had 3 boxes of sidewalk chalk that looked like bullets under the scanner. However, a brief opening of the suitcase revealed to the very pleasant security guard that it was simply sidewalk chalk, and let her right through. We were out of there in under two hours, which was a new record for that particular border. Not bad!

Right now, we're headed to the abandoned baby orphanage at Luga. We're not sure if we'll get in - their equivalent of state inspection is today, and having us there would just create a huge mess for them, understandably! So we don't know what's going on yet. More later...

Later...

Oh, my goodness, what a wonderful afternoon! We ended up being allowed into Luga. We made many little friends, anywhere from ages 0-3. Michael made a little friend named Vicca:

Michael and Vicca

She definitely had an obsession with cameras! (If you take a look at the picture, you'll see she's got a tight grip on Michael's Canon!) She was a lot of fun, super smart, too! She was repeating our names, and she did such a great job! I was also reminded that my name in Russian is pronounced "Styephanie." It makes me smile.

Some sad news, though, about the Luga baby orphanage: the government officials who visited today told the director that they're considering shutting down the orphanage and moving the sixty babies into an orphanage of one hundred babies for a total of 160 babies. The main reason behind this is so that they can report a lower number of orphanages. No care for the infants, the workers, the renovations on the building, anything. Just the statistics on the number of orphanages. Maybe I'm just over-sensitive, but that seems rather heartless, to me.

On a much happier note, we went from Luge to Tolmachevo orphanage, which is home to kids from age 4-16 or 17. We didn't see much more than about 6 of the kids, but the small numbers make it easier to connect with them. Michael got a GREAT picture of me and my little 4-year-old friend, Masha:

She's a cutie, and she knows it, too.

Today was the first time we, as a group, gave a Bible story to the kiddos! I gave the story of David and Goliath, James gave a very, very short message, and Rachel said a prayer. The format was from a children's message I wrote for a class this past semester, and I happened to tuck it in my Bible for whatever reason. Well, that reason was Russia. I had the Bible story paraphrased, I had a message, and I had a Bible verse and a prayer to pull it all together. It went beautifully! Nickoli translated, and the kids were captivated. It was a really moving experience.

Giving our Bible lesson!

I also gave away my first Bible, to a 7-year-old named Dasha. She wasn't as out-going as Masha, but still very sweet. Giving Bibles away is such a special moment for me - really makes me smile.

Now we're headed into Saint Petersburg to check in at our hotel and eat at good ol' Pizza Ollie's! (And there's WiFi! Hooray!) It's been a wonderful day, a great start to the Russia portion of our trip.

My Group Devotion, Given in Russia

Psalm 145

Great Is the Lord

A Song of Praise. Of David.

1 I will extol you, my God and King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless you

and praise your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

and his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall commend your works to another,

and shall declare your mighty acts.

5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,

and I will declare your greatness.

7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 The Lord is good to all,

and his mercy is over all that he has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,

and all your saints shall bless you!

11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom

and tell of your power,

12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The Lord is faithful in all his words

and kind in all his works.]

14 The Lord upholds all who are falling

and raises up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food in due season.

16 You open your hand;

you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways

and kind in all his works.

18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;

he also hears their cry and saves them.

20 The Lord preserves all who love him,

but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

In the Lutheran Study Bible, this chapter is referred to as the "Mission Psalm," and seems to fit our trip, to a T.

David models a perfect mission trip in this Psalm. He begins and ends by praising the Lord, which should really be a daily example for us. David then spends several verses meditating on the works of God, and for Christians, the sacrifice of Christ should be a main poing of concentration as we remember the works of the Lord.

Verses 14-21 remind me of our own message, the purpose of this trip. Although our first and foremost goal should be sharing the love of Christ, these 8 verses express our second purpose: sharing the loving care and mercy of our "Oтец," (Father,) in heaven. And David finishes with the hope that we take with us on all of our missions, both overseas and back in the States:

"Let all flesh bless his holy name,

forever and ever."

