Those Orphans
To those who donated, collected, or prayed over the clothes for the orphanage, this one is for you.
I've been to three Russian orphanages. This one was the hardest. It was last July when we brought clothes, ice cream, and shampoo, the last of which they said they didn't need - I assume because they hadn't used it before.
Their shoes had holes and I thought about the winter. About the cold Russian snow they'd be walking over with their feet. They were hesitant at first but soon clung to me, asking me when I was coming back. Asking me my name. They kept forgetting it, and asking again and again.
When we left they climbed inside the windows of the van and attached themselves to the outside of it. As we started to roll away we moved their hands away from the windows and rolled them up so we didn't take those little hands with us. I had given the swarms of kids big hugs before we got in the van, probably nearly smothering them, but they just kept asking me to come back.
Back at Nadya's I felt wordless and empty of energy. All the grimy hands and feet, dirty faces, matted hair had taken my energy from me. I sat at the table in the kitchen with Galya, who took me to the orphanage, and I simply asked her what I could do.
"Send clothes and shoes."
She gave me her address to send them by mail. She said if it was just clothes, the packages would make it without being stolen. She said used clothes from the States are better quality than new expensive clothes there.
Later I decided it would be cheaper to bring the clothes with me this year. In the Spring, Jo helped me get the word out. Really, this is a testament to her.
I gave the full suitcase of clothes/shoes to Nadya on Friday. She said thank you and well done. I blew it off but she stopped me and said, "No, really well done. You worked to collect these and bring them here, and it's an important thing. Tell all the people from your church or whoever gave these 'well done.'"
And so, friends, well done. It was important to me to do this small thing, but it wasn't me who did it; you did. Thank you times a million.
Here are the kiddos you donated and prayed for.
I've been to three Russian orphanages. This one was the hardest. It was last July when we brought clothes, ice cream, and shampoo, the last of which they said they didn't need - I assume because they hadn't used it before.
Their shoes had holes and I thought about the winter. About the cold Russian snow they'd be walking over with their feet. They were hesitant at first but soon clung to me, asking me when I was coming back. Asking me my name. They kept forgetting it, and asking again and again.
When we left they climbed inside the windows of the van and attached themselves to the outside of it. As we started to roll away we moved their hands away from the windows and rolled them up so we didn't take those little hands with us. I had given the swarms of kids big hugs before we got in the van, probably nearly smothering them, but they just kept asking me to come back.
Back at Nadya's I felt wordless and empty of energy. All the grimy hands and feet, dirty faces, matted hair had taken my energy from me. I sat at the table in the kitchen with Galya, who took me to the orphanage, and I simply asked her what I could do.
"Send clothes and shoes."
She gave me her address to send them by mail. She said if it was just clothes, the packages would make it without being stolen. She said used clothes from the States are better quality than new expensive clothes there.
Later I decided it would be cheaper to bring the clothes with me this year. In the Spring, Jo helped me get the word out. Really, this is a testament to her.
I gave the full suitcase of clothes/shoes to Nadya on Friday. She said thank you and well done. I blew it off but she stopped me and said, "No, really well done. You worked to collect these and bring them here, and it's an important thing. Tell all the people from your church or whoever gave these 'well done.'"
And so, friends, well done. It was important to me to do this small thing, but it wasn't me who did it; you did. Thank you times a million.
Here are the kiddos you donated and prayed for.
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