Update from Russia

I received a phone call from Soltsi this afternoon around 2:00. I was excited to finally receive word that the Soltsi team had safely made it to Russia. I chuckled occasionally as some of the details of the past few days were revealed, but marvelled at the "trooper" spirit I could hear in the tone of their voices. Paraphrased below are some of the details that I received.


Because of the delay from the first flight (see yesterday's blog) they were scheduled to land 15 minutes before their connecting flight was to depart. During check-in it was decided by the airline that it would be best if they rescheduled their connecting flight which would cause them to have a six hour layover in Paris, France. However, only Meredith's ticket was issued correctly while the other's still had the original connecting flight. This wasn't noticed until they were about to board the plane out of Washington Dulles International Airport. Due to the current situation, they were told that the issue would have to be resolved when they landed in Paris. When the team landed in France, the airline personnel decided that they would hold the plane and rush them to catch their original connecting flight. The flight was delayed approximately 30 minutes waiting on them, but they all made the connection.


On their connecting flight from France to Russia, there was a medical emergency on the plane (not one of our team) but it resulted in an unscheduled landing in Hamburg, Germany where they were grounded for two hours before resuming their flight to Russia. They arrived in Russia on Saturday around 5:30 pm (Russia local time)...keep in mind that Russia is 8 hours ahead of VA.


They proceeded to baggage claim only to find out that their bags had not arrived with them. They filled out the necessary papers in quadruplets and waited at the airport for the next plane to arrive with their luggage. Four hours later, they were notified that their luggage had arrived, everyone's except Meredith's.


Today, Sunday, they attended a Russian church in Novgorod (the parent church is located here). According to the team, the church service lasted approximately 2 hours...a little longer than Pastor Ray's. :) The team introduced themselves in the church service and sang a song for them in Russian...one that they will be teaching at VBS (including the hand motions). The congregation was very pleased. They did some touring while they were in Novgorod and then drove on to Soltsi (the second church, rehab center, and orphanage are located here). They arrived at the house where they will be staying to find out the power was out. Some of the team actually read their training manuals and brought flashlights (thank you Richard).


Despite all the travel issues they are excited to get started and get into the orphanage. Monday will be a planning day and VBS will start on Tuesday.


They do not have a computer at this time and Meredith is still waiting on her luggage to be delivered.

Signed,
The Soltsi Team

Please continue to keep them in your prayers, they are very excited at what God is going to do through them as well as in them.

Leslie Garcia