It ain't Hollywood, but it's fun!

Last night we began a new "ministry" for the Road of Life (ROL) family home that is stuck off down here in southern StP (hence the "ain't" - you know southern, redneck, yeah, you've got it!). This apartment is not easily accessible from the rest of the city or the members of ROL, so we don't often host events. However, it is only a 15 minute tram ride from Child in Danger Shelter (CID), where SAC has been doing ministry for about 6 or 7 years.

To help build a strong relationship between ROL and CID, we decided to start a movie night on Fridays for the older kids at CID, and last night was our first adventure. Anya Tall (my Christmas visitor) has the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, so she brought it for us to see; Lena (our house mother here) bought popcorn (my favorite!); and I went to CID to get the kids. There were 6 of them who had a "clean" record without any discipline problems for the week and they, along with their counselor Maxim, came to spend the evening with us.

We began with the movie AND POPCORN, which was a great hit. Then we played a new game I had brought on this trip called "Stacker Uno" which is much like the card game Uno, but using plastic cubes that are stacked in a tall tower (something like Jinga or is it Ginga??). Boy, these kids are real strategists and really competitive, and we had a lot of fun with it. We finished with dinner and a name game to help us all remember each other better.

One of the girls, Aleona (bottom row with hood - she hates having her picture taken and this is the only one I have of her), came into the kitchen and sat down to talk. She was sent away by her mother because they could not get along, and because she has a lot of health problems that cause her to be in and out of the hospital frequently. She told us that she had never seen an apartment like ours, and she had forgotten what a "home" looked and felt like. I don't know why this caught me at a weak moment, but I had to leave the room and let her finish her conversation with Lucya, because I didn't want her to see me cry. The loss of a mother, the loss of a home, and traveling from hospital to shelters for the past few years, with no place to call her own! It just became too much for me. Just imagine how unbearable it must be for her!

Please pray for Aleona and the other children and staff at CID. Also pray for us as we continue this new contact with the kids and that perhaps through the church families of our ROL family we can help find foster homes for some of these kids who do not quite "fit" into the orphanage profile here.

Oh, and pray that we can find another good movie for next Friday night! We told them that this would be a weekly event (and we are hoping that some of the girls can spend the night next Friday), but they must not get into trouble because we wanted to see each and every one of them back next Friday night. There were smiles all around as they left, and even Maxim (the counselor) said he was looking forward to next week!

From Russia with LOVE!
Nancy