Greeting from the States,

After 2 days of brain fog I would have thought that I would have adjusted to the time zone change, but not yet. I woke up at 4:30 unable to go back to sleep and decided that this would be a good time to summarize for the blog, since my thoughts were about those we left behind in Russia.

Anya posted the most important thing that happened: Four of the children prayed to be forgiven their sins and turned to the Lord. Slava Bogu! (Praise the Lord). When we were preparing for this trip we really didn’t have much of an idea of what we should plan for. Dirk planned on taking his guitar, Jeff his camera, Jeff and Vicki prepped tons of crafts and we loaded our suitcases with American candy. We added our hearts desire to serve where the Lord gave opportunity. Dirk’s guitar was a godsend. Not only did it quickly bring our hearts together with their teams as he played songs that we knew in English and they knew in Russian (Lord I lift your name on high with very similar hand motions) but it also served as a gathering point to keep the kids close by. Dirk has a gift for striking up a song just as the kids seemed to be starting to wander around. Jeff’s camera was a huge blessing as well. I’m not sure what the final picture count will be but it was over 2000 last I heard. His camera can take 6 pictures a second so it adds up fast. Jeff and Vicki spent hours rearranging their luggage before they left for Russia, reorganizing their crafts in the suitcases trying to keep each one under 50 pounds. I think we used them all and each one included a gospel presentation or explanation to the kids that we tailored while we were there. We left all of our extra craft and game supplies for the church to use as they are able.

Sunday was a full day as well. The church in Tambov had a meeting after their service to confirm Vadim as their pastor. He had been serving a one year term and was being voted on to be their permanent pastor with a four year term. While this meeting was going on we took care of the children by playing games and one last teaching opportunity before the day camp’s closing ceremony.

After Vadim was confirmed as pastor we went up for the Day Camp’s closing ceremonies. Vadim spoke to the children and asked if any were going to repent. Two boys and two girls prayed out to be forgiven by the Lord. Slava Boga! Pastor Vadim finished and we then gave each of the children the Russian Bibles that we had raised money for at our VBS. We were inundated with requests to sign the Bibles which we were happy to do. After we would write a note to each one, they would take the Bible over to the translator who would then interpret what we had written. It was one of the most moving (of which I had many) experiences of the two weeks. We quickly packed and then joined the Tambov team for a wonderful dinner of what I am pretty sure was pork schnitzel.

Side note: the previous evening Dirk pulled one on the team. We were sitting enjoying a great tasting concoction of melted cheese mushroom and sliced meat. I couldn’t identify the meat but was halfway through the meal when Dirk said: “I finally figured out what the meat is.” Samantha and Vicki were quickly trying to finish before they could find out and lose their appetite as it was quite good. Too late- Dirk says that it is cow tongue. I was skeptical that he was correct since I have had cow tongue in the past and it has always been tender and this wasn’t as tender. I thought maybe it was just prepared different and continued to enjoy the meal. The girls, Anya, Vicki and Samantha, however, were done. It had tasted so good just moments before and now they couldn’t eat another bite. Dirk confessed later that it was pork, Samantha couldn’t believe that she had been taken in again. Anya is probably only finding out as she reads this blog. Please forgive him and pray for him- he needs much prayer.

The teams had gotten together and gave me some birthday presents on Sunday, June 29th which my 45th birthday. The Tambov team gave me a neckchain with Phillipians 4:13 in Russian on it as well as a Tambov Tshirt. The American team and our translators gave me a Banya stick, a hat, a cake and a poster of the Russian alphabet. (Anya and Misha, expect an email every now and then asking how to pronounce something. I wouldn’t want you to think I had quit trying to figure out your crazy language.) It was a birthday I will never forget with my new family that welcomed me when I couldn’t be with my own.

I preached at the Sunday evening service, we had dinner together and then tried to say goodbye. It was very difficult. I am surprised at how close our hearts knit together in such a short time, and how hard it was to say goodbye. The impact on me will be permanent. There is so much more that I would have liked to have said that I couldn’t put into words. The Lord did an amazing work in a short time. I hope to return in the His time. Thank you all.

Paul Graff

The latest: I just got a call from Moscow! They are having dinner after a day of being tourists. Paul is shocked at the prices. What would you guess would be the food of choice for Mr. He'll-eat-anything? He ordered a $16 dollar cheeseburger! Apparently it was one of the cheapest things on the menu. $8 dollar milkshakes?

