America!

Becca has arrived safely in Dallas TX after a long day of flying from St. Petersburg to Frankfurt, and then on to Dallas. She said that she slept about 2 hours in St. Petersburg before leaving early for the airport, and managed to sleep about 3 or more hours on the plane over the Atlantic. Tomorrow she will fly to Seattle and then take the quick hop over the mountains to home (less than an hour in the air). She will be landing in Pasco about 5:00 PM, which is about the time I leave for my last night of shift work before getting about a week off. I've included a pic she sent me just before the plane took off from Germany.

Thanks to everyone who has been following this blog and remembering Becca and the team in your prayers. We are all anxious to hear about the trip 1st hand, rather than Russ' mindless ramblings in this blog...lol!

I realized I haven't ever published the website of the group she travelled with...check out Strategic Angel Care at http://www.sacorphans.org/

God bless!

Last day in Russia

Here are some pictures of Becca's last day in Russia. They visited another hospital and orphanage, and well as seeing the Church of the Savior on Blood in St. Petersburg. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Savior_on_Blood.

Becca inside the church

Becca is eating lunch in this picture, I think she looks really cute.
This is Becca and Veeka in front of the church

This is a pic of 3 boys in one of the hospitals they visted on the last day.

Email from Becca

Today I thought I would just post an email that I received from Becca a few minutes ago.



Today we went to the church to talk, hang, and fellowship w/ the men. We presented them w/ photo albums we were up until 1:15am making! They liked them. We also gave book marks and wallets. Then we had a snack (like every morning) and then headed out to the children's hospital. We did a craft and got a group photo. There was a couple new kids there and a couple went home to their families.
There was a girl at the hospital today who was new and her name in English was Veronica. She went by Nica. She is 12 yrs old. She was in her room by herself and didn't want to join the group. She is an orphan. The other kids have families to go home to and she will go back to the orphanage when she is not sick anymore. Anya, one of our interpreters went in her room to talk to her. She was quite sad. Anya was (is) an orphan herself (she is 25). She eventually came out and did the craft and we got a group picture at the end with her in it. She also knew our other translator Natasha from an orphanage camp she went to where Natasha did the music. She plays all sorts of musical instruments and Neeca really took to Natasha and held onto her. She was so much more sad than all the other kids that had families to go home to.
Next we went back to the church to have lunch and then head out to the boys school. It was hard to work with the women director of the school. The people that work there really have no organization whatsoever and we came up with a plan and the last day was supposed to go smoothly however, they changed things on us when we had a schedule that was working. With our schedule they would have a game period, a craft, and a lesson. They didn't have to do the craft so, if they chose they could stay in the gym during that time. The directors decided it would better if the kids decided where they go. Yeah, that doesn't work because then they didn't choose to hear the message :( So, we sent Pastor Andre in to the craft room to give the message but so many of the boys didn't want to do craft so they didn't hear it. I was supposed to be in the gym and do sport because that was where I was to be for all three sessions but they keep everything locked and I left to go get a translator for Sean. Well I got locked out so I ended up helping John w/ some stuff and went into the craft room. It turned out to be a good thing. Although the guys in the gym personally requested that the American play with them. I felt bad. But, I got to connect with some of the boys who were in the craft room.
When I got in there one of the boys was obviously talking about me and his friend was saying my name and they were laughing. Long story short I guess he has a crush on me ;). So, their craft was a photo album with a picture of them on one side and a group photo of us on the other that we had taken Wed of those who would let me take a picture. Then around the frame they would color. I spend an hour sitting there "talking" with these two boys: yagore( Egor), and Vova. They drew and wrote all over a piece of paper that I got to keep. When it was time to go into a different room to give out their gifts Vova handed me his picture frame he had written my name in Russian on, which is spelled BEkA. But sounds quite different in Russian. I didn't want him to not have the group photo so I had Mary (which speaks some Russian) to go tell him I can make a copy of that group photo and that he should keep it. He wanted me to have the photo on him in the frame he made for me...ahhh!!!! It's a shame that it takes until the last day to make some connections and then we don't come back. I wish I could go back and talk with those boys some more. We just started to get to know each other. I wish I had my own personal interpreter because we are all "fighting" for the three we did have". But many things we say aren't translated. :( I will miss those boys.
Then, we headed back to the church for dinner. After dinner, we head upstairs for more fellowship w/ the men. Tonight we played some silly observation games. I never got or understood them until it was made obvious. Of course it might have something to do with the color of my hair they say... I don't know. John talks with the guys and encourages them with their walk with the Lord. Most of them, if not all, have come to know the Lord as Savior. At the end of the night, which was around 8:20, they asked us all to sing an American song...song of choice you may ask??? Old MacDonald! Alright...we sang it...they laughed! It was a great experience. Not at all what I expected but I am very much grateful to the Lord for this opportunity.
Right now, I am on the bus headed back to the University where we sleep. It was a late night. We were going to play Phase ten but after being up until 1:30 last night...I doubt it! Tomorrow we are going to go tour a bit in the morning, eat lunch out together, and then head to orphanage 14 to visit with 8 orphans. We will have a few hours with them. We might take them out to eat at KFC. Things cost a lot more here in American $$. I have to pay Ruebels but it still converts to more $ than we would pay it the states. Now I see why Sean brought $1,000 for the 2 weeks he is here! It goes fast.
I love you baby.
Becca
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Technology is cool!