Dear Papa God,

Thank you for the opportunity to share your love and the love of Christ through our actions and your Word on this and all future missions we may embark on. Bless our efforts so that we may be joined by even more brothers and sisters in Christ when we join you in heaven.

In your name we pray,
Amen.

June 2, 2013: Day 7

Today was very nice, very relaxing. It's definitely going to be different from last year, in that we went from our buys, fast-paced week in Russia to our slower, more relaxed week in the Baltics. That's switched around this year, so moving into our fast-paced week may be somewhat of a challenge.

Any way, after our breakfast in Tallinn, we drove to Parnu, where we were able to attend a Lutheran church. The service was in Estonian, but we were able to pick things out like the Lord's Prayer, the sharing of the peace, and the benediction. We also had Communion, which makes Latvia the only Baltic State left for me to have Communion in - don't think it'll happen on this trip, though.

Caitlynn also sang in church, an English hymn, and she did a wonderful job, beautiful addition to the service. I had an unintentional performance myself; when the congregation had filed out, we were waiting for the pastor (he wanted to recap his sermon for us in English,) and I st down to play Für Elise on the church's grand piano. I had my back to the door, and as I was playing, a tourist group filed in, completely unbeknownst to me. THAT was embarrassing...

We were able to eat out, and then once we got back into Latvia, we stopped at the Baltic Sea and swam. Well, more like waded. The water never went much past my waist, and the further out we got, the closer to came to hypothermia (I am, of course, exaggerating, but it was extremely cold,) so we stayed pretty close to shore.

Ilze (our driver's wife and hostess while in the Baltics,) prepared a wonderful dinner for us tonight, and then afterwards we took a dip in the lake. Now I'm sitting outside, watching the sun set over the lake, full of good, homemade tea, enjoying the beautiful piece of creation.

Tomorrow will be our last full day in the Baltics - we'll be going to Madonna, Latvia to fill suitcases with things for the people in Russia. We don't send containers to Russia from Orphan Grain Train anymore because the mafia goes through it and completely rifles and pilages the contents. Instead, we send them to the Baltics and then find people, like us, to move the contents safely across the borders. Seems to work much better.

Grita, Juris's (our driver,) HUGE German shepherd, is laying so peacefully next to the house, the family across the lake is swimming with their kids, my bug spray is keeping away the evil mosquitoes - I'm juts a really content person right now. I think I'll finish up with my devos and some plans for my group devotion in Russia, and then hunker down for the night.

Side note: Tonight we learned that Oklahoma City got hit, again, with even more tornadoes. Prayers for those people back at home who are suffering from so much pain and loss - may God give them comfort in their time of grief.

June 1st, 2013: Day 6

Today was excellent - would have been completely prefect, except I've been working pretty hard to keep a head cold and a fever away. i woke up after 7 hours of solid sleep, which is much more than what I normally get at school, but I still felt exhausted. As soon as we got in the van to drive to Estonia, I was asleep for a good 2 hours.

At our pit stop right before the border, I bought 1.5 liters of water - it was gone right before we got into Estonia - about 5 minutes later. That was then followed by a 2nd 2-hour nap, which seemed to help for a while.

When we got to Tallinn, we went to Bethel church. (This was the church last year that I was able to give extra funds to thanks to my generous donors!) They run a children's shelter, both a day center (after school program,) and a rehabilitation home. The improvements from just last year alone are AMAZING!!

2012

2013

The director was so happy with the improvements and has high hopes for the future of her kids, and she believes they have the power to make a difference in Estonia.

Our prayers for these once-hopeless children as they grow and learn and mature into young, productive adults are greatly appreciated by Miriam, the director.