The train ride was a little more rustic than the one going down there. Exhaustion was a friend and they slept through.

They have a hotel for tonight and will be leaving at 4 a.m. for the trip to Germany. After a 5 hour lay over, then to Chicago for another 5 hour lay over. They should reach Boise sometime tomorrow night. Depending on planes and connections.

Paul said the 'good-byes' were very hard. Please pray for them as they are very tired and have a long way to go still.

Forwarded from Pastor Jim Harris:

Anya is our beloved translator in Tambov. The team is officially on their way home! I'll be at the airport to greet them.

Jim


Hi, Jim! The team left for Moscow about half an hour ago. Everything was
fine, they got on the train ok, and Jerry didn’t even get lost)) That was
really sad to say good-bye to everybody, I’m already missing these guys
very much. Now that it’s so silent in the church and I don’t have anyone
to take care of.

But we had some good and even great things happen today too. Today we had
the last day of the camp and 2 boys and 2 girls repented of their sins.
Praise the Lord!

2 girls who were in the camp came to the train station to say good-bye to
the guys. That was neat!

Thanks a lot for the verse in the end of your e-mail, it was really
encouraging for me. And thanks a lot for your prayers, I need them and you
are in my prayers too.

Love u and miss you as the team reminded me of you even more.

Take care and hope to hear from you whenever you have time to respond.

“God alone is our strength, our shield”!

FROM BEAR:

Beloved,

Right now it is Saturday morning and we are preparing for our last day of the day camp here in Tambov and tonight we do a music outreach. It truly has been a joy. Hey, Cherie, just wanted to tell you that we will be adding to our family. One little girl here reminds me of Madison. Friday was just as exciting as the rest. Different adventures and great excitement. Some of the joy has been in talking to the pastor here and hearing his heart for ministry. For a young guy he is sure passionate about truth and loving on the people. Praise God for his heart. He told us the other day that when he saw us get off the train, he was thinking no not these old people. How can they have the energy and love for these kids at day camp. This made us laugh as he went on to share that he has been blessed and the kids are being blessed by our service to the Lord here. Never thought I would be put in the category of “old,” boy times are changing. Also last night, Dirk and I made our way down to the other church here in Tambov and did a live internet radio session. The targeted group were unbelievers between 14 to 23. They were invited to ask the Americans questions. We sang Amazing Grace and they liked so much that asked for another song. Never thought I would have fan base who wanted to hear me sing. On the serious side, we were able to answer such questions on what is sin and idol worship. We let them have it as we exposited from the text of Scriptures. Needless to say the internet lines where bursting at the seams. Serge, the radio host, was telling us these Orthodox’s didn’t like our answers as we were telling them that it is in Christ alone through faith alone that one might be saved. All to the glory of God. On a personal note, I awoke this morning with my whole body itching. It seems that at night I become a buffet for all the mosquitoes here in Tambov. At last count I have 21 bites just on my arms alone. I think that they wrote something in brail. Slova Bogu. Anyway time to eat breakfast. Hold fast, with the Lord’s help we are coming home soon. In Christ, Pastor Bear

FROM SAMANTHA:

Alright, I am finally sitting down to type. It is so hard to believe that we'll be leaving Tambov in just two more days. I am looking forward to seeing you all (and my bed) but I'm going to miss these precious kids. There has been talk of smuggling a couple back with us in suitcases.


This afternoon, we all loaded into the buses (getting there is half the adventure with the way these people drive) and headed to the riverside. We played volleyball, frisbee, and tackle the Bear. The last one was Daddy's idea and Bear didn't realize a new game had started until he found himself at the bottom of the pile of kids. Not sure yet what shape Bear's revenge will take.


I've enjoyed getting to know the older girls over the past couple of days. At this day camp, children up to the age of fourteen are allowed to attend. Most of the older ones know just enough english to communicate with the help of charades. It has been encouraging to see that some of the girls that seemed very withdrawn on the first day off camp are much more receptive to teaching and interaction now. I so wish that I could talk to them more easily, but I just have to pray that a smile and 'Previet' will communicate what I can't verbalize. After crafts this morning, Vicki and I were cleaning up before heading to lunch when three girls came in with a broom and told us to go eat and they would finish. One of the girls, Tanya, has been giving me lessons on how to say the names of various flowers in Russian. (Anna, they call pansies "Anna's eyes" here. Sounds like a-NOO-tee-GLAHS-gee, I think.)