Technology is cool...take this picture as an example.
At 8:44 AM in Russia, Becca took this photo and emailed it to me. I received it at 9:50 PM Pacific time, 6 minutes later. I didn't check my phone until 9:56 PM, and then turned on my computer, and started up this site. It's now 10:07 PM, and I will have this picture posted on both her facebook page and mine within 5 minutes. For those of you keeping score at home, that's picture to global publishing in less than 30 minutes, with alot of down time due to me not having the computer on and not noticing my phone flashing.

And for some information on this picture, she said

"Beginning our Wednesday. Walking to the Metro."

Tuesday in Russia

I have lots of pictures from a number of things in Russia, too many to share on one post. Thanks for keeping up with the blog and for continuing to pray for Becca and the team.

This first pic is 3 team members plus a translator. The translators name is Veeka. Becca has met some people from Ohio that are with the team for a few days as well.

I've incluced a pic of the team as they enter the childrens hospital, a street picture in town, and a pic of some of the young men in drug rehab that they are assisting. Becca tells me that all of the young men pictured are Christians, the drug rehab center is a ministry of the local church. The younger kids in the other picture are at the childrens hospital.


The team will be changing in the next day or so as portions of the team go to other locations or return to the states. The language difference is an obstacle for everyone to overcome. Continue to pray for their safety, Becca tells me that the older boys at the school are the most challenging, from what I hear it may be good that there is a language barrier at times over there.

Becca said that her trip has been a good experience for her.

Monday in Russia

I Skype chatted with John Neese (team leader) and spoke with Becca on the phone for few minutes today. I am very happy to report that her phone is working now in Russia. It made a world of difference in the hour that she was up before I left to pick up the boys from school in just sending each other emails and pictures of what we have been up to on each side of the world. We keep our phone call short because I'm getting a good deal at $3.99 per minute to talk on the phone from Russia. Germany is a much better rate for those of you who may take your phones overseas. Data is free, so we are emailing fools.
This first picture was taken in a cab on the drive from St. Petersburg to Lomosov, where they are staying. Yep, it's blurry, even the camera was tired. lol!

The second picture is a paper she took a picture of over there...I just like the name of it. :)

The next picture is a view from her bedroom window. What you can see are all the buildings filled with the flats that the Russian people live in. Becca told me that most of the flats are about 300 sq. ft, give or take, usually take. There are some homes in the country that the richer people live in, and she may send a picture of that tomorrow.

I will include some prayer requests that I received from the team leader at the bottom of this post. Remember the team and all that they come into contact with in your prayers. Particularly pray for their health and safety as they minister to young people in Russia.

(From John Neese)

Wednesday (10/14), a 12 year old girl arrived at Child in Danger (CID). We all recognized her. She was at Children’s Hospital #15 on Monday when we got to visit there. She recognized us and was glad to see us. It made her arrival at CID a little more gentle. Please pray for her.

Thursday (10/15) evening at Child in Danger we ran into one of the Social Workers changing metro trains on our way home. He thanked us for coming and said he really liked our Bible lessons with the kids and said it was a shame that the Orthodox church didn’t do the same. This opened the door for me to share more about our faith with him. On the wet rainy streets of St. Petersburg near our hotel, we talked. He is 21 years old, Orthodox, and has not accepted Christ yet as his savior, but I gave him a lot to think about. Please pray for this young man to accept Christ.

On Friday (10/16) we had the tea with 4 of the 5 older kids. We brought a cake and cookies and sat in the small dining room so we could talk and share. In Russia, having tea is the social cultural norm. It’s how adults, teens and churches socialize. IN the USA, it would be comparable to saying “potluck”! We chatted and about an hour into the meeting, I asked if they wanted to hear why we were here. They agreed and I shared why, then I asked if they would like to hear what God has to say about entering into heaven. They agreed to this too, so using a simple Gospel Bead presentation I presented the Gospel. I invited them to pray with me to ask Christ into their lives. All said they prayed! Four kids accepted Christ that night that included a boy and three girls!

Saturday evening, (10/17), Team 2 arrived safely with all luggage and on time. Susan and Becca were tired but excited to be in Russia!

Sunday, (10/18), our group went to church right here on the campus of the Christian University.

Monday, (10/19), our group’s first day in Lomonosov. At 10am we met with the 6 guys from the drug rehab center at the Lomonosov Baptist Church. They were very open and some began sharing their personal struggles. It will be a great week with them! Tonight I encouraged them to begin thinking about sharing their personal testimonies with us. It will help them grow. Please pray for them as they start this. I thought this will be needed for their future as they will be able to share with others that have drug problems if they have practice now. At 12pm we went to the Children’s Hospital. There were 5 kids there to work with, and everyone was very open. We were given until 1:30pm. This site will be fun and easy. At 2pm we had lunch and 3pm went to the Petrohof Boys Home. These are at-risk kids that are very hard to handle. We had a rough time today, but we have a plan for tomorrow that should work better now that we’ve seen the kids and what we can and can’t do. We have the kids from 3:30pm to 5:00pm each day. Please pray that this will work and all things will work out. This site is going to be a challenge. Everything else is going fine.

