Nastya about herself

Our new program "Orphans Reaching Orphans," and our small team of three (me, Nastya, and Inna) is off to a good and promising start. Today I translate Nastya's first letter about what she is doing and why it is important. I think you will appreciate hearing it first hand.

What is my job?

Our focus is to help graduates from orphanages.

Why them?

Everyone thinks that children are released from orphanages and they live like normal children, and they have everything you need to live. No. They do not live; rather they survive. As bad as the children's home is, they learn to live there, but when it is time to be released, they face an unknown future.

Adults who work in the orphanages work there to earn money, no more. One orphanage may have 1 or 2 people who genuinely care about these kids, loving them like their own children, investing themselves fully into them.You see what a little percent? And what about all the kids who do not get that love?

I myself grew up in three children's homes, and trust me, I know what I'm writing about, and I understand what the problems with graduates are. If these questions are not addressed, then it will be reflected not only in the people around them, at work, and in society as a whole. Many Graduates do not know how to:

• cook
• wash clothes
• care for themselves
• clean at home
• pay bills
• work
• manage their time
• make a budget
• buy food
• keep their word
• hold any moral principles
• help and give to others
• and much more

But the main thing is they need support, faith in them, love, and friendship.

The things I listed can be learned, but without someone to teach them to love, be a good friend, help others, believe in others, to trust, he will not live well, he will merely exist. They need someone they can come to, get advise from, to trust with any question, to share. With this kind of support we won't need to protect them against suicide or to visit them in prison. They need to know that there are people who need them, for whom they are important and valuable. Doing this is much more difficult and time consuming than learning those life skills above.

I'm not just talking hearsay; I live all of this; I understand how important this all is for them.

I have a girlfriend and one of them said to me, "If it weren't for you, then I would not know what to do." This she says just because I give her exactly what she really needs, in terms of friendship, relationship, love, fidelity, forgiveness, faith, accepting and valuing her as a person, and just time together. The best part is that this is how she acts with others. You see what can be done? What I do will be passed on to others, and it will be a huge help to orphan graduates as it spreads.At the outset I have 5 people who very much need this help, and thanks to you I can give them the maximum time possible. When I had my other job, I had no time, and I lost a favorite friend who died. It turned out she had needed a person who might respond to her at any time. Two other childhood friends of mine committed suicide because they were lonely and had too many problems that they couldn't resolve because they did not trust.

And there are many more like this.

They need us.

Learning to hear from God

One of my main goals personally while on vacation in France this summer was work on an independent study project I've started to learn how to hear God's voice better. The material I am using comes from Communion with God Ministries, which I have known about and promoted for years, but never actually did their basic course all the way through for myself.

And too bad! It is turning out to be a personal revolution in my spiritual life to learn how to do tow-way journaling with God. The author, Mark Virkler, is wonderful at helping left-brain skeptics like me work through all the million questions, biblical basis, personal doubts, and frustrations that come up as you go. There are answers!

The bonus is that I decided to try it with my kids during our daily devotional time, and the results blew me and Diana away. Lydia is naturally gifted spiritually, but she was very encouraged by some time she spent with God struggling with some personal fears and sense of loneliness. Simon, as the youngest, did very little writing, but since G

od uses pictures more than we realize, he got some awesome things to draw that really spoke to his heart. One was a picture of God cracking an egg open, representing Him bringing Simon into life as a baby. Simon felt God was showing him how special He had made him.

Kerith was the one who has been the most impacted. He loved to journal on a ladder to be "closer to heaven" and he made himself a "prayer box" to go with him when he journals.

For example, he had been struggling with feeling unforgiven for his sins, and God wiped that away with one remark and a picture he got about Jesus on the cross. Another couple of examples:

K: Lord, what do you think about and care about me?

G: You are a wise, clever, and beyoutefull boy, and i care deeply about you.

K: Wont you ever get bored in hevans?

G: Inposibill!!

The most amazing time of all had to to with Kerith's fear of bees, which was near comical. We would be sittin

g around eating outside, and a bee would come around. All of us were calm, but he would get so upset he would have to leave.

This conversation was at his own initiative, however.

K: Lord, can you take away my fear of bees?

G: Close your eyes.

[Kerith then reported that he felt a sort of internal vibration through his body.]

G: Hey, a bee landed on your shoulder.

[Kerith opens his eyes and actually sees a bee on his shoulder. He has no reaction, and the bee flies away.]

From this point on, Kerith became totally calm around bees.

I'd say there is power in hearing God's voice!

Refreshment from France

We had not taken a real and serious vacation since moving to Russia, so we were overdue. Ministry colleagues offered us a place of theirs in the small town of St. Aignan, France, so we took it, though not sure of all we were getting.

With no Internet, TV, or phone our lives were definitely different, but then change was welcome.

We lived in the top apartment of a 2-story house. The yard was perfect for us. Sun and shade with loads of fruit trees. Loads of bird activity, including a neighbor's chicken who took up residence for a couple of days. The kids named her Henny-Penny, and she seemed to enjoy the petting and attention.

Lyle had all 3 kids picking up fallen apples (small, hard green) and using them to practice their throwing arm in preparation for the baseball mitt use. Both boys have very good aim, and Kerith is proving quite accurate and fast. The long driveway was lined with high hedges and the property itself is quite secluded, as it seems all French residences are, so we felt like we were squirreled away from everything even though the neighbors were close by.
The big open porch on ground level housed a huge gas grill and large wooden table and chairs, which we had to take advantage of frequently.

Town life was simple. Store hours are very minimal, i.e. 4 hours/day for a local pub., so we wandered around armed with paper and pen to write down all the working hours of everyplace we need. The St. Aignan church and castle are impressive and the view of the Cher river beautiful. We walked about 13 min or so into town, but our main grocery was only about 5 minutes in the opposite direction.

Language: Diana picked up quite a bit, and the kids at the playground learned "Please, mister, would you push me?" (Lyle was swinging kids on a sort of maypole with handles.) There is very little English here, which has been only a minor hindrance. Armed with her Fr/Eng dictionary, she figured out practically everything. Of course expressing ourselves was another matter. We met our backdoor neighbors - Pierre + wife - who are g-parent age and friendly. We managed to communicate where we lived and how long we were to stay in town. Lots of smiles and nodding. They are avid gardeners, and our kitchen window overlooks their labors. Even gave us a huge zucchini as we were leaving and talked at us - amazingly friendly given our inability to talk back.

Outings: We really had very few: a big canoe trip one day and two days of visiting other towns and castles along the Cher river.

Really, this R &R is doing exactly what we needed -- to get away from Russian culture and give time to personal contemplation, prayer, and growth. We actively felt ourselves "healing up" and recharging our batteries.

Our spiritual growth individually and as a family was another blessing, which I will comment on in another post.