A True Servant

My paternal grandmother, Mama Jewel, was a real stickler about certain things – you take a bath everyday, you honor God and say your prayers, and you try to find some way to serve others. She taught all of us the value of helping others, whether it was opening a door for an older person, or helping someone who had dropped something at the grocery. We were all taught to look for opportunities to serve, because she believed servanthood and sainthood were almost one and the same thing! Mama Jewel would have loved Vera!

This past Friday night we traveled outside of St. Petersburg one hour by bus to a resort on the Gulf of Finland (I would tell you its name, but I can’t spell it and you couldn’t pronounce it anyway!). Most of the Road of Life family attended (there were 28 adults and 2 children), and we invited several young women who are prospective, future family members – Vera was one of those guests.

I first met Vera on a Monday night after my first visit to Dormitory #35. When we left the building to start our walk to the metro, Vera was there waiting for us. She was always faithful to wait for Lucya and the team and walk with us to the metro. Last Monday night, the night that we brought little Marina home with us, Vera saw that we had extra bags to carry, and a child to watch over, so she decided to come all the way home with us. We offered her some soup for dinner, a quick cup of tea, and then she left to head home to the dormitory. On Thursday, she called Lucya and asked if it would be okay for her to come with us on our retreat, and Lucya told her definitely YES. Vera, along with several others, met us at a northern metro site and we made the one hour trek to the resort.

Throughout the evening, and all day Saturday, every time I turned around, Vera was there – ready to take out the trash, sweep the floor, help serve tea to anyone entering the room. When we started home Saturday evening, she told Lucya that she was going to travel home with me because I had a tote bag to carry and she didn’t want me to have to carry my purse and the bag. I told her that I could make it, but she said, “No, I want to help you. You have done so much for me this weekend.” So I invited her to spend the night with us (Masha, a young girl from Orphanage 6 was also planning to spend the night). Her first reaction was no, because she had forgotten to bring her house shoes, and no one enters a Russian home without slippers on. She said she would go to the dorm and get them, but I told her we had plenty of slippers and to just come on home with us.

On Friday night, when I asked Vera if she would like to come live at the family home, she said, “Yes, I would love to live in the family home with these people, but I can’t.” I asked her why she couldn’t and she told me about a young man at Dormitory 35 who is crippled and moves very slowly, and she feels that God wants her to help this young man. She told Lucya, “If I leave, who will help him? He depends on me. I will visit the family home when you will invite me, but I cannot come live there as long as someone at the dormitory needs me.” I told her that God had given her a true gift – the gift of serving others – and she told me, “Yes, I have felt the need to help others for 10 years. I want to always help others.”

I fully expect that the next time I look up the word “servant” in the dictionary I’ll see a picture of Vera as an example!

From Russia with Love!
Nancy

There are all kinds of orphans.

God has truly blessed us tonight. He has given us Little Marina to come to stay with us for the next three nights (a three-night-orphan is still an orphan, and we have made her a part of our family). You may remember the story of Natasha that I told you – she is the tram driver who was involved in the accident written about below where the 23 year old died. You can imagine the psychological stress that Natasha has been under for the past three weeks, and last Monday night she asked Lucya, “Will you take my daughter Marina?” At first Lucya did not know how to respond, and she told me about it the next day. We have continued to pray, and God orchestrated not only for Marina to come and stay with us for the next three nights, but to join us in our ministry this week at Hospital #15 and Child in Danger.

We had originally planned to be at Fuydor Shelter for Homeless Children, and it would not have been safe to take Marina there, but God already had a plan in action for us not to go to Fuydor, but to do Hospital 15 and CID instead. At these two places Marina will just be another child joining in the games, singing, and making crafts.

As I am writing this, she is in a bubble bath with a crown of bubbles on her head. She has laughed more in the last two hours than probably in her entire life. When we first met her last Monday she was withdrawn and would not even smile when offered candy. All of you who know Lucya know that if she cannot get a child to smile, then no one can! It seemed hopeless to us. Tonight, I presented Marina with a small backpack with colored pens and two coloring book – she and Anya made quite a bit of progress in their coloring tonight! But even then, a quiet thank you, but no smile.

