SPU: Tomorrow is our last day…

Here’s an update from each team member! 🙂

Hilary- Hello friends and family!  Tomorrow we are finishing our VBS and are saying goodbye to the kids and teens we have gotten to know in the last few weeks.  Honestly I think saying goodbye is going to be a bit tough.  I truly feel that I could stay in this place for another year and am a little worried about the re –entry process.  Yet, if this trip has taught me anything it is that the Lord works in mysterious and powerful ways so I must trust Him as we prepare to leave Russia.  Thank you for all of your prayers.

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SPU: Finished first week of camp!

To all our supporters,

It has been a wonderful and long week at the TB center.  We are filled with the joy that has been radiating from these wonderful children as we play games, sing songs, and make crafts.  They love our silly songs like Aroostasha, the Hokey Pokey, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and many others.  But most importantly, they love showing us all they have learned including songs, crafts, and games.  In the mornings we spend three hours with them, simply loving them, and then are able to take a break for lunch and a quick nap, only to return in the afternoons for another two hours of smiles, laughter and hugs.

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News from Alex and Magen!

It is now our second week in Russia, and we arrived safely to Novgorod.  Our week has started and will end with a VBS camp for the children and teens here at the children’s center.  Yesterday was our first day and it was so much more than we expected (in a good way).  We arrived to a classroom of children who were shaking in their seats with excitement to come and meet us.  When their teaching session was over we were greeted with Russian songs and cheers.

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SPU: We have met the kids!

Priviet from Novgorod!!!

We’ve arrived safely, after an. . . interesting, and very exciting journey. We had lots of thunder and lightening on Saturday night, and it continued to rain and storm off and on during the day on Sunday, which made the drive exciting.

We are staying at a church that is very close to the TB Children Center, which is a blessing. Our commute time to the sight is about 5 minutes, whereas with the HIV Baby Orphanage, it was about an hour.

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SPU: We are off to Novgorod!

The amazing Dr. Slava! Loves and cares for the HIV kids!

After a wonderful week with our little kids at the HIV Orphanage, we are leaving for Novgorod (2.5 hours south of St Petersburg) to meet the kids where we will do a camp for two weeks.

The last day with the little kids was a little different than we expected.

After we arrived we found out that the kids went to the zoo! We were sad, but excited for them, since that is something they do not do very often.

And it was for the best, so that the kids would not be crying when we say goodbye.

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Hello from Magen and Alex!

Hello again Everyone!

Well, our week in St Petersburg is just about done and again what a blessing it has been! For the past couple days we’ve been playing with the children as usual and each day brings new experiences with the kids.

As we were playing with the children on Thursday we were all dreading the next day where we would have to say goodbye to the children we had spent all week playing with. Little did we know that on Friday, we wouldn’t have to say goodbye because the children were on a field trip to the zoo!

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SPU: First week coming to an end…

Dear friends and family,

This week has been simply amazing at the HIV baby orphanage!  When we first arrived at the orphanage, we were greeted with many hugs and smiles from some of the children but many took more time to warm up to our group.

But we stood the test and have bonded with the children deeply, knowing they will remain in our hearts forever.  Every morning, we have been chasing the children and have been blessed with seeing their smiles and hearing their laughter as they play.

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