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!!!