About the food, they really haven't served us anything too dreadful. Except for yesterday's liver. Mom, I want you to know that Daddy made me eat not one, not two, but THREE bites! Not little ones either, mind you. He kept complaining that I wasn't eating them, I was just swallowing them . What on earth is the difference? On the other hand, one of the ladies here made us doughnuts which we ate warm with honey. Every meal has a dessert plate which is replinished between mealtimes. It feels like they are feeding us constantly.


Tomorrow (Saturday) is the last official day of camp. We are supposed to plan a skit and a scavenger hunt for the children to do in the afternoon. Schedules are suggestions though, so we are learning not to hold too tightly to our plans. I am so glad I didn't bring a watch. It is much easier to go with the flow when I don't know what we are supposed to be doing at a given moment. I will see if there is time to write more tomorrow.

Beloved,

Trust you are walking in the Lord. Thursday was another adventurous day. Often the things that man plans out never seems to be the way the Lord wants it to work out. All you organized and list people would struggle with the way you have to do ministry here. It is not that they are structured they are but in a moment’s notice your plans might change so you better be ready. But that is Russia and that is the way of life. I must say that my heart continues to grow for these people. They are precious in the Lord. We had a great day. Ministry continues to go well. You act goofy enough and the kids love you, yet that gives you the opportunity to dive into their hearts and talk about Christ. We went to the forest and played kick ball and did belly bouncing. Yes I know what you are thinking, belly bouncing? Some of the boys wanted to bump chests as a form of greeting. The problem is most of their heads line up with my belly. Did they bounce? Yes they did. Also last night was a blessing after dinner as we sat around and talked ministry with Vadim. He is the head pastor of the Church here in Tambov. He reminds me of a young Timothy with a heart and passion to love and serve the people. The night concluded with us going to the store and buying food to watch the big Russia soccer game. Please pray for Vicki, her husband seems to seek out things that I would deem not worthy to be on a grocery list. His gut is holding up but I am still waiting to see what happens. Today (Friday) finds our day with reaching out to these kids and going to the forest again. The team is doing a great job with all the different responsibilities. Jerry is our bell guy and is helping the kids put together a song that will be played on Sunday in front of the church. The crafts and game have been going well and we are looking forward to handing out the Russian Bibles on Saturday or Sunday. I found it interesting that the leadership here asked if theses Bibles where in English. They expressed that if they were in English they could practice the language. Also tonight, Dirk and I will be on radio. Don’t know where that will go but think it as an opportunity to share Christ. Pray that we continue to find God’s grace. He is sustaining us and providing many opportunities to show His love.

Continuing to Look to the Lord’s Shaping,

Pastor Bear

Hey folks, Leave comments.
The team is reading this blog too.

From Jeff:

Greetings from Russia,

I've attached several more pictures for your enjoyment with my hope of giving you another taste of the Russia that I'm seeing everyday. It's difficult to imagine less than twenty years ago both of our nations were at a point of war.

We are currently watching the Russian / Spain Euro Cup game. Spain is up by 3 points and its looking as though Spain might win, so far. Our Russian translators are totally mesmerized with this game as though they have a wager on the game. Paul has bought more herring and now "Red" caviar and keeps trying to get Bear to eat it with no success. I tried it and actually the caviar is okay, but I think I prefer the herring a little more than anything else.

Most of today was about the same as other days with a little different flavor. The difference today was going to the "Forest", which was about a 20 min drive out of town to a local wooded area that had an abandoned soccer field. Most of our time was spent playing various games with the kids, which gave us an excellent opportunity of building a common bond with them.

I've noticed some of the kids that were shy or a little more distant than other kids on Monday have started to become very friendly over the past day or so. Quite a few want their picture taken and also going out of their way to play, or try and talk to various people on our team.

Hope to send you another email soon.

