Sunday in Penza

Sunday in Penza! Not much different from any other day, except that the stores open later and close earlier. But like America, you wouldn’t know that this was the Lord’s day. I don’t know what the statistics are, but I suspect that the percentage of people who attend worship in Russia is about the same as in the United States. It is a fairly secular culture, thanks to 70 years of communist rule. I wonder what our excuse is in the US?

We let Jessica and Sam go by themselves in a taxi for a three hour journey to a little village out in the country to visit their cousins, friends and uncle. Also, they visited their mother’s grave and left some of their own money with their relatives to help take care of their mother’s and their aunt’s graves. We were a bit nervous about sending them out alone, but everything was fine. Our guide, Vadim, said it was the safest way for them to go, in a private taxi. There is another American family here adopting five children, so Misha and Vadim were busy attending to their needs.

While they were gone, our friend Veronica came over for a visit. She spent the day with us just talking about anything and everything. We met Veronica last April when we were here. Tomorrow we hope to go to her apartment and visit her and her mother. We went to a German-style restaurant for lunch. All in all, it was a good day.

The kids came back! Although Jessica is feeling sad about leaving her cousins and friends. It is an extremely hard thing, as I have noted earlier, for these kids to leave behind everything they have ever known for a life they have no way of understanding. Jessica is scared. Sam seems fine, but I’m sure he is feeling some of the same things. He just doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve like Jessica does.

Tomorrow we have only to get the chest x-rays for the kids, sometime in the afternoon. Then we hope to visit Veronica and her mother. The translator who helped us with the letters with our kids, Luda, is sick and we won’t be seeing her this time. But we are hoping to leave her gift with a colleague.

So, keep praying. We have just two more days here in Penza, then on to Moscow, then home. We are ready. We can’t wait to introduce Sam and Jessica to their new family and circle of friends! Thanks for your prayers for the kids as they face transition.

Blessings,

The Haworth Five