Quick One (Updated with Pictures)

Sorry, I just can't seem to get the Russian commands down! Some of these pictures will be random...I just can't seem to get them to go where I want them! Anyway, this is just another sweet moment with Dasha and her mother Natalia over tea! Yes, tea is everyday...a few times a day...and it's always this cute!

Americans!

After our 4 1/2 hour bus ride we finally made it! This is the orphanage's bus we took up to the camp. Here we are unloading more supplies and food for the children.

When we arrived they had sweetly set our table for tea and lunch. Notice the flowers the girls picked.

Watermelon for snack time!

This boy is using a coal to help burn out the center of the spoon he is making. I was way impressed!

You guessed it...craft time! God's eyes once again were a huge hit.

I'm not sure how well you can tell, but there were a ton of campers! I think I heard about 150 out there. It was quiet the set up.

A few English speaking Russians. Phew! Nice break every once in awhile.

As we were meeting with the kids from the orphanage at their camp, other counselors came up and asked if the "Americans" could come down to their camp. This is a picture with some of the other children. Precious.

(This picture makes me laugh. Just before it was taken, all the girls headed down to the...hole in the ground, to use the restroom. You would have thought none of us had ever been outside. We we all so exhausted by this point that we were slap happy and could NOT STOP LAUGHING. All I (and Christina later confessed as well) kept thinking was that we must look like the biggest bunch of obnoxious idiots! There was a big volleyball game going on right next to us and all of the sudden we heard, "Americans" and they all stopped and looked at us. I didn't want to ask the translator what they said, but I did anyway. She said, "I'm distracted by all of the Americans smiles.")

Last gift before we got back on the bus...TEXAS baseball hats! One of the ladies said that the children love that they have friends in Texas that they know are praying for them.

This was the wonderful bus

This was taken this morning (Tuesday) when Dasha dropped me off at the church.

...and this is the church!

I'm so sorry this is going to be so short. It was such a long, BUT WONDERFUL day!!! I can hardly keep my eyes open so here are just a few things for everyone back home...

David, I saw your comment on the blog and, yes, I will tell Christine she is missed! You are as well. I know she has tried to send you a few texts messages (because others are able from their iphones here) but it says she has no service. She sent a text and waited for a day and then realized it never sent. She was wondering if she needed to have international service set up before hand. She is doing great. We have become very close and have laughed a ton!

Stacy, yes, I will bring Katia back with me and send her to Cali...along with Rita, sasha, tanya, kolya, denise, ana, ... Yes, mom, it was a struggle to leave. More so today than yesterday!

Today we were scheduled to go to an inter-city orphanage to spend the day with the children. Turns out they are all sent away to "sports camp" during a part of the summer for annual maintenance on the buildings. Holly and Christine decided we would just go to the camp to see them. Let me tell you, these two ladies have the biggest hearts I've ever known. We took a 4 1/2 hour bus ride to the camp, could only stay for 2 hours and drove 4 1/2 hours back, yes, all today. Honestly, it was worth every second of it. I will post pictures tomorrow. The team knew the kids were wanting/expecting to see them (they have meet from previous visits) and the team wanted to see them just as well. After we reached the camp and all settled for tea, Holly said to all the children (with our fabulous translators) that while they have been away, they have continued to pray for the children by name and have missed them very much (as Holly held her heart.) One of the older boys very sincerely said back, "we feel just the same." I know with all of the seed planting from previous years, this had to be a pretty profound moment for some of the past team members.

Mark is hilarious with all of the boys. Running around playing tag, wrestling, and chopping wood, they love him. He is sooo in his element.

The team as a whole has united and meshed together beautifully. It is obvious the Lord hand picked each member of this team to work together. I loved our time on the bus getting to know each other even better as we shared personal stories about some God moments in our life, family and friends, work, and a whole lot of yadda yadda yadda.

If anyone else would like to leave a message I will be sure to pass it on. Over all, everyone is doing great. Nobody is sick. Host families are wonderful. The Lord has being blessing our socks off by the minute!

Once again, PLEASE excuse the post. I'm too tired to go back and re-read and correct all my errors!

One last thing...we would not be doing as good as we are without all of your prayers and support. We feel it here in Russia, appreciate it, and love it. Please don't stop!

Shalom!
Jenny