In Him,
Jeff











From Paul AKA Pasha

Today was another long day (Day camp starts at 11 and today went to 6) but it was not as hard as yesterday as we went to the forest and played some games in the afternoon which broke up the day better. Tomorrow we will go to the river. Probably not in it but there is a park next to it that we can use. We went to the local store this evening after dinner and and then watched Spain beat the Russians in soccer. Bear is not enjoying the caviar, Anya and I are really the only ones that like it. It is very salty but has a good flavor. Sorry you can't be here to enjoy all the culture. Today at lunch they served liver. It was mixed with some spices and had a much milder flavor than how it is prepared there with onions. It was tolerable but not something I would order from a menu.
It sounds like the next couple of days are nonstop action. After dinner tomorrow Bear and Dirk are going to be interviewed on a local christian internet radio. After Day Camp on saturday we will do an evangelistic outreach through music in town and sunday is a full day as well. Continue to pray fo us not only to be effective and God honoring but to sleep well also.

FROM BEAR:

Well Good Morning America or should I say Good Evening?,

It is Thursday morning here in Tambov and Wednesday night in Twin as I write this. Ministry here has been exciting to say the least. The Lord continues to stretch us and use us the way He sees fit. Let me back up and share some of my thoughts on the past few days. As mentioned in earlier posts we split up our team on Sunday morning. Dirk and the Kidds went to Morschank and ministered there, their report was encouraging. The Graff’s, Jerry and I stayed in Tambov and ministered here. Paul gave his testimony and I preached a sermon on the Purpose of Prayer as I just gathered my thoughts on what I taught in Twin in one sermon. Yes I know, one sermon in Russia, 13 sermons on the same subject in Twin . The people were receptive. That night we listened to 3 sermons from Deacons who are in training. I must say this concept is a very good idea. I might have to import it to the States. The discouraging thing was the content. But that is for another time. Day camps as they are called here started on Tuesday and all is going well. We have learned to go with the flow, which means be expected to do anything at a moment’s notice. The kids are warming up to us and we are always looking for times to share Christ. All of our crafts and skits are pointed that way. I am a little concerned for Paul. His adventurous lifestyle in the food department might catch up to his stomach, but it sure brings a good smile to the team. We often find ourselves saying to him, “You are eating what…?” I must say thanks for your sustaining prayers. They are helping our team. We are singing a lot and serving each other a lot. Even got a foot rub from Dirk. Sorry to say he might have some fungus on his hands. I am encouraged. The Lord is stretching us, humbling us, and showing us how to extend His love. Today is another full day. Continue to lift us before the throne room of God. In Christ, Pastor Bear

from Jeff:

Hello,

Monday we had a day to ourselves as I mentioned in a prior email, so I've included more pictures of our time in Tambov. You'll notice a couple pictures with Vicki and Bear drinking a brownish drink from a plastic cup. This was our first experiment with Anya and Misha taking in the true Russian culture. Paul and I thought it wasn't to bad, but as you will notice... Vicki and Bear thought otherwise. I'm not sure how it is made other than it had a bitter-vinegar taste. One other picture of interest will be the Russian cross, which is quite different from our cross. The top part of the cross is where the sign "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews" was placed above Christ's head, the middle section of the cross is where Christ was nailed, then the lower half represents the two thieves. The right side of the cross pointing down is the thief who didn't repent, and the left side pointing upwards is the thief whom repented that Jesus said would be in paradise with Him that day.





Tuesday was the start of the Tambov day camp and it will conclude sometime Saturday. Kids start coming around 10 to 10:30 AM and we begin doing activities with everyone at 11 AM. Activities usually end around 5 to 5:30 PM with a wrap-up meeting with our Russian ministry team at 6 PM to work on our planning for the following day. By the end of the day, most of us are exhausted from the constant activities with the kids.







I've included pictures from Tuesday and Wednesday with several of the kids posing, playing a sporting activity, or something with crafts. There are a couple photos with everyone wearing bandannas, which we were using to do skits for the kids. We didn't know we would be doing the skits, so we were in a hurry to find something Monday evening... thanks to Google we got something worked out. Tuesday's skit was "Professor Noodle Brain and the Sin-eliminator", and Wednesday's was called the "Red Bandanna Club". Both of these skits presented one aspect of the gospel message that reaffirmed what we have been teaching during our craft sessions. Today, we were told by our Russian team that they noticed the kids reactions and asked if we can continue with the skits.





