Hospital #3

If you ride the train about 40 minutes from Baltiskii railway station, passing through the President’s estate in Strel'na and the beautiful fountains in Peterhoff, then you will come to Old Peterhoff. It’s a part of town that is getting built up, but still has a feeling of isolation.

If you walk around the pond and down the windy road into the woods, and keep walking for about 10 minutes, you will come to Hospital #3, the Psycho-Neurological Facility for adults. One might even say that the area is pretty, if it weren’t for the fact that many patients have been abandoned to the isolation of this institution for the rest of their lives.

We originally were introduced to this place when we were seeking to adopt Nastia, whose mother Lena was institutionalized after being beaten by her now-deceased husband and having received permanent injuries. Nastia now has built a new life in the U.S., and her mother remains in Russia. We visit Lena from time to time and bring news of her daughter and now grand-daughter. Below, Lena enjoys looking at photographs.

Some of Lena’s roommates have also befriended us. Clockwise from left below are Yulia (with Cerebral Palsy), my mom, Sveta (who has gone blind), me, Larissa, and Lena.

This is Olesya. She was just transferred here recently to spend her adult life. She is 22.

The main goal is to let them know that they are not forgotten, not by us, nor by God, their Father in Heaven.

Back to the books

I have a new NT Greek textbook! Hooray! So far it has only covered the basics, but I'm remembering the words better.

Rom. 8:37 is translated in the NIV like this: "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

The Greek verb that is translated "to be more than a conqueror" is formed by combining "to conquer" and the prefix "over." (as in "overcook") Considering that the idea of conquering is already a rather mighty concept, adding the prefix to make it "overconquer" or "more than conquerors" sends it over the edge into the realm of amazing Biblical truths that we just can't get our minds around. How can you "more than conquer" something? Someday we will see this all clearly.

The essence of Rossiya

This photograph didn't come out very well, but hopefully you'll get the idea.


The white letters read "No Swimming."

Below is a detail from that photo.

No further comments are necessary!

Karavella, where it all began- 11 years later

Earlier this week, we traveled out to the camp where our ministry in Russia began 11 years ago. This year is the first since 1996 that a team has not traveled to Camp Karavella from our church in Massachusetts. But the friendships that began there live on, and we visited with some of our camp friends.

As we drove in the gate, the first person we caught a glimpse of was Lyudmila the librarian, a believer who became our friend and always welcomed us every year. She was babysitting for her great-grandchild when we arrived.

As we neared the administrative building, other friends awaited us and gave a warm welcome. They asked for news about all their American friends, and then spent some time with us, catching up.

The lady on the left in the bottom photo is Irina, the assistant director. She was one of the first people whom we met, on our first visit to the camp. “It’s terrible that you aren’t here this year,” she said. Irina grew up going to Karavella in the summer, and now her grandson is a camper. Next to her is her daughter Nastia, who has been receptive to the Gospel message. Though now in college, she continues to come out to camp for her summer vacation. To the right of my mom is Vanya, one of our interpreters from our first year. We are still in contact with him and his family too. He took a day off work to drive us out to camp and spend the day with us.

While at camp we were noticing how the years have gone by and children have grown up. There are different kids at camp now, but many of the staff have remained throughout the years, and now proudly show off their children and grandchildren. We shared with them news about our family too and how we have all grown.

Sergei, above, is a former camper. He graduated from one of the orphanages I visit regularly, and now coaches soccer.

Camp life goes on. There are always little changes being made, but as Irina proudly noted, “It’s one of the few camps that remains a true camp.” Kids come here to be kids; to play sports and sit around campfires, and to make memories. We pray that the Holy Spirit will inhabit this camp, so that those memories will include an encounter with Jesus Christ.