At first she cried when her mother said that she would stay with Lucya, but when we got home and Marina met Sarah (the cat that belongs to our Marina), she began to run and play, just like a normal 5 year old. And Nadezda, the director at CID, has said that she will have a psychologist visit with Marina tomorrow and that Natasha can bring her anytime that she needs some rest, and Marina will be welcome there. We thank God that he has placed this special child of his in charge of Child in Danger – Nadezda is truly a special lady!

It is wonderful that God has placed Christians here ready to serve, ready to take in a child, ready to give a mother a “vacation” (even if it only means a couple days of rest). We thank God for the chance to love this sweet child, and we ask that you pray for her and her family, just as we prayed with Natasha when she left our home tonight – leaving behind her most treasured possession for us to guard and keep.

By the way, when Lucya put Marina to bed, Marina said, "Can I tell you a secret?" And Lucya replied, "Yes, of course." Marina then told her, "My mama beats me. Sometimes when I am bad she grabs me a throws me against the wall." Lucya asked her, "What about your papa?" and Marina replied, "No. He punishes me, but he does not hit me." Please pray for Marina and her family, and that God will help us to find help for Natasha.

I always said when I was a young adult, before I had children, that I could never understand how a parent could hurt a child. Then, after I had my own, and would find myself so tired, and so frustrated, that many times I had to leave the room and go be by myself to pray, "God, please do not let me lift my hand to my child! Help me, Father! Help me!" That's when I realized that I was one of the lucky ones - I had a Heavenly Father to turn to who would help me through those times. And because of His grace and His mercy, I never did give in to the temptation to take my frustrations out on my children. I also knew that for every time God helped me through that time, there were millions of mothers who did not have Him to stay their hand, and their children suffered. Thank you, God, for being my loving Father!

From Russia with Love!
Nancy

It doesn't get any better than this!

What a mighty God we serve! As you know, we have been sponsoring a movie night for the older kids at Child in Danger Shelter (CID) for the past few weeks. This past Friday night we took them to a Christian hip hop concert lead by the youth leadership at New Generation Church. The kids loved it! And the best news - four of them accepted Jesus during the concert! Sasha and Vashya (picture), both boys, about 11/12 years of age, raised their hands when asked if they had prayed for the first time; but they were too shy to go forward and be recognized, so Galya (she dresses in baggy clothes, her hair is many different colors, and she has several body piercings - these are all outward appearances - who loves God and ministers to street people) went over to them and talked briefly with them, inviting them back next Friday night.

Liza, a precious young girl of 12, told Lena that she was praying the prayer until Victor said "...and give me a new heart, oh God" at which time she said she stopped because she didn't think she needed to go that far - she said her heart beat just fine and she didn't think she needed to get a new one. Lena explained to her what he had meant and Liza laughed and said, "Oh, well, then, yes, I want THAT new heart!" Sometimes we forget that the Christian phrases we use are like a foreign language to people who weren't raised in the church.

The fourth new Christian was Katya. She will graduate this year from high school and wants to be a doctor. She is very smart, and she and Lena seemed to really make a connection when we went bowling the first week I was here. Katya did not hesitate to go forward when Victor asked who had accepted Jesus, and she wants to go back to youth night each Friday night and attend church with Lena and the other ROL kids. Katya will also go with us this coming weekend on a retreat that we are having for the ROL family and some prospective new family members.

Sunday was a great day as we got to be a part of Losha's baptism. Losha is the deaf resident at the Frunzenskaya apartment and he and Meisha (the other resident at Fr.) attended a retreat this past weekend at Vineyard Church. A group of 6 of us traveled the one hour bus ride to be there for worship services and the baptism on Sunday. We are so proud of Losha and know that God is going to do great things through him in the deaf community here in St. Petersburg. So keep him in your prayers.

God is good and keeps blessing and blessing! Pray for Greg, Susan, and Jonathon Furr who arrived on Saturday and will minister with me this week here in StP, and then will travel to Sosnova with John Neese next week to work at the orphanage up there. They will have a busy two weeks, as will I, as I get ready to wind down this trip.

From Russia with love,

Nancy

Road of Life Grads

When I first met the Road of Life family, Lucya was the counselor at the Frunzenskaya apartment. There were three girls living there with her: Anya Tall, Natasha, and Little Anya. Most of you know Anya Tall (seated, second from left), as she was able to spend Christmas with me in the US. She just completed an advanced English course and is working two days a week at Hospital #15. She has also been helping to train Natasha (seated, left) and Little Anya (standing) to work at the hospital. During my first week of ministry, she, along with Lucya, acted as translator for Dustin and I, and did a great job.

