Sunday, November 1, 2009

MY MISSION TO RUSSIA - OUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH THE KIDS







We slept until about 9:00 A.M. Posha heated water up for us on the stove so that we could take a sponge bath; no running water! His mother came from her home and cooked us breakfast. We had eggs over hash browns and onions, bread and sausage, fresh sliced tomatoes, pickles, yogurt, cheese and chocolate. It was a real feast! From here on out, there was always coffee and tea with EVERY meal.

At 10:00 A.M. we were off to Tier Baum to work with the kids. We stopped at one of the village markets to purchase candy and bananas for the kids. It was an outdoor market, so we could smell the chicken as soon as we got out of the cars. No....it was not fried chicken. I almost gagged when I saw it. It was raw, and all chopped up in pieces on a wooden display booth. First, it was a hot, humid day. We are talking August people! Second, there were flies buzzing all around the meat, and yes, on the meat. It had an awful odor. I tried taking my eyes off of the meat to experience the new sights. They were selling fresh eggs, vegetables, bread, canned and jarred foods, even shoes and clothing. We quickly got our goodies and left ten minutes later.

My allergies went overdrive on this trip. The entire two hour drive consisted of me sneezing and wheezing. My eyes were itchy and watery.
We were entertained by being educated from our driver, Victor, on the rules of the road. There were none! He would pass people on the right and left, even when there were not lanes. Pedestrians do not have the right of way in Russia, we soon learned as well. People were everywhere! There were hardly any sidewalks, so many were walking in the roads. There was no mercy for pedestrians walking in the road and there wasn't even any mercy for other drivers. Victor weaved in and out of the drivers and walkers like a crazy man. I think we would have a serious case of road rage if people drove that way in America.

We took a dirt road to get to the village. We had to slow down for a herd of cows crossing the road. Farther up, I saw a little boy with a flock of geese. We saw chickens and goats wandering freely. I felt as if I landed on another planet. We pulled up to this little cottage that served as the church. The children were all sitting outside on the steps with curious looks on their faces. They were all smiling and waving and very excited. We all entered the church together. They immediately sat down at the long, rectangular tables arranged in the center of the room and quietly waited for us to begin. Faye, went around and video taped the kids. They waved and made funny faces. Despite their goofiness of kids being kids, they were so well behaved and strangely polite. There were about twenty children in various ages.

We started the program by teaching them a song in English. That was my job. I was the music teacher. I taught them "This Little Light of Mine" with hand movements. Howard, our leader, taught them the scriptures from Matthew 14:22-32 "Jesus walks on water". The kids got to make scripture books by painting on the covers. They were so frugal with the paint. We had to give them another art project so the paint we poured out on the plates would be used. We actually had them make mobiles out of the plates. Talk about recycling! Kevin, my hubby, took a group of kids outside and showed them how to use the frisbee. We were all beaming when we left the children. Several of them gave hugs and said "good-bye!" in English. It was overall, a wonderful, fulfilling, first-time expereince working with the kids of Russia.

2 comments:

  1. i do enjoy reading about your trip to Russia. when i was 13 i went with my uncle and aunt to Spain where they were doing missionary work . my uncle is a pastor. at the time they had thier first child who was around 3 when we took the trip so my job was to babysit while they did thier church stuff. it was a fun expeirence for me.
    BTW...who won the October drawing?? i will have to look up a recipe for your november drawing.
    ~nicole

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  2. Hi Nicole! Thanks for sharing that with me. Going to a different country is a humbling experience and I can only imagine what that would have been like for a 13 year old. We have been wanting to take our daughters to Russia but we havn't been able to get the finances together for it. It would be very expensive for a family of four to go. I will eventually tell the story of how my husband and I who never thought that we were ever "missionary material", came about taking such trips two years in a row. By the way, you were the winner. I have posted the announcement in the posting. :)

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