Once we got checked into our hotel, the "kids" in the group went into "Old Town," the main tourist attraction in Tallinn. About halfway through our adventure, I started to feel a bit dizzy and shaky, so I downed another 1.5 liters of water, which sort of helped. The group stopped for a marvelous dinner, mostly of pasta, and we ha a nice time chatting and relaxing. By the time we got back to the hotel, I was shot. A nice warm shower, some juice and meds in my system, and I'm good for the night. I'm hoping tomorrow I'll feel better - makes it harder to enjoy the trip when I feel like this... :/

May 31, 2013: Day 5

We just left the Sākiai orphanage - our first kids on the trip. Right now, they have 37 kids, from 4 months to 17 years old. When we went, most of them were in school, but we got to interact with the younger ones for quite some time. I made a couple of really cute friends, one who was about 7-months-old (super active, smiley little girl,)

and another little girl who was about 3. (She's the one sitting closest to me in the picture below.)

She looked a lot like my curly-haired friend that I met last year:

and she was the right age, but the director said that she knew of the girl (pictured above) who I was speaking of, and said that she's been adopted by a new family! Praise God! In fact, the new friend I made today has also been adopted, and is waiting for her new family to come and pick her up. Another moment of praise! As hard as it was to put her down after cuddling her and rocking her, I take comfort in knowing that someone else will love her and make her their priority - her future is bright, and so leaving her is not difficult. 

Tonight is an exciting field trip: Concordia University's a capella choir is singing in Riga, and Caitlynn, both my roommate on the trip and at my apartment this summer, sings in the choir, and will be joining them for her final college-career concert. I'll also get to see my friends Steven and Natalie, fellow Improv actors with me at Concordia, and I'm so excited to see them! They're like older siblings to me, and I can't wait to heart hem sing and then give them a gigantic "Steph hug."

Today has been (and promises to continue to be,) a good day. All previous stresses from airplane travels and airport woes are behind us - we're off to a great start! :)

May 30th, 2013: Day 4

Today we spent most of our day traveling; we went from Latvia into Lithuania. On the way, we stopped first for lunch at the pastry shop in Latvia that we stopped at last year. We also stopped at the largest Lutheran church in Lithuania, the same one that the youth group goes to.

Largest Lutheran Church in Lithuania

We were also able to visit the church's humanitarian center, where they have youth group meetings, church meetings, and the Orphan Grain Train distribution center for this area. 

Inside the Humanitarian Center

When we got to the hunting lodge, we were able to meet up with the youth group again! There were five who came to visit, and we talked, played "Jungle Speed," and then "Monkey in the Middle." We had such a great time, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to reconnect with some of my friends from last year! Here's some pictures from hanging out with them:

The other success was that Pastor Reehl was able to connect with some Lithuanian pastors and set up shipment details for Orphan Grain Train containers! This is exciting because not all churches are accepting/believing of the fact that we can or will ship a huge container full of free resources. The idea behind a rich country sending clothes over here seems too good to be true. 

However, Pastor was able to communicate with a pastor who runs a rehabilitation center for those who struggle with addictions to alcohol and drugs, and he was so excited about this opportunity for his people - there was no hesitation in accepting the container; what a blessing! Communicating the love of Christ through donations and shipments is only possible when pastors/leaders are willing to accept the help. Pastor Reehl set up 2 new shipment sites - a huge success, and all the glory to God! :)

May 29th, 2013: Day 3

It's all just one big adventure, full of mishaps, mistakes, and some failure, but mostly excitement, unexpected joy, and some surprises!

We stayed in Dublin last night, as updated on this blog previously. Originally our plane was supposed to leave this morning at 6 for Frankfurt. Our departure time got pushed back to 6:50, so we boarded at 6:30. Our plane left Dublin at 7:40. Originally, when our flight was leaving at 6:50, our connecting flight to Riga was going to leave 20 minutes after we landed. Well, we left 60 minutes late, so we missed our flight to Riga.

United provided us with meal vouchers, since we're in the airport for 8 hours. While we were waiting for the vouchers, there was a security breach of some sorts, and we were cut off from the rest of the airport - we had a small room to stand in and wait until they diverted us through another terminal - about a mile away.