Anya lives in a communal apartment with six other neighbors, the closest being next door, and Anya calls her Grandma. I was able to meet this sweet lady who watches over our Anya this past Wednesday night when I went to visit Anya's apartment and have dinner with her. We also experimented with making homemade guacamole, and it was a great success! Anya has also become very involved in our ministry at Child in Danger Shelter, as our apartment hosts the older residents at CID for movie night on Fridays. The kids have enjoyed it, and we have all received a blessing from it as well.

Natasha is very quiet, and always seemed to me to be an observer - she sits back and quietly watches everyone and everything, and I think she has a true gift of discerning truth and the needs of others. She and Little Anya recently lost their apartments through a set of circumstances that are too deep for me to go into; but just to cut to the chase - God answered our prayers and provided them with an apartment for the two of them and their friend Katya, in a good location with good neighbors. We had prayed about this situation during the first week I was here, and during my second week, God showed up with the money to help find a good apartment - just like he ALWAYS does!

Natasha and Little Anya are both being trained at Hospital 15 for work there, and are kept busy all the time. I attended the International (American) Church with them last Sunday, and hope to get a chance to see their new apartment before I leave. Cindy and Eddie Williams had donated a large trash bag full of towels and bathroom accessories, and Natasha and Little Anya are excited to get those items to help furnish their new apartment.

Photo taken after church, Sunday, April 6 (Back, standing: Max, Nancy, Liza, Nelly, Anya Tall, Sasha; Front: Vika, Tyson, Meisha, Lucya, Natasha, Little Anya)

Continue to pray for these three young women, our first graduates from ROL, as they continue to seek God's will in their lives. Anya Tall may have an opportunity to do an internship with a church in Houston with their Children's Ministry this summer, so pray that we will receive word on that soon and that her visa application will be granted. Also, pray for Natasha and Little Anya as they adjust to new living conditions and their new jobs.

From Russia with Love!

Nancy

It's a GIRL!

On Wednesday, April 9 at 6:00 pm, Vera and Vova became the proud parents of a girl! Her name is Katya, she weighs about 97 pounds, and is a little over 70" long (that's 5 feet for the mathematically challenged ones!). No, she is not a newborn to the world, but she is to Vera and Vova. We call her Little Katya and she has been a member of the Road of Life family for over a year and is 16 years old. (Don't she and Vera look like mother and daughter in this picture!)

Vera took Little Katya into her home even though she is not a graduate orphan, and immediately began work on adopting her. After a year of struggling with paper work and government officials, it is done! Yesterday Vera met with the last group and the documents are all in order - Katya is now officially a member of the family, joining her two brothers, Nakita and Sasha.

Also living at Vera's apartment is Katya, who will graduate this May from ROL. She is a gorgeous brunette and shyly speaks some English. Vera shared her testimony regarding Katya two weeks ago at our weekly prayer meeting of the ROL counselors. She told how she struggled with Katya and her attitude the first few months that Katya came to live with them. It seemed to be one battle of wills after another, one punishment after another - nothing seemed to work! Then Vera said that the Lord revealed to her during her daily prayer time that SHE was the problem, not Katya. God instructed Vera to love Katya just as she was - not to try to change Katya, but to try to change herself - to basically as my grandmother used to say, "Kill 'em with kindness! It relieves your stress and drives them crazy!" And it worked. Suddenly Vera was hugging Katya more, telling her how special she was, complimenting her on the good things she did, rather than harping on the bad. God changed them both, and now Katya is a confident, loving young woman, and has even brought her sister Nadia into the home, and hopefully Nadia will become a ROL resident as well.

Vova is an assistant building contractor on one of the major buildings being built in St. Petersburg. He is a wonderful father, not only to his two sons, Nakita and Sasha, but the girls that God has placed in his home. When the Nevsky apartment was bought in the summer of 2007, Vova committed himself to doing most of the renovation work himself. He worked all that summer - no A/C and sometimes no electricity - stripping down walls and rebuilding them, renovating plumbing, everything. Now the apartment is beautiful and almost finished. It is a home that he can truly be proud of - not only its physical appearance, but its loving, Christian foundation as well.

