Day 3: Solotcha Kids:)

Day 3: Again (I think this was friday) haha, we started with breakfast and then headed out to the Ministry Center! This was the day that we got to bring some of the kids from Solotcha!!! They arrived, and we were waiting for their bus... It was SO good to see them! They ran off of the bus to come give us big hugs! The first sweet face I saw was Alosha (Sasha's little brother) and he ran straight to Chris and gave him a huge hug! We also saw some of my favorite little 10 year olds! Lolita, Nadya & Nadya, Sveta, Masha (Valdemar's sister), Valya, etc. Blythe got a big surprise when Ana & Nastya got off of the bus.... it was a beautiful moment! They were so excited to see each other. There were 20 kids from Solotcha (about 10 kids that we knew and about 10 kids that were brand new that we’ve never met before. We played some games (Q-Tip wars) and did some crafts. We ordered pizza, and then by the time we looked up, it was time for them to go home..... it went too fast. I can't believe it... it really went too fast. There were many opportunities for good conversations and pouring into these kids. That night, we invited some of the graduates to La Plaza (our favorite pizza restaurant) to have a meal together. It was a lot of fun! And it was also Chris’ birthday, so we got him some cakes and had a celebration! Again, a few pictures from the day (don't worry, we'll post plenty when we get back :)

Day 2: We're Here!

Day 2: This was our first day in the city! We woke up, had some breakfast and then headed to the Ministry Center! We had no idea what to expect, we just knew that once we arrived, we would meet with the staff, and then wait for some orphan graduates to arrive whenever they could. The amazing thing was that the first person that I saw when I walked in the door was Sergei. This is a boy that I met at the orphanage 3 years ago. He was one of the grads that I really hoped to see. He is only 16, and is living in the city now and going to technical school. We played some football (actually the boys did, and we chatted with the girls) and then we headed to lunch! When we got back from lunch, our friend Viktor was outside waiting to see us!!! What a great great surprise! We spent the rest of the day meeting all of the graduates, and then we hung out that night and caught up on the day.

Day 1: In Flight!

I hoped that this update would come much earlier in our trip, but we do not have wifi at the place we are staying at like we'd hoped! So... I think I'll give you a short (actually, after typing it, it may be kind of long! haha) update of the trip, and how things have been going so far...

I can definitely say that trips like these are so hard to describe, so I will not be able to do justice to the stories we have heard, the sweet kids we have met, and the different spiritual battles we have seen.... that being said... GOD IS GOOD!

I'll try and post some pictures in between as well, so you can see what we've been up to!

We are at a coffee shop right now bumming their wifi and, if you read my last post, you know that i'm super happy right now, because I just ate the best cheese sandwich in the world (now I have proof, because Blythe thinks so too! hah)

Anyway- here we go...

Day 1: We left Houston at 5:45 on a straight 11 hour flight to Moscow! The flight was good, but it was actually very turbulent... At one point, Ricardo’s coffee spilled a little bit! haha But we made it to Moscow, and then got into our bus, and made the long 4 hour trip to Ryazan! What a long journey, but we were finally in Ryazan and we crashed at our hotel as soon as we arrived.

Leavin', on a jet plane...

We leave tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't finished packing yet... maybe I should do that! Haha!! In honor of our departure, I have a few things to share with you about what I'm excited about!!! :) hehe! Some silly, and some super great! SO, here we go!!

Top ten things I'm looking forward to in Russia:

10.) Getting to practice my Russian!

I am very nervous about this!! I was telling Anya (my amazing friend/Russian teacher) that every time I get around a native Russian speaker, everything I learned leaves my head and all I can think to say is "da!!" haha!

9.) Cheese Sandwich & Cappuccino at the Coffee Bean

There is this super awesome coffee shop and they have the best grilled cheese & the biggest cappuccino!! Picture below to prove it! :)

8.)Greek Salad @ Pizza at La Plaza

Yes, another food item, but the cheese in Russia is SO good that it has become something I crave!! So, the greek salad and pizza at our favorite pizza restaurant definitely make the list! (The one on the left was some meat salad that Chris got, but the right is my FAVORITE greek salad ever!)

7.)Russian Sunsets

The pictures will speak for themselves! (Oh, and sunsets are kind of one of my favorite things!) God's beauty displayed!

6.)Seeing our translator friends!!!! :):) Yay!

We have built some great relationships with the translators we've had in years past, and they are definitely our friends more than our translators! I can't wait to see them!!!

5.) Getting to visit the local church!!

The last few trips I've taken, we've gotten to spend some time with a few of the local churches, and I'm SO excited to hopefully get the chance to see them while we are in Ryazan! :)

4.) Seeing our brother Viktor!

We met a guy that graduated from our orphanage a few years ago, and he has definitely become part of our family! We are all looking forward to seeing him!

3.) Seeing our Sweet kids!!!!!!!

Even though we are not going to be able to go to the orphanage (we are still playing for a miracle!!!) we will hopefully get to see the kids! They are SO amazing, and I can't wait to see them!

2.) Hanging out with the Grads!!!!

We will be working at the ministry center and hanging out with the kids who have graduated from various orphanages! I can't wait to see all of them, and to meet some new grads as well! :)

Last, but not least, and definitely most important:

1.) Getting to tell people about my Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!! :):)

I will definitely update before we leave with some specific prayer requests, for all of you prayer warriors out there!! And, we should have access to the internet every now & then, so hopefully we can update you guys through blog updates! :)

Scared...

Ok, so our church sponsor's our orphanage in Russia through an organization called Children's HopeChest. They have carepoints and Ministry Centers in Russia, Africa, and are now reaching out to Haiti and many more places.