When we did finally get our vouchers for the meals, they were only 8 euros a piece, which, for today's exchange rate, equals about $10.37. That's not a whole lot to work with, especially for being in here for 8 hours. Karen, God bless her, got us all one extra voucher, and our total is 24 euros for the day.

Now, finally, we've figured everything out. It's 2:18 PM local time, and we are calming down a little bit, which is nice. More later...

Later...

Alright, we finally, FINALLY landed in Latvia. Oh my goodness, it feels wonderful to stretch out on a bed and to be out of the planes. After lunch, I took a nap on an airport chair. Benefit of being 5'1": I can curl up almost anywhere and fall asleep. I believe I slept for about 2 hours, and then we grabbed dinner and sat at our gate. Michael and I practiced some Russian - we've gotten decent..ish... at counting! We were pretty proud of ourselves.

Tomorrow we have a long drive into Lithuania - hopefully we'll be able to see the youth group kids from last year! Alright, finally bed time here - good night!

May 28th, 2013: Day 2

4:35 AM, Dublin Time

Yes, that says "Dublin time," as in Dublin, Ireland. Our plane evidently had some technical difficulties - not mechanically, thank God. Just some problem with our weather radar, and since we're expecting some bad weather between here and Frankfurt we needed to get it fixed. We should have landed in Frankfurt by now - hopefully we'll make our connecting flight, the one that leaves in five hours. For now, they're serving us breakfast, and we wait to find out what the next step is.

Beginning of Journal Entries!! May 27th, 2013: Day 1

And we're off! Flew out of Omaha, ALMOST on time, and landed in Chicago's MASSIVE airport. We've begun boarding, I believe, and so now we wait. Our flight leaves at 2:20, and then we're up in the air for approximately 8 hours. We're trying to figure out who's sitting next to who right  now - it's possible I'll be sitting by myself for the long flight, or at least apart from the group... We shall see!

Side note: I, in fact, did not sit by strangers until the flight home between Chicago and Omaha; I was so fast asleep for that flight, I didn't mind any way. But more on that later...

"The Signs Are In English!!"

The title of this post was my exact reaction when my dad picked me up from the airport yesterday, and the first thing I saw was a fried cakes stand, and it said "Cakes" in English. I could not, for the life of me, figure out why it was in English and not Russian. That's how I was thinking yesterday!

I am so grateful to back, but I can definitely already feel the withdrawal setting in. I miss the kids, the people who I traveled with, the language, the food - all the things I thought I wouldn't miss, I do. They all became a part of me this past week, and leaving it behind is hard!!

However, it is nice to get back to a place where I can order off an English menu to a waitress who speaks English, where I'm able to read the road signs, to see distance in miles instead of kilometers, to feel like I can wear jeans and a tshirt without looking like a tourist, and to drive in a semi-safe environment - in my own car, nonetheless!

I plan on working on getting my journal entries up between now and Friday night. I'm taking day 1 back in the States to relax at my dad's - do laundry, run errands, and get ready to head back to my apartment. Then I start work, and it's back to real life, almost as though none of it happened.

That's going to be the most frustrating part - merging back into a world that doesn't understand where I've been, who I've met, and why I feel like I'm still needed there. To the rest of the world, I'm just one more college kid who went on a mission trip and came back. They'll ask how it was, what I did, what my favorite part was, but they'll be expecting a brief, 5-sentence answer, and even that they'll forget as they go on with their lives. I can't really complain; I'm in the same boat when people who I love return from long trips. There's something about living in this culture that creates a sense of apathy toward the outside world. America has turned somewhat numb to anything beyond our borders, and that's hard to come back to.

All that being said, thank YOU for reading this. This blog will be a very significant tool in my debriefing process, and if anyone would like a presentation or to look at pictures or just to talk to me about my experiences, please don't hesitate to contact me! There's a lot going on in my head, and I'd love to share it with as many people as possible.