We also went to the zoo today, which we weren't sure what to expect. Amazingly, there were quite a few animals and other interesting sites. I was a little surprised how close we could get to the cage and not sure how cockroaches fit into the exhibits along with the snakes, and marsupials... Regardless, they give me the creeps. I know tomorrow we are going to the forest to do some type of sporting activity... hopefully we can survive the mosquitoes :)





Oh... Paul and I also experimented with herring tonight. I thought it was a little salty, but overall tasted pretty good. Closest that I could relate to it was something similiar to tuna fish. Paul and I think the others aren't taking in enough culture... but as Bear pointed out, "I'm living it now 24-7" :) We've also had some pretty decent meals although having cabbage soup four times in a row for lunch and dinner between Morshansk and Tambov was interesting, yet fun to experience if you get what I mean. We put in a special request for another typical Russian dinner, which is a baked roll filled with meat and cabbage... can't wait to have it I think it will be quite delicious. The breads, cheeses and meats have been wonderful... well except the bologna... another story for another time.

Take care and can't believe the week is going by so quickly.

Jeff

From Paul:

Priviet (sounds like preeviet), (Preevietstuyu is a more formal adult Christian hello),

Yesterday was a partial day off for us. Most of us finally got a good night's rest. After a late breakfast we walked around Tambov with our two interpreters/guides. Anya and Misha. They are both in their early twenties but understand our language and culture very well.

When I asked how they learned it so well (they do not have teachers from America or England in their schools), they said that they read a lot of our books and watch our movies. I think that they need a little more help though as they seemed somewhat confused as I quoted some lines from The Princess Bride. Either that or they thought I was a doobdoobum (wooden head). We shopped in a few stores and visited a museum. At the museum the Americans were spending too much time laughing. We had a few frowns from the staff.

Today was a full day with day camp from 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM with prep beforehand and meetings afterward. The original plan was for us to do crafts and games in the early afternoon and then take the kids to the zoo in the late afternoon. However, during lunch, after games/crafts, we were told that we would go to the zoo tomorrow and that we would have 3 one half hour sessions teaching english as the 3 age groups rotated through. We hadn't really planned for an extra hour and a half of activity. We have found that a schedule here is more like a quideline and it can be very fluid. (Not like our more rigid planned out VBS days). Fortunately, we have so far been able to adapt quickly. We used pictionary and charades to have the children act out common nouns and a few actions and would then have them repeat them in English once they quessed them. They really have trouble with our 'r's and try to roll them on the end of their tongue.

Today we mostly used AWANA games for the sports time. We bought some makeshift supplies at a local toy store and a small plumbing store in the public market. Their play area though is a little rough as it is the parking lot which is a mix of sand and pavement. So far the kids are pretty stout without any injuries.


After dinner we walked to the local grocery store (similar to our Winco) and bought a couple of items. Anya helped me buy a couple of snacks which Jeff and I seemed to be the only ones to really appreciate. The bag of what I thought would be something like potato chips was actually toasted bread much like flavored croutons. Bear couldn't get past the flavor of the black caviar and politely refused a second try at it. We convinced him that the red caviar flavored crouton-like things were much better (and they were, a much milder flavor with almost a buttered popcorn like taste) however Bear's piece of this delicacy ended up in much the same place as the first... Waiting for a bird to come by to enjoy. Although this one involved a little more spitting trying to get the taste out of his mouth. No matter how hard we tried we could not convince him to try the flan-like sweet cheese dessert thingy. Jeff and I thought that it was pretty good as well but we couldn't seem to find any takers to share with. Tomorrow we will tackle a couple of varieties of herring with an admonition about the importance of sharing all things in Christ.

Seriously, this has been a great time of growth and love for both our team and and the Tambov and Murchansk teams. I am sure that as we continue to labor together for Christ that He will continue to turn the hearts of these children to Him and grow our love for each other deeper as well.

Psalm 100

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.
Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.

On Sunday, our group was split up with Dirk, Vicki and me going Morshansk and the rest staying in Tambov for church. I took a few pictures of our time in Morshansk. We didn't know it until we got there, but this would be the last time the orphans would be in Morshansk because their orphanage was closing and they were moving to an orphanage outside of Tambov. At the end of the service, the church gave the children a picture of their time at the Friday day camp, which touched a lot of the kids to start crying. These kids don't receive a lot and for them to receive this picture they loved it. The picture they got was the group photo I took and sent to everyone from Friday's day camp. The picture is on the blog under Friday's posting.

