Saturday, August 21

Today was the last day with our new friends; it was a very sad day!  We had 27 kids come today!  Everyone was eager to sing the songs...in fact, there were a couple that we were asked to do twice.  One in particular is where Ben raps...he's just so good with it and the kids love it!  The kids were asked to come today because we wanted to give each one of them a Bible in Russian since Pastor Valari had some issues with the van and was not able to get them to us on Friday.  We had other gifts to give them and it gave us an opportunity to hang out with them a little more before we leave.

After VBS we headed over to the orphanage.  We didn't work today because Vladimir said we did such a great job sealing the playground equipment that it didn't need a second coat.  So, we spent a lot of time with the kids.  Some played on the swings, some played "football", some were just being goofy but the kids loved it!  It was a very tearful goodbye when we had to leave for lunch; some of us wanted so badly to take the girls with us but we couldn't because we were told that they will search inside the suitcases as we leave Russia. :)

After lunch we headed about 30-40 minutes outside the town and went to a river with Victor and his family, as well as a few others; it was beautiful!  We had a cookout, walked down by the river, some played a little volleyball and "football", Stef got to see a real live baby Hedgehog (it's so FLUFFY!) and we ate some great meat!!!  We had a great time fellowshiping with our new family.

It's hard to believe that we leave Sol'tsy (that's how they spell it here) tomorrow after church.  Stan is speaking some time after 11 AM and I would ask that you pray for him but you are all probably still sleeping... :)  We will not be able to post after tonight but hopefully we'll have someone post an update about us.  We did have some who wanted to make sure you knew that our flight is scheduled to arrive at Dulles on Tuesday at 4:05 PM - AirFrance, flight #24 so if you are supposed to pick someone up at the airport, you'll know what # to check on. :)...don't be late! - HA!  Truth be known...no one is ready to leave just yet!!

See you soon!

For Christ Alone,
Team Sol'tsy