Partnering Together

Wow! We just returned from a wonderful trip to Rzhev, Russia. I'm too tired to write much tonight, but will try to write more later. The team can also fill in the details for those of you who live in Shelby. We traveled about 4.5 hours by van to get to this little city. We were greeted by the pastor and a few members of his small 19 member church. They served us a delicious meal that first evening and fed us several more very delicious, Russian meals during our stay. We then drove about 1 more hour to get to the children's shelter. This is a shelter for children who have been neglected or mistreated in their homes and have been removed from their homes for a time. Hopefully these children will be able to be reunited with their families but if not, they will be moved to orphanages. The children were soooooooooooooooooooo happy to have visitors and even though the team only spoke English, they were able to communicate love to these children. With hugs, smiles, gifts, games, stories, and laughter, much love was shared. We pray that we were a blessing. We KNOW that we were blessed!

In addition, the men were able to help with building a roof for the little church there. They worked this morning to help nail some boards on the roof that is being built. The pastor and others were so thankful for their hard work and help.

We were able to spend the night in Russian homes and were treated with incredible hospitality. Janice and I spent the night with a 76 year old lady named Lida. There was no heat in her apartment and it was about 40*F outside. So it was pretty cool inside too. Last night, she gave us the feather blanket from her own bed. She used a much lighter blanket. This morning, she made us sit with our feet on a little stool and put a hot water bottle on our feet to keep us warm. She fixed us a huge breakfast and just served us constantly while we were in her home. The others had similar experiences of amazing hospitality as well.

We're all so thankful to God for allowing us these experiences. It's fun to see how He is at work in different places. He is so good! Thanks for praying for this trip. God heard and answered.