CBU: Starting the first day of camp

We safely arrived in Russia and have enjoyed immersing ourselves in the culture. On our flight here, we dealt with a few health problems such as upset stomachs, but everyone is healthy now. Upon arriving to St. Petersburg, we discovered that Lauren’s luggage, as well as one of our team bags, did not make the connecting flight. However, the next day we were pleasantly surprised to find it by our door. We started our team training and sightseeing and have been amazed at what we’ve learned so far. We’ve enjoyed training with the Vanguard team also serving in Russia at … Continue reading

CBU and Vanguard: First day in Russia!

We are back to training! The first day of training for the CBU and Vanguard teams has finished and the teams are all sleeping soundly after their first full day in Russia. The teams send their greetings to friends and family from Saint Petersburg, Russia! They are excited to be finally in Russia, after such a long time of preparation for their trip. On the first day of training the teams went through an orientation where they found out the “dos and don’ts” of living in Russia! As well as learning some Russian alphabet, numbers and colors. Very important things … Continue reading

CBU: The teams are on their way home!

You can track their progress on the Lufthansa website, here.   Their first flight is: LH 1462.  Then their second flight is:  LH 456. Make sure to enter the date of May 29th, 2012. (Or a live website where the plane moves as you watch!) The three weeks have flown by and it seems like they have just arrived, excited to serve the fatherless of Russia.  And now they have boarded the plane to come back home.  Each one is excited to see family and friends, yet sad to leave the relationships that were built with the children and teens at the two … Continue reading

CBU – St Petersburg: Surprises on the last day

Yesterday was our last day with the kids at the Transit Center. While it was one of the hardest days that any of us have endured, it was also one of the happiest. Being the last day we could spend with these kids we had planned a party for them; little did we know that they had plans for us as well. After we got the kids ready for the party we came back together to dance and hangout, and just enjoy our last few hours with them. When they returned we were informed that they had planned a special … Continue reading

CBU – Novgorod: Saying goodbye…

Hello again. Thank you so much for all of your prayers for our ministry here. We had a fantastic day of camp on Wednesday with a lesson on encouragement. Everyone on the team really came together to plan, organize and execute the lesson and activities for the camp so well after a more difficult previous day at camp. We were all so pleased to see all the kids come up to write multiple examples of encouraging words on the poster board–it was such a pleasant surprise that the lesson was so well received by the kids. After our fun day … Continue reading