Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday Update
It seems we just arrived...and tomorrow is our last day at the orphanage. We just got home from a bus ride to the store, where we all bought some necessary items for our classes. For example: toilet paper (most of the kids use pages from notebooks they've already written on!), toothpaste/brushes, shampoo, soap, pens, and socks. It feels like Christmas and we are Santa Claus. Except these gifts are better: they are blessings from God!
Most of us are pretty run down, and running on drugs (the legal kind). Some have lost their voices, many are sniffling, but we are all still smiling!!
Tomorrow will be tough. Saying goodbye to the kids is so heart wrenching. It has been the most amazing experience for all of us, and we have grown close to the teachers, kids, translators, helpers, and brethren here in Mariupol. It truly is amazing how believers have family all over the world.
We think of our American family all the time and are so thankful you have lifted us up in prayer!
Photos coming soon...
Most of us are pretty run down, and running on drugs (the legal kind). Some have lost their voices, many are sniffling, but we are all still smiling!!
Tomorrow will be tough. Saying goodbye to the kids is so heart wrenching. It has been the most amazing experience for all of us, and we have grown close to the teachers, kids, translators, helpers, and brethren here in Mariupol. It truly is amazing how believers have family all over the world.
We think of our American family all the time and are so thankful you have lifted us up in prayer!
Photos coming soon...
Monday, October 25, 2010
First Day
Today was very fruitful! Talk about adrenaline rush. We have spent months and months anticipating this day! We all had less kids than we thought, but that's OK...we are just so happy to have the kids we have. They were all so excited to see us. There are about 20 of us (translators and teachers) who travel to and from the orphanage. We sure do cram those buses traveling there and back 4 times a day! We will have morning classes and afternoon classes all week. We go from 10-12, come back, eat lunch (which the ladies from church make for us - YUM!) and then go back for one last session from 3-5. We all switch off making dinner and cleaning up. Right now we are all sitting around preparing for tomorrow's lesson!
We are so excited for the rest of the week! Thank you for your prayers!!
Love,
The Team
We are so excited for the rest of the week! Thank you for your prayers!!
Love,
The Team
Sunday 10-24 Worship in Mariupol
Priviett! (Greetings)
Today we were able to worship with the congregation here in Mariupol. There were 3 baptisms! It was so special to experience 3 new sisters coming to Christ. We all stood in the baptistry room and sang praises to God after class, and then went back to the auditorium to finish the worship. The song book they use has English on one side of the page, and Russian on the other. We knew almost all of the songs they sang (but we sang in English). It has been so encouraging to meet the bretheren here. They are all so sweet and welcoming to us...which is a nice change from being out in public, where people get really weirded out if you look or smile at them.
We had a meeting today at 2 with all the translators and teachers, and spent the rest of the day prepping crafts. There are some wonderful people who have come to translate for us - most of them are young - even to age 16! About half of the translators are from the church, and a few members from the church volunteered to teach a class at the orphanage. We still need 3 more teachers to cover all of the classes at the orphanage, but it's not looking like we'll get them covered. We just have to deal with this reality.
The people who started the church in Mariupol are staying here this week as well. Larry, his wife Joy, and Hal are from Texas. They started the church in 1996. They are from Texas, and really sweet. It has been so nice to talk with them. Joy made us taco soup on Saturday night (it was delicious). Speaking of food, we spent 3 hours at the "AM store" - which was basically like a Ukranian Super Wal-mart - getting food for the week.
Tomorrow will be our first day at the orphanage, and we are all SUPER EXCITED! It's crazy to think that after months of preparation we are finally ready to go to work.
Thank you so much for your prayers, we need them more than ever right now!
Love,
Steph, Leah, Jan, Connie, Debbie, and Theresa :)
Today we were able to worship with the congregation here in Mariupol. There were 3 baptisms! It was so special to experience 3 new sisters coming to Christ. We all stood in the baptistry room and sang praises to God after class, and then went back to the auditorium to finish the worship. The song book they use has English on one side of the page, and Russian on the other. We knew almost all of the songs they sang (but we sang in English). It has been so encouraging to meet the bretheren here. They are all so sweet and welcoming to us...which is a nice change from being out in public, where people get really weirded out if you look or smile at them.
We had a meeting today at 2 with all the translators and teachers, and spent the rest of the day prepping crafts. There are some wonderful people who have come to translate for us - most of them are young - even to age 16! About half of the translators are from the church, and a few members from the church volunteered to teach a class at the orphanage. We still need 3 more teachers to cover all of the classes at the orphanage, but it's not looking like we'll get them covered. We just have to deal with this reality.
The people who started the church in Mariupol are staying here this week as well. Larry, his wife Joy, and Hal are from Texas. They started the church in 1996. They are from Texas, and really sweet. It has been so nice to talk with them. Joy made us taco soup on Saturday night (it was delicious). Speaking of food, we spent 3 hours at the "AM store" - which was basically like a Ukranian Super Wal-mart - getting food for the week.
Tomorrow will be our first day at the orphanage, and we are all SUPER EXCITED! It's crazy to think that after months of preparation we are finally ready to go to work.
Thank you so much for your prayers, we need them more than ever right now!
Love,
Steph, Leah, Jan, Connie, Debbie, and Theresa :)
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