| From: | John Zaitseff <J.Zaitseff@zap.org.au> |
| To: | Many interested readers around the world |
| Date: | Wednesday, 3rd August 2005 at 00:30:41 MSD |
| Subject: | A quick update from Russia |
Well, I finally have the opportunity to send you a quick update on what we are doing in Russia. So much has happened that it’s hard to believe over two weeks have passed since our team flew out of Sydney on Sunday the 17th of July!
Our team of nine Australians and six interpreters is currently at a children’s camp in Schokino, a town just south of Tula, about 200km south of Moscow. We have been here for about a week and a half, and have we been busy! A few highlights for me have been:
Getting to know the children in our camp. Each child has his or her own personality, of course, making this quite interesting! By now, we each know many of the children, and they know much about us, too. Good friendships have already blossomed; the love that God pours out into our lives is being passed on to the children, many of whom come from broken families. We have been able to tell many of the children about Jesus, too.
Getting involved in every area of camp life. Unlike other camps, the team is expected to participate fully in every event and even help run parts of the camp program. For example, we run an Australian Club every day—as much a part of camp life for the children as sports!
Getting along as a team. Although many of us already knew each other back in Australia, others we only met in Russia. We have been working very well as a team, for which we praise God!
Being able to speak the language fluently. I am continually thankful that my parents insisted that I learn Russian. What a blessing it is for me to be able to communicate directly with the children and with adults!
Actually, many are amazed that I can speak Russian with virtually no accent (or so they assure me!). This provides a perfect opportunity to tell them how God led our family to Australia, and that He is still the same God that cares for us individually today!
Going to the Ninth School district in the afternoons to spend time with at least some of the children that are not able to come to this particular camp.
Visiting a Children’s Home with mentally-limited young children. This was very challenging emotionally; perhaps the best thing that we did was just to play with the children and give them lots of hugs. The children were simply starving for affection, in spite of the efforts of the (relatively few) staff.
It was quite distressing, to be honest, of being called “Mum” and finding out that, apart from any mental disability, it was because men almost never came to spend time with the children. Actually, I have found out that most Russian men by and large never spend time actually playing with their children—they are always too busy and too serious and distant.
Muchroom picking, in which those of us who went came back quite wet! We also had the opportunity to spend some time with the camp director’s family and friends. This was the first time in my life that I tried the traditional Russian food “sala” (salted pig’s fat); I quite enjoyed it!
We have just a few days left in this camp: the team will be leaving on Friday 9th August to fly out from Moscow that evening. My current plan is to stay on in Schokino until Monday 8th or Tuesday 9th; I will be catching the train on the Tuesday to Mariupol in Ukraine.
Please continue to pray for us as a team and for me personally; we value your prayers! In particular, pray that:
Until next time, I remain
Yours in Christ,
John Zaitseff