Adventures in Latvia: July 2012

Over the last week we went and visited three orphanages. The first orphanage we went to was in a town called Irlava. We got to see a couple kids from our camp there and we made some new friends as well! We stayed for about three and a half hours and just played in the sand box, tag, and made bracelets. We didn't do anything exciting but the kids didn't care all they wanted was to be loved on. At first the kids were so shy and wouldn't really look at us but as we kept talking to them in the ten Latvian words we knew it was amazing how fast they warmed up to us! Once we broke down those walls with them all they wanted to do was talk to us. I swear they thought i understood Latvian because they would just talk and talk and i would just smile and nod and they loved it! All they wanted was someone to listen to them. It was so hard to say goodbye to these little faces that we only got to spend such a short time with.

We had a woman and a young girl who she was adopting join us on our trip to the orphanage because the girl was from that orphanage and she was getting the rest of her stuff for her final move to the states with her new family. Adoption is a great thing but we witnessed a truly heartbreaking thing that day. This teen girl had a younger brother and because of this adoption they were going to be split up and possibly never see each other again. Our whole team was brought to tears as we witnessed this little boy clinging on to his sister and sobbing thinking he will never see her again and knowing that now he is all alone at the orphanage. I tell you this story because you only really hear about the positive side of adoption and not realizing that there are stories like this one that happen all the time. Please pray for this little guy and all the other orphans out there because i can not imagine a greater heartbreak than to lose the only family member you have left.

The last orphanage we went to was awesome time hanging out with a couple kids we had at camp and making new friends to. As we pulled up to the orphanage the kids had been waiting for us and i was one of the first ones to get out of the car and all i hear is this shriek and my name "Vitneya! Vitneya! Vitneya!" I turn around and one of the little boys from our camp Dillans came running and jumped into my arms. This little guy made tear up and to hear the excitement in his voice melted my heart! The kids wanted to take us to a park down the street so we walked with them and played with them for a couple hours and then it was time for good byes again. And this part never gets any easier it actually just gets harder and harder every time. We are actually leaving tomorrow for a one week road trip to travel to most of the orphanages all around Latvia. I ask prayer that the time we get to spend with the kids is blessed and that they will feel the loved and that they do matter to someone, even if we do just get a short time with them.

"You are the helper of the fatherless. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more."

Psalms 10:14,17-18

Playing tag/chase they kept calling me "laba pink" because of my jacket to try to get me to chase them it was so cute!

I won!

When i came to Latvia last year we did a camp in Aizpute and part of my heart was left there with kids and has been there ever since. So this year i had the opportunity to go back and do another camp in Aizpute and I couldn't say yes fast enough. I was so excited to be able to get to go back and continue the relationships that i had made last year and also build new ones. This time was a little different for me than i was expecting, because i came into this camp as kind of a third party. I came in at kind of the last minute and they didn't really have a specific job for me. This was frustrating for me at first, but as I kind of took a step back i realized that God had me there for a different purpose than i had originally thought. I took a step back and watched the RMCC high school team lead and this was such a cool thing to witness. I did not know any of the high schoolers very well going into camp. But serving along side them for a week was truly amazing to be able to witness each and everyone show in many ways that they had such a passion and heart to serve these kids. They put everything they had into making this camp an amazing experience for the kids. Just being able to see all of them hang out, love and build relationships with kids that stole my heart last year was amazing and I cant put into words how awesome that was for me.

Alot of the kids from last years camp came back again this year and that was awesome but what was truly amazing was that many of the kids who were there last year brought one or two of there friends along with them this year! When i went to introduce myself to some new kids i asked them how they heard about this camp and most of them said that all they heard about last year was this camp and so this year they wanted to see what all the talk was about. That was awesome to hear that the kids really enjoyed and got something out of the camp last year than my crappy English lessons. Near the end of camp i asked some of the kids which camp they liked better between this years and last years and it was pretty unanimous in saying that this year was so much better :) It was cool to just be able to spend time with with these kids whether that was walking to the store with them five times a day, playing volleyball, killing them in mafia or just sit and talk. I thank God for getting me there for that one week and I'm going to miss them all like crazy!!

A rather unexpected thing happened during this week. I came to camp expecting to room with my friend Endija but when we got there, there was a change in plans and we were put in different rooms. But i know this was truly all God's doing because he put me in a room with Jenny Briney, who is truly an amazing woman of Christ. Every night we would stay up and talk about everything and anything and I'm sure the two girls in our room were so annoyed with us by the end of camp cause we weren't exactly quiet. It was cool to learn about her story and to hear that she is the only christian in her family and how strong she is in her faith without really having any support from her family. After camp was over Jenny made a decision to get baptized while she was here in Latvia. I admired her strength in that decision cause i know that was hard for her knowing how her family would react. It made me realize how blessed i am to have a loving christian home and how so easily i can take it for granted. This friendship was unexpected for me and its just another reminder that God knows what he is doing and that i need to trust that he knows what is best for my life.