We slept in a bit today.  After staying up so late it is nice to sleep in and not be in a hurry in the morning.  Once again Natasha has worked her magic in the kitchen.  Breakfast is a full meal.  Interesting difference here in Belarus is mealtime.  Breakfast is a time to eat and does not necessarily mean breakfast food like it does at home.  We have had smoked fish (sushi style), chicken and potatoes (not hash brown style) for instance.  It has all been delicious even though vastly different.  I hope they don’t think we don’t like it because we don’t load up each meal.  We are just so stuffed and full!  Every time we turn around we are eating again!  :-)  They are going out of their way to be take great care of us.

Today our group had to go to an official office to register our stay in Orsha. It is kind of like registering at a hotel.  In fact, if we had stayed and registered at a hotel we would not have had to register in town.  So we all went with passport in hand to register.  Natasha and Sergei went with us.  After standing outside for a while we were all asked to go and meet the person who would register us.  

Inside we all stepped up when our name was called so she (the official lady in the official uniform) could compare our passport picture with the person standing before her and verify that it was the same person.  She had a lot of questions about our Visas.  We got Humanitarian Visas with the Stepahanos Organization to be in the country.  Stephanos is located in another city and she could not be satisfied as to why we were in Orsha if Stephanos invited us.  Registration was denied.  

Natasha went to argue the decision on our behalf.  The official lady told Natasha, “I know why they are here.  They are here as part of that sect.  And I know you (Natasha) are a part of the sect too because your eyes are so clear.”  I was amazed and shocked at this statement.  It is that evident, the difference between believers and non-believers.  This was a real life example that we had been privileged to see.

Dima, the director of Stephanos, is making a trip to Orsha tomorrow to straighten it all out.  We are told she is wrong and is doing this just because she can.  It is a little unnerving especially since they have our passports.

This afternoon we went back to the park by the river for games and songs with the youth.  Bro. Danny preached and then we ate.  They brought food and spread it out on blankets and we enjoyed a picnic together.  It was cloudy, windy and cold.  It has been the coldest day here so far.  All the other days have been sunny, warm and beautiful.

It was fun hanging out with their teens and young adults.  For the first time they have warmed up, opened up and seem a little more at ease around us.  We were playing a game similar to Duck-Duck Goose when I got somewhat hurt.  I didn’t play anymore.  Everyone seemed to be greatly amused at the fact that I got hurt playing Duck-Duck Goose.  It is kind of comical when you think about it!

You play it in a circle holding hands.  The two that are “it” walk around the outside of the circle and tap hands of another couple.  I happen to be holding the hand of Andre, the pastor’s son, to my left when we got tapped.  We took off running to our right, which put me on the outside as we ran to beat the other team back to the vacated spot.  We were motoring around as Andre is a big guy and very athletic.  We were moving so fast his feet slipped out from under him and he went down.  The bad part of all this is he didn’t let go of the old guy running next to him.  I had not slipped and still had my feet under me.  He pulled me over as he went down and slammed me down to the ground.  The first thing that hit was my right shoulder and my right shoulder blade.  I turned a couple of flips and finally rolled to a stop only to find Emily and Katie standing over me asking if I was ok.  When I finally got my breath back and staggered to my feet I assured them and Andre that I was fine.  No harm done for the most part.  :-)  

We said goodbye for the night and headed home.  By now you know the routine.  We ate cookies, drank hot Chi and talked about ministry until midnight and then called it a day.  I had a hard time going to sleep so I put a DVD in my MacBook, plugged in my earphones and watched Signs.