As I understand it, the kids stay within these orphanages until they are old enough to leave, which I believe is 18 years old. Then they are given Rubels and are expected to live on their own, except this results in a problem in that the kids don't understand how to take care of themselves, and expect people to continue to provide for them. A small majority lead normal lives, but I have a feeling these kids were influenced by people such as those of the Morshansk and Tambov churches.

Finally, I've also come to appreciate our roads, traffic and some of the oldest American cars. I wished I could take a video of the driving... lets just say I've experienced the road in ways that I never thought was possible. Several times we commented to our drivers that an axile or wheel was left behind after a VERY hard jolt and that we had to turn around to get it. Most often, we all start laughing and keep going on.

Oh, one other thing... we are all becoming very good at using gestures or charades to communicate and it's taken quite well.

From Jeff

Saturday was HUGE! We arrived mid-morning to start working with about 12 kids that are part of the Morshansk church where we played games together, and did several crafts together building on our relationship together. The biggest hit with the kids was face painting. At first we started to paint their face and before we realized it... they were painting our faces, arms, and chests :) of which I've given quite a few pictures. I think you will find this quite humorous. We also did quite a few relay races with the winners receiving candy that they were very excited about and it really helped set the tone with their desire to cooperate and work together in a team.




You will find several pictures with Bear being a typical comedian with the kids. Within a couple hours, quite a few kids, if not all, were crawling all over him wanting more of his attention to the point he had gotten a hole in the bottom of his pants that the kids were finding it humorous to watch as the hole continued to grow throughout the day. (I suspect the kids were taking joy in helping the hole grow). We also took the kids to the forest for an hour as most of the team realized walking into the forest wasn't the safest as hordes of mosquitos enjoyed the company, so we spent our time on a small dirt soccer field playing kick ball. We took a group photo and included it within the zip file. After returning from the forest, we made it in time before the orphans arrived to spend time playing games and doing crafts with them in addition to the other twelve children.









Also, you will see a few other peoples that is showing a man getting water from a pipe that was on the side of the road outside of the church. I know the church and the buildings associated with the church didn't have running water, or inside toilets. I saw him throughout the day going out to get water for people to cook with, and for the children to drink. One of the interesting things was the bathroom... we all considered it an experience. I can't describe the stench or what I saw other than... I consider it quite fortunate that I only had to go to it once in the three days I was there. Vicki went there a couple times over the three days... and it was difficult for her since... well, lets just say the conditioned didn't allow her to sit. I have another picture of the cooks who were wearing solid light blue garments, and several other pictures with the team getting a quick and dirty lesson on Russian. We also learned Bear (Greg Morton's nickname) didn't translate very well to the children because the letter "R" sound doesn't exist in their language so saying it in English caused them to laugh. There is another picture with Bear practicing his make shift Russian with one of the local girls who kept giggling especially when he said his name as the Russian word "Bear" in Russian. She had a confused look a couple times where we were all laughing and having a great time. Several of the other pictures with us around the picnic table writing on paper without any kids was our Russian lessons from Anaya and Misha. One small note - Anaya and Misha are doing an excellent job being every where at all times helping to translate doing crafts with the kids, running at a whim to translate something for a child or someone else for the team. My hat is off to them.

From Bear:

Beloved,

Trust things are going well at home. I must say it is a blessing to be an extension of you as we represent Christ to the dear Saints here in Tambov. Our days have been filled with laughter, Scripture, praying, eating and playing. All in all that is a common day for me in everyday life. We have been stretched both physically and spiritually. The team is really doing a great job loving on each other. Nothing but pitching in and helping. They are using their spiritual gifts and showing the fruit of the Spirit. After today’s ministry, I finally understood why we are so tired. We have literally, time wise, done a week’s worth of VBS like we have done in Twin, in one day here. We spent from 8:00 am to 8:00pm, 12 hours playing, doing crafts, and teaching the Scriptures to 47 kids. Today alone these precious little ones have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ 4 separate times and Samantha shared her testimony on how the Lord saved her. The Lord is opening up many hearts. The orphans are clinging to anyone who will show them attention and love and that is just what we have done here. One small issue happened on a personal side. Somewhere during the day, I ripped a huge hole in the seat of my pants. Needless to say, there were many laughs. Also didn’t help that the kids desired to make the hole bigger. Did find a bandana to help cover some of it. On the ministry side, I saw the Lord draw some older boys from the orphanage to be more open to me and the Gospel. They were distance the day before but today the Lord softened their hearts and they were very endearing when it was time to leave. Tomorrow is Sunday, looking to see the Lord use His word to shape hearts. Please pray for strength and the shaping of our hearts. Love you in Christ, Pastor Bear



