Amazing Journey
Today there is so much to report I hardly know where to start; but I guess I will go where my heart leads.
We are now staying in the town of Rybinsk. It is rare for a foreigner to be here. No tourists come here. We are here for two reasons. Our son's orphanage is here and we met a wonderful woman doing amazing work for the orphans here. She invited us to stay with her, so we are very near our son's orphanage. Otherwise, it would have been about a 2 hour drive each direction to visit him. It would be unlikely that we would get to see him very much otherwise. (She is really treating us well, cooking for us and translating for us. Very Russian hospitality - even though she is Australian, her Russian friends call her Russian).
Rybinsk is much larger than we originally thought. It is a city of about 500,000. There are several factories here; a working man's town. The average salary is about $400/month. Food and shelter is slightly cheaper than in SF, but not that much. You can see that people really struggle to get by. Regardless, it is a beautiful town with many beautiful friendly people.
We visited Ruslan today at his orphanage. They had a puppet show (put on my orphanage staff) and we went to see it with him and all the other children. It was the 1st time that we got to see the other kids. There are 25 of them right now from 3 yrs to 7. They let us see where Ruslan sleeps and otherwise lives. We got to play with all the kids outside for a while; ring around the rosey, hide & seek, chase, and a little soccer. Ruslan was giving us the grand tour and definitely showing off. It was a side of him we have never seen before. He was so proud to have a mama and papa. He was quite a bit possessive. All the other children were so excited to have us there. They all wanted attention from us. Ruslan didn't like that he was having to struggle to monopolize us (one of the staff told me that he was worried we might change our mind about him and want one of the other children instead). The other children really broke my heart also. I can't get them out of my mind today. They all really want a mama and papa. They don't understand why Ruslan gets one and they don't. They are all so starved for love and affection. My only regret today is that I don't understand more Russian. All the kids (including Ruslan) were trying to tell us things that we just didn't understand. We read their eyes. Those haunting eyes.
The weather here has been gorgeous, about 65 degrees clear and sunny. The sunset tonight was like nothing I have ever seen. There was so much glow coming from the sun that it made the sun look kind of oval. The red was so scarlet, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The clothes I brought are totally inappropriate; far too heavy. Everyone says that this beautiful weather is very unseasonal and could never have been expected, so we are just very fortunate (even if a little over dressed).
We are also doing work with the missionary we are staying with (getting around on foot and by bus just like the locals- no cushy driver this week). So far, we are helping work on their church, but we will also help with some of the other orphanages. I will post about that later in the week. We met tonight to clean the church with a couple of their cell groups. They were very much like family. We enjoyed the fellowship with them. They really made us feel welcome. We cleaned and cooked alongside them. We learned how to eat Russian style. Over the meal (of boiled potatoes, sardines, oil, some kinda veggie/caviar spread, bread and sweets) we all shared how we came to be there and to our faith. It was a wonderful ecumenical cultural fellowship experience. When I shared about Ruslan, there was much crying with and for us. My heart is on overload right now. I think I must go pray. Thanks to all of you out there who are reading this for being with us through this adventure. Love, Elaine & Ken
We are now staying in the town of Rybinsk. It is rare for a foreigner to be here. No tourists come here. We are here for two reasons. Our son's orphanage is here and we met a wonderful woman doing amazing work for the orphans here. She invited us to stay with her, so we are very near our son's orphanage. Otherwise, it would have been about a 2 hour drive each direction to visit him. It would be unlikely that we would get to see him very much otherwise. (She is really treating us well, cooking for us and translating for us. Very Russian hospitality - even though she is Australian, her Russian friends call her Russian).
Rybinsk is much larger than we originally thought. It is a city of about 500,000. There are several factories here; a working man's town. The average salary is about $400/month. Food and shelter is slightly cheaper than in SF, but not that much. You can see that people really struggle to get by. Regardless, it is a beautiful town with many beautiful friendly people.
We visited Ruslan today at his orphanage. They had a puppet show (put on my orphanage staff) and we went to see it with him and all the other children. It was the 1st time that we got to see the other kids. There are 25 of them right now from 3 yrs to 7. They let us see where Ruslan sleeps and otherwise lives. We got to play with all the kids outside for a while; ring around the rosey, hide & seek, chase, and a little soccer. Ruslan was giving us the grand tour and definitely showing off. It was a side of him we have never seen before. He was so proud to have a mama and papa. He was quite a bit possessive. All the other children were so excited to have us there. They all wanted attention from us. Ruslan didn't like that he was having to struggle to monopolize us (one of the staff told me that he was worried we might change our mind about him and want one of the other children instead). The other children really broke my heart also. I can't get them out of my mind today. They all really want a mama and papa. They don't understand why Ruslan gets one and they don't. They are all so starved for love and affection. My only regret today is that I don't understand more Russian. All the kids (including Ruslan) were trying to tell us things that we just didn't understand. We read their eyes. Those haunting eyes.
The weather here has been gorgeous, about 65 degrees clear and sunny. The sunset tonight was like nothing I have ever seen. There was so much glow coming from the sun that it made the sun look kind of oval. The red was so scarlet, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The clothes I brought are totally inappropriate; far too heavy. Everyone says that this beautiful weather is very unseasonal and could never have been expected, so we are just very fortunate (even if a little over dressed).
We are also doing work with the missionary we are staying with (getting around on foot and by bus just like the locals- no cushy driver this week). So far, we are helping work on their church, but we will also help with some of the other orphanages. I will post about that later in the week. We met tonight to clean the church with a couple of their cell groups. They were very much like family. We enjoyed the fellowship with them. They really made us feel welcome. We cleaned and cooked alongside them. We learned how to eat Russian style. Over the meal (of boiled potatoes, sardines, oil, some kinda veggie/caviar spread, bread and sweets) we all shared how we came to be there and to our faith. It was a wonderful ecumenical cultural fellowship experience. When I shared about Ruslan, there was much crying with and for us. My heart is on overload right now. I think I must go pray. Thanks to all of you out there who are reading this for being with us through this adventure. Love, Elaine & Ken
posted by Ken & Elaine | 11:22 AM
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