Living with this wonderful family is Tyson, a young man who is from Texas and who will be entering medical school in the fall in the U.S. His family, after he and his younger brother were approaching their teens, adopted three children from Russia, so he has had Russia in his heart for years. He graduated from college last fall and decided to come live in St.P to study Russian intensively for the spring.

Tyson is a wonderful, Christian young man and helps with our English classes at dormitory #70, teaching a group of boys. He also plays the guitar and leads the fellowship time on Saturday afternoon at Vera's apartment. He plans to return home to San Antonio in July.
(Seated: Vova, Vera, Sasha, Katya, Tyson, Nakita; standing: Little Katya)

Please keep this family in your prayers, and send up an extra "Thanks" to God for all He has done to bring this family together.

From Russia with love,
Nancy

Boys' Home Residents

Gary and Pam Austutz are from Ohio and are currently the counselors at the boys' apartment. God has truly given them a heart for orphans as they visit different orphanages and dormitories.

They also have opened their own apartment for graduate orphans that hopefully will be up and running soon. They are currently working with Natasha and Valya to get the paperwork completed and everything in order. Please pray for them and their ministry, Reflections of Hope.

There are two young men who live with Pam and Gary. Meisha is in his second year at ROL and will graduate this spring. Meisha loves to cook and dreams of becoming a chef. When I arrived on Saturday, March 15, Meisha was a part of the welcoming committee - even though he missed the annual Christian ball that was being held that evening. He said it was more important for him to meet Dustin and I at the airport (and yes, I gave him an extra hug!).

Please pray for Meisha because when he graduates he has no place to live. He has a communal apartment that is assigned to him, but his sister, her husband, and their new child, have taken the apartment and told him not to return. Our fear is that they would hurt or kill him in order to get the apartment, so ROL is working on finding a place for Meisha to live - as safely as possible. The courts could force his sister to give back the apartment, but there would be no way to guarantee his safety.

The other young man who resides in this apartment is Losha. He is a graduate of the deaf orphanage and became a Christian last fall after God restored part of his hearing. He is an amazing young man and I can see such a difference in him from last fall. Though he's a big, strong man, he is also gentle and caring for others. I know that God is going to do great things through him as he continues to study The Word. Pam said that many times she will come into the room and he is studying his Bible - so eager to learn all that God has to teach him.

Please pray for Losha as he continues his Christian growth, and that the next counselors for the boys' apartment will be as loving and caring as Pam and Gary have been.

Gary and Pam leave May 6 to return to the states. At that time, Losha will go to live with a couple from Marina Topol's church, and hopefully will be able to stay with that family until he graduates next May. It is also hoped that at least one other boy, possibly two, will also move in with this family. Please pray that God will touch the hearts of this couple that they will come to love our boys as we do.

From Russia with love,

Nancy

Meet the Gang!

Anyone who has been on a mission trip with SAC since the fall of 2005 is probably acquainted with Lucya (and I shared some about her in an earlier blog). Well, this is the Lucya that most people know and remember:

But this is Lucya on too much chocolate on April Fools' Day (not a good combination!):

I am currently staying at the Road of Life Family Home at the Electrocila metro station (that's not really true since it is a 20 minute tram ride from the metro to our home, but it's the best way to tell someone where we are!). The family counselor here is Lena, a native of Belaruse who came a few months ago to help out with translation for ROL. It has really been a joy getting to know her and little bit about her country.

This is Lena with Katya, one of the teens from Child in Danger shelter.

Also in our apartment are two young women. Ira will graduate from ROL this May and will then go to live with another of our graduates. She is quite active with school, church, and her friends, and loves to talk! This picture was taken Saturday, March 15 at the Christian Ball that was sponsored by one of the churches.

Also in our home is Yulia. She has been a resident for less than one year and came to us from Dormitory #35 where she had been classified as disabled - meaning the teachers thought she was uneducable, and she also has a speech problem and some physical problems. She is a very loving child with some special needs, and has had a hard time adjusting to Lucya's leaving the home. But like most young people, she is resilient and we pray for God's blessings for her.

Yulia is on the left, along with Natasha from Dormitory #35.

I'll introduce you to more of our "family" tomorrow.

Keep us in your prayers!

Nancy