Trinity Western University Team update – week 2

We hope you all have been experiencing God’s many blessings- as we have!

This week our team has been able to see and experience more of St. Petersburg’s beauty.  While the beauty surrounds us daily, It’s often difficult to comprehend the pain and suffering that goes on within the city (which we experience greatly at our ministry sites).  We will proceed to describe our daily activities for the week in order to give you all a better understanding of how we spend our time in Russia.

Thursday:

This was the first day that our team was alone (without Sveta and Vlodya) at the baby orphanage.  This day was spent with the HIV children in the morning. We absolutely adore these children- their smiles light up our hearts. That morning we brought bubbles and blew them with the children; it was so wonderful to see their happy faces. Our team is building up our arm muscles as they LOVE to swing!!! Some of the children could sit on the swing for the entire hour! After spending time with the HIV children, we switched rooms and went to group 1. Group 1 is compiled of children ages of 1-3 who are considered absolutely “healthy”. Although these children are not HIV positive, they present difficulties with coordination and some seem to have mild cases of cerebral palsies.  Our team (especially Alejandra) enjoy our time with them very much. We mostly hold and rock these children- we also take them on walks outside. After our time with Group 1, we then proceeded to go hold infants. The staff who take care of the infants are wonderful, they trust us fully and love our help. There were 4 infants in this group- 3 boys and 1 girl. Although they often drool, we love simply sitting and holding these precious abandoned children. This concluded our ministry day.

Friday:

We had the same schedule this day as we did on Thursday.

Saturday:

We had the same schedule this day, as we did on Thursday and Friday. The only difference was the evening portion. Our team had a great opportunity to lead a local church’s youth group. This was an amazing time, as we were able to build relationships with youth our age and speak about God. Adi shared about having faith in God even amongst hardships and difficulties that life often brings us. We played a variety of games and ate many cookies!

Sunday:

On Sunday we went to a church service at the church that SunErgos is acquainted with.  Afterwords, the four of us took off on our own to see some sites, which included the cruiser “Aurora”,  a mosque, a beautiful bookstore, and we got lunch at a McDonald’s for some regular burgers and fries.  We got to do something of each of our own choosing and had fun times out and about.

Monday:

With the start of a new week we also began at a new center! Today was our first day at a disabled center where teens/young adults with either physical, mental, or both handicaps go during the days all week to enable their parents to work. This facility is the only one of its kind in all of St. Petersburg and is run by volunteers, as well as a few staff members including an occupational therapist, a physical therapist and a psychologist. We came to observe what the center was all about, went on a walk and would begin working there the next day. Today’s time at the center was cut short, as we were attending the English Club night at the church to lead a short discussion on ‘friendship’, followed by watching the movie “August Rush”.

Tuesday:

As we were now acclimated with what the disabled center was all about, we were able to assist in the care of the children, including suiting them all up and taking them out for a walk to the park! On our way to the park with the disabled children, after putting on coats and shoes and getting them into their wheelchairs individually, we began to see the difficulties they face daily in simply getting around their city. It was quickly seen why these children cannot be taken out daily, as the streets are incredibly dangerous for them and it was quite the feat to muscle their chairs up and over the curbs and through the pot-hole filled and BUSY streets! Even though it seemed like a grueling process, it most definitely paid off to see the kids smiling faces upon reaching the park! What seems like a simple everyday sight for children without disabilities such as seeing a duck on the pond was extremely exciting for these children and certainly brightened up our days to see their sheer enjoyment with such a sight.

Wednesday:

Another day at the disabled center did not show many differences from yesterday, other than a few different faces and one less from our team joining us, as Adi’s allergies were acting up and she rested up for the day back at our apartment, but is feeling great now!

Overall, we’ve had a good week although it exhausted us and challenged us in many different ways. But we continue to set our sights on the Lord each day to get through with positive attitudes and joyful spirits. Thanks for being a part of this experience with us. We still have about 14 days left, so we could definitely use some prayer for:

– stamina and good weather (each days begins with an hour long walk just to get to the center)

-health (mainly Adi’s allergies)

-The disabled center (It’s the only one of its kind in the city and we’d want it to continue running)

-our relationships with the youth at the church

Thanks! And God bless!

~Adi, Alejandra, Joy and Frankie