CBU: Almost done with first week of camp.

The past three days have been a huge blessing! We started camp with the children on Monday and it went well! We introduced ourselves and slowly the children started to open up to us. We have learned so much from the children even though they have had many obstacles in their lives. Camp on day one was awesome to watch how the children participated in the activities that we had planned. We loved hearing them laugh with us and trying to talk to us in Russian even when we didn’t understand. We quickly learned to smile and nod, but the Russian lessons we had the first few days helped us greatly to be able to have little conversations with the kids! When we first arrive at the Center each day the staff has prepared lunch for us and later dinner. The food has been amazing and the staff has been fun to get to know!

Day two with the kids was very eye opening as we got to share the gospel with some of them and hear them open up about who they think God is. Many didn’t know what the Bible was but some had an understanding of who Jesus is. It was just a great opportunity to show the love of Christ to them. Our translators Tanya, Marina, and Lena have been a blessing and such a big help because they are such a huge part of our ministry! We played games with the kids and made a couple crafts that even the older boys enjoyed! The younger kids really opened up to us and shared many stories from their lives. God has really touched our hearts for these children and showed us how great the need is here to have the love of Christ poured out on them, and that they can have hope in the Lord. After the camp a couple of the girls went into the city for Russia Day! They went walking around the city and had the chance to see the Neva River and a lot of architecture. Saint Petersburg is a beautiful city!

Day three was a whole new experience! The children greeted us with many hugs, smiles, and friendly hellos. The warm reception greatly encouraged us and gave us energy for the rest of the day! We had fun playing games and we did a skit that they really enjoyed. At the end of each day we get to take them to the park that is nearby. We play jump rope with the girls, Frisbee with the little ones, and the older kids love playing soccer. Here in Russia it is not common for girls to play soccer and the older boys were happy that even though we are a team of all girls we still played with them! It was an older boy’s birthday today and so we had the chance to celebrate with him after dinner. We had a disco party and ate cake and tea! It was a lot of fun and we got to sing happy birthday to him in RUSSIAN! These past three days have been amazing getting to know the children and pouring love into them. We feel so blessed to have this opportunity and we are so thankful for being called to St. Petersburg, Russia!

CBU Russia C Team, written by Arlene and Krystal