Today we went to the Boy's Orphanage. The orphanage itself was actually in pretty good condition but the kids and how they are cared for is a different story. The boys are just watched, fed and put to bed by workers but never loved by them. There were 5 boys that remained in their beds because they were too sick to get out. These were the first boys we visited and even though they were sick they smiled when we sat with them and their faces lit up when we put our hands on them (simple things they do not get on a daily basis).
Still at the orphanage, we moved on to a "box" which is a place for the boys who have the most severe disabilities. When we smiled and touched them several of the boys called us girls "momma" because they are in such need of the love of a momma they never had. This broke our hearts! We had the most amazing opportunity to go to the playground with the rest of the boys. We played with them for only 10 minutes but we wished we could have stayed there all day. It was so hard to leave because we knew that these boys needed more love.
After our time at the orphanage we were excited to get back to camp to demonstrate our new understanding that all the kids want is to be loved. As we worked and played with the kids today they really opened up to us which is exactly what we had prayed for.
A cool story from today: there is a boy named Roma who is in a wheelchair and is not able to talk. However, he communicates through a picture book where he can point to the things he wants to say. There is another boy Antwon who is also not able to talk but his mother will not let him use the picture book (we don't know why). No one understands Antwon because all he can do is grunt and so we never know what he is trying to say. So today as Antwon was grunting, Roma starts getting excited and is pointing to things in his picture book. As it turns out, Roma could understand exactly what Antwon was trying to say so he was translating for him. It was so incredible to to see God work through these boys. Who knew that two boys who could not speak could understand exactly what the other one was saying by grunting. It was incredible!! Slava Bogu (Praise God)!!!!!! Yes today really was incredible!
Our friend Alosha from last year came to visit today and Natalie and I have been learning Ukrainian and Russian phrases. Today we learned "I love you" which is "ya tebya lyublyu".
Breaking news update... we get our luggage tomorrow!! Woohoo!
Continue to pray for hearts to soften and also for God to open our eyes to see what He wants us to.......
Love you all!
Ashley
P.S. We also talked today about how we don't care if we get our luggage because we honestly have everything we need (2 pair of clothes and soap). Not having our luggage has helped us understand how these people live every day. Of course we will be happy when it arrives but God has plans for everything that happens! Also, praise God that we are all doing well and no one has gotten sick!
