I want to emphasize that God is raising an army to draw people to Him. It is amazing how just after two visits, how people are mobilizing to this effort. There are many groups involved and it is wonderful to see how God is knitting us together as one body of Christ.
The Team
I have been part of two different trips and realize that true fellowship is more like what we experience when we are on mission for God than when we have ice cream in the fellowship hall at church. There were 13 people who went last year and 4 new people that went this year.
Although we may not have a lot in common or socialize in the same groups, there is a bond that is much stronger than I would have guessed. Whenever I see my fellow team members, there is a unity and an understanding that we have participated in something that has permanently changed us.
I fully expect that this team will continue to grow and that people will return to Russia. It is not a one time event, even if you only go one time. When someone from the first trip told me to carry her heart to Russia, it meant something to me. When I see grown men wailing together for these kids during the Night of Prayer, I fully understand why. When I can just sit next to someone and say nothing after the Valentine’s Party in Loupohinka, I know there are new bonds of fellowship. I have been a part of bands, teams, work groups, men’s fellowships, Sunday school classes, and small groups, but this team stands out amongst them all.
The Interpreters
We have a special group of interpreters that are committed to the kids at Loupohinka. Not only do these interpreters translate the language, they translate the kid’s hearts.
Ismail & Jenya with Ksusha and Klava
Natasha's guitar playing and singing were so helpful in getting the kids invovled. She is pictured here with Anya and two other translators - Veronica & Vusala.
Daniel, Roma & Misha with Yan
Often there are things that we do not see culturally that they are able to explain. When I see how happy they are for the kids, I realize even more how special this time is. The 4 interpreters we had last year (Ishmael, Yan, Vusala, and Jenya) all returned this year even though they do not all still work for Buckner and one was married the day we arrived. We had two others (Natasha and Veronika) that added a lot to the team. Natasha, in particular, played guitar and brought the kids together with her music.
My prayer for these interpreters is that they continue to keep in touch. The older children who have just graduated and will soon move to the city all received Yan’s phone number. Last year, this would not have happened. This year, many of these graduates called Yan within the first 24 hours just to make sure that he has their number. The transition out of the orphanage to the city life is dangerous for these kids (due to Russian mafia, lack of rules, and no family to lean on). I also pray that they help us keep in touch. There will be a fine line of burdening them with too much to translate and wanting to communicate as much as possible with the children. We also want to keep in touch with the Lomonosov Baptist Church. Internet translation is apparently not a good way to go.
Buckner International
This has been a great relationship. Buckner makes it easy to do these trips since they handle the travel arrangements, getting local help (translators), and other paperwork. With their presence in St. Petersberg, they provide year long contact with the orphanage. Finally, their work with adoption offers a streamlined way of handling that process. I cannot imagine doing this work without them.
The economic downturn has caused Buckner to downsize in St. Petersberg. Many of the translators, for instance, that used to work for them do not any longer. Also, they are in the process of closing a transition home for kids graduating from the orphanages. I think all on the team are sad to hear of this because most of the kids will end up in some kind of trouble (jail, drinking, drugs, and worse) without some support system. Apparently, one of the transition families is a couple from Texas. It would be interesting to get contact with them.
Interns
We had a group of 5 college aged interns from Texas schools that joined us in Loupohinka this year. This provided a great help to us as the numbers of children were over double than what we experienced last year. They expressed interest in keeping in touch and possibly participating in future trips. Furthermore, some may end up doing longer term mission work in Russia.
Pictred are: Caleb, Liz, Julie, Jackie & Patrick. Please pray for them as they carry their own stories of serving for a month with Russian orphans back to their family, friends and college peers. Pray that God will continue to grow the passion He has placed in them for missions. Pray for the influence they each have at their college campus - Truett Seminary, Texas A&M, Hardin Simmons, Southwestern Oklahoma State and Mary-Hardin Baylor.
Lomonosov Baptist Church
In a town about 30 minutes from Loupohinka, there is a little Baptist “Prayer House,” which is what they call church in Russia. Apparently, it is almost 100 years old (although during some of the Communist era had moved to St. Petersberg). The church is actually an old house which they have been fixing up for several years. They have done beautiful work and it shows that they are very proud of that church.
The pastor of this church, Andre, has been a believer since 2000 and pastor for a few years. There around 55 members and it is amazing what they do. They visit Loupohinka orphanage and the baby orphanage in Lomonosov (which we visited last year notobale for the AIDS babies) each week
They also have renovated the third floor of their church as a rehabilitation woman’s home for recovering addicts. They want to get a bigger facility for this work so that they can offer training to the women as well. Today, they must send the women to another facility after two months of detox for this training. One need that the team was able to meet was to give money for 4 bunk beds so that they could replace the beds they currently have (see picture). $800 well spent.
I think many from the team believe that partnering with this church can bear much fruit in the lives of the children at the orphanage.
Care Givers
We are so very thankful for the director's openness in allowing us to come and be with the children. There is a ministry with these care givers that we are only starting to tap. With some of them, you can tell that they really care for these children. I remember Olga who told proudly of how one of the girls (Julia) was accepted to receive training to become a florist. Not only would she receive this training, but she would be paid as well. The director, Nadierjda and her husband, Slovak (pictured below) put so much time and effort into these kids and it is great to see how they flock to Slovak as a father figure. I am not sure what to do, but I think we need to focus on this group more on the next trip. If we can share the love and hope of Christ with the people who influence these children on a daily basis, that will have direct impact on the children.
Grand Parkway Baptist Church
I understand that not everyone can make the trip to Russia, but I am convinced that each of us can participate in some way. I learned last year and am continued to be humbled by the prayer support that I receive from members in the church. I know one elder’s wife has a page in her prayer journal just for me. I know of other members who purposely select my prayer cards so that they can lift me up before God. The corporate prayer the team receives before trips is also extremely encouraging.
In addition to prayer, the church helped out with sewing, purchasing, and packaging the gifts. I cannot overstate how excited the children were at the prospect that someone so far away selected a gift for them. They asked about the families in the letters and many of the older ones responded with a letter of their own. It is the responsibility of the team now to try to communicate all the stories back to our church. Going Global, testimonies, mission spotlights, and mission blog have been successful in getting the word out.
I do want to thank everyone at Grand Parkway for their support with prayer, time, and money. Although sometimes it seems like there is so much need and we are just a small part, I can testify to the fact that something great has and will continue to happen in Loupohinka. Although this is one of the things that has been the most difficult to do, it is one that gives me incredible joy.
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