The CEO of HopeChest, Tom Davis, has traveled all over to these various places and come in contact with hundreds of orphans, and children who are in need. His heart for the Fatherless and 'least of these' is amazing...

He decided to write a book with stories from some of his travels, in hopes to get people involved in the effort to bring aid to the orphan, and spread the good news of Jesus Christ!

Anyway- this is not an advertisement for HopeChest or Tom Davis, but I DID want to let you know about a book that I just read, and one that I am about to read.... Scared was inspired by true stories of children in Africa. I finished it Sunday, and closed the book as tears were still running down my face. I cannot tell you the last time I wept while reading a book.... don't get me wrong, I'm definitely what they call a "cry-er" haha... but this story was heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time.

I will not give anything away, because I want you to experience it for yourself.... but I really encourage you to read it... Tom Davis said it himself, .... it is sad, but it is real, and it is what is happening to sweet children around the world....

So, because HopeChest works in different places around the world, Tom Davis wrote a 2nd novel called Priceless. It is about the devastation that the sex-slave industry is causing to tons girls in that country. I just stared it last night, and I can only imagine what is in store for me as I read.... these are real stories... these are things that are happening NOW...

I really encourage you to get these books, and read.... ask God how he would have you do about it. So Get It, Read It, and then do something about it.... there are tons of ways to get involved!!!!

P.S. I do warn you... these are not 'read in public' books... They will infuriate you, and move you to tears all on the same page... So, make sure you have plenty of tissue handy...

Oh, and by the way, you overpaid...

I can't believe it is June 2nd.

I really can't.

We leave in 5 days! WOW!!!!! 5 Days!!! I am SO excited!

The past month has been a whirlwind of chaos, but life is good, and God is great!

I finished my 2nd to last semester at Sam Houston State University! YAY! I passed my math certification exam, and now, all I have to do is pass my PPR student teach in the fall, do my Teacher Work Sample (oh the dreaded TWS), and then Graduate in DECEMBER! I have been looking forward to this day for a long.... looooong time!!! But it will come soon enough. I'm excited to see what doors God opens up for after graduation!

One of the HUGE things that has been going on in the past month is obviously our trip to Russia, and trying to fundraise for that! I can't even explain to you how much God has provided. Again, and again we have seen his love through His provision. I know in my heart that this trip is exactly what God had in mind, because He has completely moved through His people to support it! We had a garage sale a few weekends ago and had SO much to sell... on Friday as we were setting up car-full after car-full kept pulling in to donate their unwanted items! THEN, to top it off, we made over $2,500!!! I know garage sale's can be a hassle... but what an amazing few days it was! It was great bonding time for our team.... we found some pretty interesting articles... hah, and also it was great to see people from our church body showing their support in ALL sorts of ways! Praise God for all those that supported through donations... if you are one of them, we so greatly appreciate you! Also, those who supported by giving their time! There were quite a few friends that stopped by just to lend a helping hand! Not to mention Hope Heald that came out and priced everything and was our voice of reason when it came to selling items!! It would not have been a success without her! One thing that was amazing to me is that even after all of our fundraising was over, we got a call from children's HopeChest and they said that we "overpaid by $600" so we're getting a refund....... now I'm kind of a math person, so i did the math and I just don't see how it makes sense... but I know that God is showing us His favor even in an event like this!

GOD IS GOOD!

I am overwhelmed when I think about all of the ways that God has provided for us, and I love that He always beckons us to trust Him, even in those moments when all seems lost -- because that is when we truly see that everything is His, and comes from Him..... and it is nothing of ourselves... He whispers to us, just wait, and trust in Me...

Thank you all for being the hands and feet of Christ to our team... and for your support prayerfully, financially, and physically!

We're packing our supply bags tonight.... Velveeta, Rotel, Salsa and all.... I'll keep you updated! Stay tuned for more specific ways you can pray!

Я вас силно люблю и молюсь за вас!

God is Good.... All the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All the time, God is good.

This is not new, yet again and again I am blown away by God's goodness and provision!!!!!

In the past few weeks, our team has really been trying to fundraise the rest of our money for our trip to Russia in June! It has been a difficult few months in the fund raising department, and last week, we were looking at $12,400 that we still needed by this week!!

That is A LOT of money!

Anyway- we had a team meeting, and prayed and talked about different things we could do to continue to raise funds for our 8 team members!

A few things have happened over the last week:

#1) We got an extension on our payment deadline, which is a HUGE blessing! Now we have until the 19th to have a plan for the remaining balance!!!

#2) I don't even know how to explain the next part.... through some crazy work of the Holy Spirit, people have been moved to give, and our current balance to raise is $5,500!!! That is CRAZY to me!!!!!!! In just over a week almost $7,000 has come in!!!!!!!!!!

Like I said before....

GOD IS GOOD.... ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!

#3) We have been waiting on word about our trip.... the last time I updated... we were really not sure if we were going to get to see our sweet kids from our orphanage, but we heard from our organization, and they are almost 100% positive that we will get to bring the kids into the city for a few days! The only thing is that we'll have to pay for transportation and food for them while they're there! BUT God has come through every time, and I am so looking forward to seeing Him provide in this area as well!! but I'm so excited to SEE OUR KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!

So all of that being said, we leave 4 weeks from today!!!!!!!!!! That means in 4 weeks I'll be getting on a plane to see some of my most favorite people in the entire world! I CANT WAIT!!!

We are definitely still in need of support... so if you feel led to support financially, we'd love it!!

Also, we have t-shirts left, and actually if you scroll down on my blog you can order right now :)

Last but not least, we're having a garage sale on May 22nd, so if you have any unwanted items in your house, you can donate them! :)

More to come soon!