Blessings on all that you do!

Dublin, Just For a Day

Alright, here's the story:

About 3 hours out of Frankfurt, our captain came over the intercom and told us that our weather radar was broken, and due to an upcoming storm, it made it both illegal and dangerous for us to continue flying without a functioning radar. 

We proceeded to land in Dublin so that a mechanic could determine how bad the problem was. After 4 or 5 hours in the airplane, they determined that the part needed had to come from London, which would take 6 hours. 

Meanwhile, it's a holiday in Ireland, and every possible flight to any possible location was booked full. The airline is putting us up in a hotel, paying for 3 meals and our rooms. We hope that everything will go well. We board the bus at 2:30 tomorrow morning, and our plane leaves at 6 for Frankfurt. 

So, today, we get to explore the countryside of Ireland!! I'm so excite for our unplanned detour!! But yes, we are safe, well, and excited!!

http://youtu.be/IQIZ0_vFS-A

Blessings on all that you do!

And We're Off!

Well, took off from Omaha, me and 9 other people, if I counted correctly. Next we land in Chicago, call all the loved ones, shut off the phones, and we're outta here for good!!

There's the sky coming out of Omaha. There's a decent amount of turbulence, but not too bad. I'm sitting next to my roommate (both for the trip and for the summer,) Caitlynn on the flight, and I think we're both super excited. I need to find another adjective besides "super" for this trip...

I'll post this when we land in Chicago, and probably add some more before I actually put this entry online. Then I may be able to post from the plane, if we get wifi! (First world problems...)

Chicago, 12:35 PM.

We landed safely; board in an hour, take off in just 2 hours! Not much more to say on that... Next update from the plane or Latvia!!! :)

Over the ocean, 7:40 AM, Central Time. 

Soooo... iPod didnt want to connect in Chicago airport, and there's no wifi on the plane, so I'll try posting again when we land in Germany. Until then, I'm going to... Enjoy... This 8 hour plane ride...

Blessings on all that you do!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow...

In just 8 short hours, we'll be throwing my suitcase and backpack (and probably me, 'cause I probably won't be that awake...) into the back of the car and driving to Omaha!! 8:30 is check-in time and 10:40 is takeoff time! From Omaha to Chicago, from Chicago to Frankfurt, and finally from Frankfurt to Riga. We'll land on Tuesday and be off! It's crazy to think that I'm already to this point... Can't believe I'll be on a plane again tomorrow!

I got to spend my final night catching up with my two cousins who live in Des Moines suburbs, and although the children of the first cousin were asleep, I did get to see the other cousin's kiddos and spend some time with them. I have to gush for a second: They are the cutest kids. Ever. Here's my favorite photo from the night:

Dad reading to the kids; Calvin (1 year) is sitting on my lap, and Logan (6 years) is giving Dad the funny look.

It was a lot of fun to see them; definitely a cute bunch of kiddos and a great send-off. 

Actually, going just a bit backwards chronologically, today was just a great day in general. I went to Dad's church in Johnston, and the congregation prayed for me at the end of a service. That's a great way to spend my last day, too, knowing that I have even more people praying for me and the group. We also talked in Bible study about the Athenasian Creed, and how that connects to my upcoming mission - it was just a really great last church service in the States.

Well, not too much more to say here - guess I'll sign off until I blog from one of the airports tomorrow!! From here on out, the blogs will be from my iPod, so they won't be as long until I get back to the States and type up my journal entries from the trip. Love to you all, and thanks again for all your prayers and support.

Blessings on all that you do!

2 Days... Woah...

I am on the first leg of the journey!!

Yesterday, after my first full day of work, I filled up the gas tank and headed to Des Moines, IA. Spent today at a graduation party, and then tomorrow I'll hopefully be reuniting with my cousins and going through my suitcase one more time before I leave at around 6 AM on Monday morning. I'll be the first one to say it, I will NOT be coherent at that point of the day, and if I'm trying to pack last minute... Forget it. It's not happening.

