Interns: Had some rest and now off to camp again!

Hi everyone! It’s Shannon! I am doing really well and cannot wait to go back to camp tomorrow (Monday), but am so glad I was able to get some rest these past few days back in the city. I also got to do a bunch of laundry since everything was sandy and smelled like campfire. It was hard to say goodbye to the kids, but it was so good to see that so many of them had such good families to go home to since Savannah and I rode home in the van with some of the kids. I can’t … Continue reading

Interns: Just finished our first session at camp!

Priviet family and friends! These first couple of weeks have been full of so much joy and chaos, and although we are exhausted right now, we could not have asked for a better group of kids and staff to have been working with throughout our first session. Right now we are back at the hostile in St. Petersburg for the weekend to get some rest and to wash our clothes, but we will return back to camp on Monday with the three beautiful SPU girls. We can confidently say that we wholeheartedly fell in love with every single kid at … Continue reading

SPU: Holding babies…

Hello again friends and family! We are so happy to be able to update you again with how God is working in Russia. Below is our own personal reflection on the last few days at the HIV Baby Orphanage. Jessica: I have been so enjoying our time at the orphanage! I have been blessed to work with the babies, taking them for walks and playing with them. They are so thirsty for attention and hugs-they are so precious!!! It is fun to try to communicate with their nannies and try to figure things out. One highlight from today was seeing … Continue reading

SPU: Finished training, tomorrow we meet the kids!

Privyet Friends and Family! After completing our training in Russia we are excited to embark on our next adventure: BABIES! We will start helping at the HIV Baby Orphanage tomorrow. What we have learned: These first few days have already been an eye opening experience for us as we have learned much from the people of Russia. In our training we learned about the Language, History, Religion, and Culture. Through learning the history, we were able to understand its large impact on present day culture and people. This morning, we had the opportunity to attend an Orthodox Church service: a … Continue reading

Interns: News from the Gulf of Finland

Hello everyone! We are doing great! Exhausted but couldn’t be better! We have spent 4 days at camp by the Gulf of Finland.  Both of us are working one on one with a teen: a 15 year old girl with Down’s syndrome and 29 year old boy, who are joys to be around. It has been a tiring week but so rewarding. We think this will be one of the most exhausting months but also one of the best. Every day we do crafts with the teens; take them for a walk on the beach and in the forest or … Continue reading