Please send me your blog web link. I’m glad her phone is working now!

Blessings,
John

Comments are now moderated

Sorry everyone, I had to repost this update, I have turned on comment moderation, and also allowed anonymous posts if you don't have a blogger account. I had to delete the previous posting due to some comments, but here it is again for your viewing pleasure.

I spoke with Becca on the phone very briefly a few minutes ago, it was good to hear her voice. We didn't talk for long but I was able to tell her that we can get her phone working tomorrow. I did speak with John for about 3 seconds, so it appears that he is out of the hospital, thank you for your prayers. Continue to pray for the health and safety of the entire team while they are overseas. I should have more info to post tomorrow.

Phone problems, team leader dehydrated and hospitalized

I spoke with Becca through Skype today at noon (Saturday), Saturday at 11:00 PM for her. Please pray for her team leader John, who was hospitalized with dehydration at some point before she arrived. There are 3 other team members in St. Petersburg with her, pray for their safety and jet lag recovery.
She managed to sleep for about 90 minutes in the Frankfurt airport and again on the flight to St. Petersburg from Frankfurt.
One other complication is her phone. I spoke with Verizon global support team and it appears that her phone needs to be manually configured to the network in Russia, I have sent her an email that I hope she reads when she wakes up and everything can get worked out. As most of you know, we use our Blackberries for EVERYTHING, and she really needs it while she is overseas.
She was able to see us via skype, we did not see her, but it was good to hear her voice. The younger guys didn't talk much on skype because they were staring at our computer desktop (A picture of Becca at Safeco Field) and talking to momma without seeing her.
Thanks again to everyone who helped support this mission trip. Keep her entire team in your prayers, especially John for a quick recovery and release from the Russian hospital.

Europe!

Becca has safely arrived in Europe, I spoke with her on the phone after she landed in Frankfurt Germany shortly after midnight Pacific time. They had about a 4 hour layover in Germany before flying to St. Petersburg, where they were scheduled to arrive about 7:20 AM Pacific time on Saturday morning. I suspect that she is catching up on some much needed sleep right now with the rest of the team.
I have included a picture she sent from the Frankfurt airport. Here is an email she wrote on the plane that she sent shortly after landing.

Well, it is now 8:00 Seattle time and 10:00 Texas time. It appears everyone else is having no problem sleeping on the airplane. I on the other hand sit her wide awake. I believe we will arrive in Germany at 1:15 in the morning Texas time, 11:15 Seattle time. That's about the time I usually go to bed back home. I am a creature of habit and this doesn't bode well for me. We have a 5 hour layover in Germany. I wonder if I can get some shut eye there??? Hmmm...it will however be 9:45 am in their morning. Lord give me strength. Susan seems to be sleeping fine next to me. I bought, in TX, a neck pillow that is covered in the American Flag! No doubting where I'm from...AMEN! Every time I would head back to the restroom (which was a lot!) My "friend" Pete was there hanging out. Neither of us could sit in our seat long. He is a 60 year old man from Italy who has 4 children as well. His first one was born in '82 and last one '00- same year Gavin was born!! Funny huh? It's been nice meeting people from different parts of the world. I especially like the airline we are on- Luftansa -it's a German airline. So, the stewardesses are German(like my Grandma). I've enjoyed listening to them speak! I miss my boys already! I miss my husband! I pray for the Russian children and people. I can't wait to meet them all. I look forward to God changing me and hopefully revealing his will and plan for our life concerning adoption from Russia. Whether I feel led because of the trip or not. PTL!
Becca
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Flight over the Atlantic

As I write this Becca and her teammate Susan (pictured) are over the Atlantic, closer to Europe than North America. They should land in Germany in about 3 hours, of course I'll post some more pics and information as I hear from Becca.
Please pray that they will all adjust well to the time change and get plenty of rest. St. Petersburg is 11 hours ahead of Pacific time, I'm sure they'll have some jet lag.
Drop us a note and let us know you're following her trip progress!

Becca's Russia trip

I know it's been forever since I posted on this blog, but I have promised lots of people that this will be an easy place to keep up on Becca's trip...so here I go.
I took Becca to the Pasco airport EARLY yesterday morning (10/15) for her flight to Seattle and connection to Dallas. Her flight to Texas went well, however when she arrived at her hotel room it was pretty nasty.
Enter Jeff and Amanda Sodoma, who saved the day. Thanks for Jeff and Amanda for taking Becca in for the night and providing her a clean and safe place to rest before a LONG flight this afternoon to Germany and on to Russia. When they had Becca over, they sent me this pic, all I can say is I'm really glad my buddy Jeff didn't marry an Alabama fan. lol
Stay in touch by checking this page often. I will update it with information and pictures as I hear from Becca. Please keep her and her team in your prayers.