10/27/07

Hello again!

Well the first big item of news is that the water holiday that was scheduled for the beginning of October was cancelled! Unfortunately, it was canceled due to an outbreak of dysentery from contaminated milk products, which put 700 kids in the hospital in nearby towns… yikes! But at least the Volunteer in Mission (VIM) team that arrived later that week was very glad to be able to take showers after their 26-hour train ride!

We had a very busy schedule while the team was here. It consisted of 4 people: David Hindman, Julie Haushalter, her son Ryan Haushalter, and his girlfriend Jamie Purvis. It was such a blessing to have them here! They arrived on Saturday, October 13, and stayed in host families over the weekend. On Sunday morning, the team organized the church service, which was quite a task since Laura and I had to interpret- unfortunately, before that day, we didn’t really know much church vocabulary, but now we surely do!

During the week, the team stayed at a boarding school for mentally handicapped children, which has worked with VIM teams in the past. Almost every night we had the opportunity to meet with the kids to play games, read Bible stories and sing songs. Apparently we got them so excited after the first night that they didn’t go to sleep until after midnight!!

The team also visited several important locations in Pyatigorsk, such as the orphanage, the children’s asylum, and a local Orthodox church. They spent a day at the university with us, where we met with a few classes of Russian students and gave a presentation about William and Mary and Colonial Williamsburg. We were very sad to see them go on Friday, since it was so great having them here to spend time with. It was like having a little bit of home here with us!

A few weeks ago we began co-leading a discussion group for teenage girls with one of our Russian friends, Nina. Nina has already graduated from PGLU, and works as an English teacher. Our discussion group meets every Sunday afternoon, and we talk about whatever subjects the girls are interested in- love, beauty, and relationships are some of our previous topics. The discussions are in Russian, with a little bit of English here and there. Anyone who knows a teenage girl knows that they can talk ridiculously fast, so we often have to remind the girls to slow down so that we can actually understand what they’re saying!

Last night we were interviewed for the PGLU student paper. Our interviewer was a second year student who we met a few weeks ago. She did an exchange program to America in high school, so she knows English very well. We were very glad that she spoke English, because some of her questions were really hard, and we didn’t know how to answer in Russian! She mostly asked about our impressions about Russia and Russian life, as well as differences between Americans and Russians, and a little bit about student life in America. One concept that was difficult even for her to translate was volunteering. In Russian, there really isn’t a verb for “volunteering,” since it is such a foreign concept, and we both think that it is very telling that this vocabulary doesn’t exist in Russian.

Today we went to the children’s asylum for the first time. The kids there were so adorable! We spent time mostly with the younger kids, age 3-7 or so. We played a few games, read a Bible story and had a coloring activity for them. The game that they liked the most was duck, duck, goose- although we had to adapt it a little… neither of us knew the Russian words for “duck” or “goose,” so instead we called it “cat, cat, dog.” But same idea, and the kids loved it! We played it for almost half an hour, and some of the kids were really getting into it! It was a little difficult to think of indoor games (since it was raining today), so if anyone knows any good indoor activities, please let us know! There were also a few older kids there, and they asked if the next time we come we could teach them some English. They already know some from school, but hopefully we can help them become the best in their English classes!

We have unfortunately had a few roadblocks these past few weeks. After the team arrived, both Laura and I got sick for a week or so. It was difficult to find medicine here, since we couldn’t understand most of the directions on medicine boxes. Luckily, our friend Nina stepped in and helped us find the right kind. She has been an amazing blessing to us, and a great friend!

Another trying time came a week ago, when Laura’s pet cat, Callie, passed away. She was 16 years old, and was like another member of her family. It was very hard for Laura to loose Callie, especially being so far away from her.

A potential joy and/or roadblock has occurred in the form of an invitation- one of the girls that we met when the team was at the university has invited us to her home town of Nalchik, which is about an hour away from here. We both really enjoy traveling, but are slightly worried about spending the day with a girl that we don’t know in a town where we don’t know anyone else. Plus, most people in Nalchik speak a different language, since the town is located in different republic than Pyatigorsk, although they may also know Russian. We have been trying to spend time with this girl to get to know her better, but because of time conflicts on our end and hers, we still haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with her. We hope to be able to hang out before the scheduled trip next weekend.

Perhaps our biggest roadblock of all has been in Russian culture itself. We have found through conversations with trusted Russians and our own experience, that faith/religion is not a public topic, like it is in America. Even though there is freedom of religion here, it is not a topic that is appropriate for everyday conversation, but is only something that can be discussed once a deep friendship is established. Some of our Russian friends shared their experiences with their faith with other Russians, and unfortunately lost many friends once they began openly discussing their beliefs. Moreover, Protestant denominations are viewed as cults, and that Protestants will try to brainwash anyone who joins. The most telling story that we can give is about David Little and his family, who recently adopted a set of Russian twins from Pyatigorsk. These girls are 13 years old, and had been baptized Orthodox. When David and his wife shared their faith with the girls, the girls responded that David and his wife are not true Christians, because they are not Orthodox.

Prayer concerns:

• To stay healthy as the weather gets colder- but just in case, we still have a supply of medicine left!
• Homesickness- especially for Laura after the death of Callie
• Continued courage, and not to loose hope in the face of stubborn Russian culture
• Thanks for our opportunity to begin a Bible study with Nina, as well as our new discussion group
• Thanks for the team’s safe arrival back home
• The drought on the East Coast- but we think ya’ll know about this first-hand.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support so far! It’s so great to know that we have people praying for us. Our blog is now up and running, and you can check it out at www.vaumcri.org/blog.

God Bless,
Molly and Laura