Any way, as far as how I'm feeling, I'm feeling kind of tense and nervous, but also super excited. The thrill of packing, getting everything together, and preparing for the flight are all very exciting, but it's also nerve-wracking. I have to remember that, even if I forget something, I have access to shopping points, so everything will be ok.

As far as sitting still long enough to get over there and going through security... Oh man, just not really looking forward to that, I'll be honest.

But what I am looking forward to is seeing the kids, devotions with Pastor Reehl in the morning, waking up to a bright sun at 4 in the morning (not even kidding, really am looking forward to that...), person devos by the lake, home Latvian cooking, getting to see the Concordia University choir and all my friends who are in it, and getting to know the new people on the trip.

Actually, that leads me into a story I don't believe I've shared yet. There's a couple going with me on the trip, and they're from Gretna, which is one of the places I went to speak about last year's trip. They found out about the Russia trip through me, and now they're going.

Isn't that amazing? Now, I've shared my story and two new people are coming on the trip. Who knows, perhaps next year, they'll share their trip, and each of them will bring two more people along. Isn't it amazing how it continues to grow?! I'm so excited to watch this mission spread. I'm not sure if I'll ever be going back to Russia or not, but to see that God uses me after I come back to the States is both exciting and encouraging for me as I go on this trip!!

Any way, that's about all the excitement I have to share!! It's possible that the next time I blog will be from the Omaha airport as we wait to take off, or from Chicago as we wait to fly internationally!!! Can't wait to share this experience with you guys.

Blessings on all that you do!

4 days!!!

Sorry I skipped, but to be honest, when there were 5 days left, there just wasn't too much going on.

Tonight, though, after a busy day at work, I came home and started to pack!! (I leave tomorrow. Nothing like packing at the last minute...) Now, I can guarantee that I'll forget something here, but somehow it will all work out, I'm sure.

The adventure starts tomorrow, at least for me. After my first full day at my job, I'll jump in my packed car, fill him up, and then head east to Des Moines to stay with my dad, catch up with his side of the family, attend a graduation party for my friends, and then try to sleep before the big day. (Hah, yeah right... Thank God for Niquil!) Not to mention, run around trying to find everything that I don't have yet, like a passport holder and bug spray. Nothing says "exciting trip" like last minute packing.

It's been kind of crazy in my apartment - my roommate, Caitlynn, is going with me and is actually going to be my roommate on the trip!! It's pretty cool, because we know how each other works, and we get along super well. It's just kind of an explosion at home, with both of us packing and trying to clean before we fly out. But such is the excitement of travel, which I love so dearly!

Also, a note of thanks: I have a best friend back at home whose family has supported me and loved me for as long as I can remember, and they sent me a very generous monetary donation, which will be able to pay for some extra treats or fruit for the kids, and the small expenses that come right before takeoff. Thank God for wonderful people who support me through their monetary gifts, their prayers, and their good wishes. All are such a blessing, and they make this possible.

Something to keep in your prayers: It may seem minor, but I seem to be on the verge of fighting off a head cold. NOT something I really want to be doing on a 13-hour plane trip. I'll be packing in the Vitamin C, but definitely keep that in your prayers. I'd rather not be miserable to start this trip off!!

That's about all I have for now. Thanks for your support, everyone. You guys all mean the world to me.

Blessings on all that you do!

6 Days

6 days!!

One week from today, we will be landing in Riga, Lativa at 1:30ish PM. From there, we will go to stay with our driver, Juris, and his family at their GORGEOUS lake house. It's such a beautiful place; I'm really looking forward to going back to the house, and to his wife's cooking - wonderful food. Absolutely wonderful.

