Suzdal Orphanage

Little girls liked the new toy cars as much as the boys did.

Are these about the most beautiful blue eyes you've ever seen?






How kind of God to put a cheery rose garden next to their tiny play yard. Once I started posing with one child in my lap, it seemed everyone wanted to get in on the action. I don't know which was more special, the lap or the photo shoot!

My favorite picture of Andrew. If you want to meet a 24 year old young man with passion for God, love for all people, and a gentle spirit toward children, here's your guy. I told him he's a "babe magnet." All the kids

clung to him like metal to magnet.

Sacha making another animal.

Wish this pic was brighter, but it shows the Mercy Ministries creative drama team (Olya and Ira) acting out a skit called "God Made Me Special." One clown's job was to convince the other that she didn't need wild clothing, cute hair, or even a cool cell phone to make her special. God created each one of us from the inside out and loves us no matter what we look like.

This child was rather reserved. Her little sundress kept wanting to slip down in front, and she was oblivious. I hate it when adults dress kids in "revealing" clothes, even if the dress itself is cute. It makes me so uncomfortable. Anyway, I digress....



I didn't get any pictures of the interior of the orphanage except for where the group drama, skits, and magic happened. The place was clean and tidy, but smelled like a dairy barn. It was built in 1870. I didn't have the manners to ask how long the cows had been gone before the children moved it. We took a lot of necessities to this orphanage including a much needed hot water heater.

This little boy would NOT let go of Sarah. He was stuck to her like Krazy Glue from Moment One. In the background is Dima (our Russian interpreter who knew English slang so well, you'd guess for sure he'd grown up in America. But no, he's never been here. His accent is almost British and he has an AMAZING singing voice. No one wanted to interrupt his casual concerts on the bus. He used to sing lead vocals in a Christian band. More about Dima later. He taught me a mnemonic device about the 10 Commandments that I'll share with you. It's a great teaching tool for kids as well as a forgetful adult like me. (More later on that embarrassing moment also.)

Here's that same beautiful blue-eyed girl in her best dress

for us (before changing into playclothes). Ira's arm is around her.

Tada! There WAS a Russian flag,

but NOW there's hankies in red,

white, and blue. Magic!

Jaye the Magnificent pulled out her bag of

tricks everywhere we went. Kids couldn't

get enough of the magic show!

The kids waiting for the show to begin.

Actually, they started it with a trio singing some

catchy little number along with the piano. Then

we had a skit, a magic show, the Chicken Dance, and finally, play time outside!

The the first "real" day of ministry, the day we'd all been waiting for, finally came on Monday and fled as fast as it had come.

Remember the "joyful spark" the Lord had told me to look for? Well, here she is. A little girl named Galya. She's probably 4 years old (they're older than they look over there, whether 9 months or 38 years!) and didn't let her Down's Syndrome stop her from anything. She wiggled her little bum in the Chicken Dance that cracked me up. She took everyone by the hand as if to direct them where to stand, where to sit, what to play with. A pleasant little bossiness about her. She sang as part of a duet in the presentation for us missionairies. On the playground, she had the most fun showing off her face painting and then pulling the balloon dachschund's flimsy tail out real far and then watching it retract. I have it on video. Love the giggles. She did it over and over and over. She also got a kick out my reaction the first time she lifted my shirt in back. I guess I was too playful about it, because she kept trying to lift if for 10 minutes while I danced in circles saying, "nyet, nyet,nyet!" One time a friend of hers got a toy stuck in the tree, so Sarah raised the friend up to get up. Looked like so much fun that Galya motioned me to pick HER up, which I did. She picked a leaf, and before I could set her down, she shoved it in her mouth and started chewing. Well, I made a spitting motion, which made her laugh and copy me. This went on till the whole leaf was out and she pointed up into the tree for me to do it again. Nyet, nyet. No more leaves.

Das v'danya! (Goodbye.)