Air hug

We woke up to snow in Kirov this morning! Stephanie  was so excited she squealed and flailed about in the hallway.

We started our day with a quick stop at one of the churches in Velikoretskoye before heading to the orphanage. When showing pictures to our youngest boy, Stas, whom we've all completely fallen in love with, Stephanie shared an artistic "angled" photo and Stas said, "Oh, no! Our church is falling down!" Small group time was great today and we all got to have some great conversations throughout the day. The kids shared dreams for future jobs and talked about what they wanted to do for the night's talent show. 
Several kids got up to perform songs or dances and recite poetry, while others showed off their artistic talent. Several recited Pushkin and did a wonderful job.

Others displayed their beautiful artwork. Vika, one of our older kids, was shy to show us in front of the other kids so she stayed late to show us some of her artwork, which was on par with professional artists. She insisted we take home every piece she showed us to give to all of you.

We are already sad for our last day tomorrow, but looking forward to more hugs from these awesome kids. This will be our last post for the trip as we'll no longer have wifi after tonight. Thanks for all your prayers for our last day and our travels home. Even with the sadness of tomorrow, we are so looking forward to sharing stories of these wonderful kids with all of you.

SUPERfriends

Sorry, friends...we've been SUPER tired the past couple of nights and haven't given you any specifics, but get ready because we're about to unload on you.

The past couple of days have been fantastic, both in lesson and rotations in the afternoon. The kids are opening up in family group during discussion time, and we've learned so much about them in the last two days. We've talked about pain and conflict and plan to end on courage tomorrow.

The name of the game this week in activity has been "flexibility." Planned activities have gone a little awry, but our need for structure has taken second place to the kids having fun, which is what's most important, anyway.

Craft has gone well, and we can tell the ones they've loved because a hush falls over the room as they create. It's been silly, too, as it should be with kids--today's activity being a perfect example. We finger painted with the kids on pieces of fabric and Lindsay walked by two kids just as they were high-fiving with hands covered in paint and ended up being covered in paint herself.

We've been able to stay late almost every night, which is partly why we're so tired, but is also such a blessing. That extra time with the kids is so incredibly important for bonding. We showed sponsor videos one night, which included lots of laughter and emotion from all of the kids. It really helped them see what a huge community of supporters is behind them at Woods Chapel.The next night, we stayed to watch The Avengers and several of us got some great cuddle time in. These kids crave being held so badly, and movie night is the perfect evening for that to happen.

Tonight, we threw a birthday party for all of the kids. We decked out the room in superhero party decorations and balloons, and sang happy birthday and ate treats. We wanted the kids to feel special and since we can't be here on all of their birthdays, this was our substitute. We played Bingo as well, and Shawn entertained the kids with silly voices calling out the numbers. He wore out three translators in the process.

We also hung up the handprints poster from all of you during the party and several of the kids loved seeing your messages and your "wave" from miles away.Watching kids open your sponsor gifts was also an incredible highlight of the past couple of days. We can't stress enough what a privilege it is to all of us to be your representatives here and to help these kids feel more connected to all of you. Watching them read your letters and look at your faces in photos helps us see how genuinely they love you, and how connected they feel to each and every one of you. There's something magical that happens in those moments that is undeniably from God.

We've got a lot more planned in the next couple of days, so stay tuned!

Pictures speak louder than words...

Gang of Superheroes

We were the topic of conversation this morning at breakfast where we all donned superhero shirts and Shawn stepped it up a notch by also wearing his red satin superman cape.

We got on the bus and headed down the bumpy (although not AS bumpy as usual) road to the orphanage where we headed straight to tea, and then to "the principal's office" to meet with Gyorgy, the orphanage director and school principal. He was very gracious and gave the newbies a great overview of the settlement's history. Ann says he's a very stately gentleman.

We saw some familiar faces sneaking around corners eager to see us. As the day went on, several of the kids are already asking for letters from their sponsors and we promised them those were coming later in the week.

Shawn and Stephanie started the day off with a discussion about superheroes, and the kids were quick to name characteristics they all had, like courage, kindness, strength and power. Our new friend, Danya even struck a superman pose in Shawn's cape.

In craft, the kids decorated superhero masks and shields. They had fun (and got a little messy), and Masha made a beautiful super girl shield that she was proud to show off.

In activity, the older students made it super competitive and had fun playing leadership games while the younger kids had a mind of their own and made the team crack up with their antics.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in family group time playing games and getting to know the kids a little better, especially the new faces.

We're all looking forward to tomorrow, especially watching video messages from all of the sponsors after dinner tomorrow night. More to come!

Travel By Numbers

 








5,376 miles from home
18 superhero shirts packed...and one superman cape
38 hours of planes, trains, and automobiles
36 bags of luggage
6 different flavors of Russian chips
37.5 snorts of laughter (going up by the second)
4.5 layers of clothing per person
8 tea times in 3 days
39 degrees outside, 139 degrees inside
40 letters translated
32 bars of Bounty purchased
5 trillion beads sorted
1 team communion
7 songs performed by Tech School graduates
25 new friends made at the tech school ministry center
1 window opened and re-opened 10 times
5 shots of Nyquil
$50 spent on chocolate
7 water drinkers and one in denial
8 hearts ready to love
16 arms ready to hug
...and only 10 hours before we see the kids of Velikoretskoye

Moscow Bound

Bags checked. Almost all maxed at our limit of 50 lbs after some creative last-minute shuffling. It is a relief when we shed the checked bags...mostly because we are still carrying on our coats, backpacks and rolling carry-on to board. 

We look ridiculous.

But we look ridiculous for a good reason! We carry so much on the plane to preserve space in the checked bags for the kids. Gifts from sponsors, and supplies for the week take up. Lot of room when there are 42 kids. 

We are grateful for our families that got up early this morning to take us...and all out stuff...to the airport. 

We very easily laugh together, and this morning we were even making the ticketing agent laugh with us! Sara is currently finding t-shirts for the team in the Sky Mall magazine and she found one for Shawn that says, 'The Sermonator.' 

Today will be a long day, but our 4 months of team building and prep work have us well prepared to be an amazing team! We got into a conversation a few weeks ago about our love languages. After doing the test, all of us have ether Quality Time, Words of Affirmation and Acts of Service.  It makes sense that we would be a group of people that likes to hang out, encourage and serve.

Please be praying for the kids and that God would continue to build the groundwork for fantastic conversations before we get there. And that we would be the best extension of the Woods Chapel family we can physically be for these kids. We know they crave love and physical presence...and God has been preparing us for months, and even years, for this honor of being present with them. 

Soon...very soon!

Our new Velikoretskoye team leaves on November 2 to spend time with the kids until they return November 12. The theme this year is superheroes, and the team has really gotten into it by arming themselves with superhero t-shirts to represent different heroes. Be on the lookout for the team to start blogging starting around November 4 once they are in Kirov and have access to WiFi.