From Paul:

Yesterday we had a handful of kids from the local churches in Morshansk plus about 35 children from an orphanage nearby. They were quite a handful, and they would glom onto all of us. It is difficult to truly understand how hard it is to talk to someone, young or old, when the languages are so different. Even though you can use gestures like charades, the other party usually just shakes their head and smiles politely until an interpreter shows up. Our interpreters, Misha and Alya both speak english well and can communicate what we are trying to say very well. They are a real blessing!

Yesterday and today have been very busy and tiring. We left the church at 9:00 this morning and it is a 1 1/2 hour drive to Morshansk. Day camp starts at 10:00 and goes to 7:00 PM. We are very busy trying to figure out how to keep the kids occupied and teach them Biblical truths.

I am falling asleep at the computer and will need to email you tomorrow when I get a chance. Samantha gave her testimony before I taught and did a very good job of explaining the gospel as well.



From Dirk:

Things are going well here. It is encouraging to see the zeal with which all are embracing the opportunity for witnessing (in the airport, to the children, etc..) and for the love that is being poured out through each one to the children. We had about 47 children in Morshansk (12 from the Church and 35 from the orphanage) on Friday afternoon. We return to them today and pray for their openness to the gospel message. It is a joy to witness their response to love and attention. Now we pray that God will open their hearts to understand their need for and the opportunity to embrace the love that will transcend all their circumstances and fill them with true eternal joy in the Lord. All on the team are enjoying the chance to be stretched, and may God continue to use us to share His love with these precious people and may we continually give thanks to God who has poured out His love into our hearts. May all your hearts be encouraged as well and give our precious people my love and let them know that they are in my prayers.

Dirk

From Vicki

All is going really well. We are now (pretty much) caught up on our sleep and will be spending another day in Morshansk at day camp. The church's children (about 12) will be there this morning. The orphanage children (another 35) will be joining us again this afternoon.

Please pray that the language differences would not create a barrier in our sharing of the gospel. The children are very loving and so excited to speak with us. There are two interpreters with us, though with so many children it is not possible to utilize their skills with every conversation. One church member's child (Daniel) came up to me speaking broken English. Maybe he can be my mini-translator today... =)

Last night was our first experience at dinner without a translator. We spent much of the meal laughing hysterically as I and Raphael played a game of charades having conversation about the food and our family. FYI -the universal sign for milk is squeezing the udders to milk the cow. (Becky - Kevin may find this useful when traveling out of the country...smile.)

The food the church workers are preparing has been wonderful. Kenzie, I think even you would enjoy almost everything on the table. Last night we had some pasta with meatballs. There are many fresh veggies and fruits at every meal. The strawberries were so delicious (putting several inside of a crepe-like "Blintz" with some chocolate spread). The fruit juices and teas are also very tasty.

The landscape reminds many of us of Western Oregon. It is very green with lots of smalls trees and wild flowers. Many of the roads we have traveled on are lined with Birch (or maybe larger Aspen) trees. If it were not for the signs (which we can not read - though Paul and Samantha are interpreting fairly well), the "unique" roads (which we do not find in the US) and driving adventures (like 140-160 km/hr - which is 87-100 miles per hour), and the distinctive cement/brick building structures (which are all very similar to each other due to remnants of the Social Communist system in USSR), you would think we weren't too far from home.

Right to Work!

The church building is Central Baptist Church in Tambov. The team is staying in the guest rooms on the 4th floor on the back side of the building (opposite side from the picture).


Second picture is the room where all their meals are served at the church. Three ladies work nearly full time in the kitchen when teams are present. The food is excellent.


Third and fourth pictures are from the location where they're putting on what they call Day Camp (we say VBS) in Morshansk. I don't recognize the location, but the "facilities" are pretty normal. Looks like a great crowd, and from Jeff's email that says they have an early departure Saturday morning, I assume they have a day of activities on Saturday as well. They will wrap up the week at church on Sunday morning.



Pics from Jeff and captions from Pastor Jim Harris. Thank you!

First Lunch in Moscow


Jeff on the Train


Train to Tambov




Thanks to Jim Harris in Boise for forwarding me all the messages.