Today, in preparation, I need to start packing. I will leave Seward on Friday, after work, and drive to Des Moines so that I can stay with my dad, see my cousins, and go some friends' graduation party. Monday morning, we'll be getting up BRIGHT and early (not my favorite time of the day, but it's going to be completely worth it,) so that we can get to the Omaha airport by 8:30. Two hours gives us enough time to go through all the paperwork, customs, security, etc. before we board.

Side note here: I am blessed by the people I'm surrounded by, and one of them is my dad. He used to be a pastor, and therefore, has some of the best people skills, is very calming, and he appreciates our mission for what God is sending us out to do. Last year, he prayed over the group before we boarded the plane - probably the best send off I could have asked for. This year, my leader asked if he would pray for us again, and I'm so excited that he'll be my final blessing before we board the plane. What a great way to start the trip!

That all being said, there's a lot to do before I take off on Friday - just three days away!! Whoosta!! And I'm keeping busy in between, catching up with friends, trying to stay active, keeping my apartment clean, and everything else. Such is the life of a college student, I suppose! And I'm loving every second of it!

Hopefully, later, I can put up some pictures of the packed suitcase... We'll see just how well I do.

Blessings on all that you do!

One Week Countdown Begins... NOW!!!

Let me give this just a second...

Nope. Still hasn't sunk in that I leave. In a week. On a plane. Overseas. Again.

GOD IS SO GOOD.

Oh man, guys, I'm so super pumped for this trip!!!! Something that I want to try this year is video journals on the blog... We'll see how that goes, but I'll give it my best shot!! :) 

Well, as this final week in the States begins, I thought I'd share the itinerary with you guys, so you know where I'll be and what I'll be doing. Gah, so excited for this.... :D

Russia Itinerary Calendar

The full itinerary can be viewed best if you have the month set to June.

Also, here's the official countdown to the day I leave:

Countdown Clock!

More tomorrow!!

Blessings on all that you do!

Why Should I Worry?

Billy Joel's song couldn't have put it more perfectly... "Why should I worry? Why should I care? I may not have a dime..."

Well, except that I do have a dime. Times about 20,507. God worked a miracle on Sunday, and I came away with $875 - exactly $175 more than what I needed to make it on this trip. There were many tears of joy shed on Sunday, and tears of thankfulness.

I love my mother, she shared something along these lines with me:

You know, we always are so surprised when God gives us exactly what we need. However, that's exactly what He promises to do! And yet, every time, we are shocked that we are left without want.

And how true is that? I went to two churches on Sunday to share a little bit about the upcoming trip (13 DAYS, GUYS!!! HOLY SMOKES!!!) and after my sister and I left the first on the way back to our home church, I had her count the money (which, by the way, came solely from a freewill offering,) and she smiled as she turned to me and said "Steph, there's $509 here."

I cried.

I'll admit, I was so scared, so unsure that anything was going to come out of it. The mission donations from that church last week had gone to a young man on his way to China (prayers for him! I believe he takes off for his trip a week before I leave for mine,) and the total had been $100. I was so nervous.

But you know what? I'll bet that he needed exactly $100. I believe that God gives us what we need, whether or not we know we need it, if that makes any sense at all.

Between Ruskin, Trinity (my home church,) and a generous gift from one of my best friends (if you're reading this, you know exactly who you are - thank you!) I am able to go to Russia, to buy gifts for the kids, and to be completely blown away by what God will do on this journey.

That being said, please begin considering my team and I in your prayers. We will fly out of Omaha, Nebraska on May 27th at 10:40 AM, fly through Chicago, layover in Frankfurt, Germany (that will be an 8 hour, 25 minute trip, AND we have a 5 hour layover in Germany!!) and then land in Riga, Latvia, on May 28th at 1:35 PM local time. I hope to keep this updated while I'm overseas, but that will depend on how much internet connection my sad, broken iPod can find... So keep that in your prayers, too. ;)

Thank you, everyone, for everything you've done for me.

Blessings on all that you do!