We were scheduled to eat breakfast at 8:00 this morning.  I sat the alarm on the cell phone I rented from Cellomobile (www.cellomobile.com) for 7:00.  Little did I know the time on the phone was incorrect making the alarm wrong as well.  I was so glad Debbie called to say good morning!  She called at 7:40 as she was going to bed at 11:40.  CRAZY!

We ate breakfast, packed and prepared to load the vans.  Some of us were going to Orsha, some to Bobrusk and others to Mogelev.  Stuart, Sarah and Micah were going to do a kid’s camp outside of Mogelev while Bro. Danny, Katie, Emily, Frances, Mark, Christy and I were going to work with the church at Orsha.  The rest from North Carolina were going to Bobrusk to work at a VBS.  

As we loaded the vans we met our interpreters, Olya and Masha, for the week as well as the youth pastor, Sergei, from the church.  I could tell right away that Sergei is a mover and a shaker.  He works hard and quickly and makes things happen.  Olya and Masha are very sweet, soft spoken and kind.  Their English is very good and they are very patient with us as we ask them over and over how to say words or phrases in Russian.  They have a beautiful language.  At least when they speak it!!  Both girls are from Minsk and will be traveling with us the entire time we are here.  They are both believers and I am very grateful for them.

We loaded up and were off for Orsha.  We stopped at a grocery store so Sergei could pick up a few things he needed.  We were wearing our interpreters (I’ll call them the girls) out asking them questions about the area and language.  Bro. Danny is riding shotgun and the rest of us scattered about in the back of the van.  Every now and then we would hear Bro. Danny say, “Amen!...Mmmh” (to himself and under his breath) and then he would hum.  We then saw he was listening to music!  We all laughed hysterically.  I guess it was one of those “had to have been there moments!”  Maybe it was the exhaustion from the long trip.

Sergei and our driver returned and we were off once again.  We drove for a couple of hours and the driver pulled off on the side of the road.  He began backing up as he and Sergei were looking out the window into the woods.  He finally stopped the van, opened the side door and said we were stopping for a break.  It is customary to go into the woods to take a break…if you need to take that kind of break!  They do not have truck stops or convenient stores on every corner to stop at when needed as people travel.  So you do your business in the woods.  

I was told to not pick up money in the woods.  I thought it was a joke until I began thinking about it.  Belarus currency is in Rubles and they have no coins.  It is all paper money.  Some of it is worth as little as half a penny.  Those are the bills scattered through the woods.  And as Forrest Gump would say, “That’s all I am going to say about that!”  :-)

We drove for about 3 hours through the countryside in Belarus.  It is a beautiful country.  There were rolling hills with farm pastures, groves of pine trees and fields of rapeseed.  A bright yellow plant that is much like our cotton.  The rolling fields of rapeseed were beautiful.  The land was not much different that ours at home.  Every now and then I would see road signs marking directions and distances and I was reminded we were not, as Dorothy would say, “Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore.”  I saw signs to Moscow along the way, also reminding me we were a long way from home and not that far away from Russia.

We arrived in Orsha and made our first stop at Sergei’ house where Mark, Frances and Christy would be staying.  Masha is staying with them too.  We unloaded them and then went  to Pastor Leonid’s house where Bro. Danny, Katie, Emily and I would be staying.  Olya is staying with us.  Dan arrived this afternoon late and is also staying with us.  

The pastor’s children will be staying most of the week with their grandparents.  Their house just became very crowded.  They are very welcoming and seem very glad we are here.  It wasn’t long before we were on our way to the church to meet with their youth for a youth service.

Their teens stood around, grinned and giggled at us as we tried to get acquainted.  There were 25 or so there.  They sang several songs.  Different ones played guitar and piano as well as several different singers.  I can tell music is a huge part of their lives and culture.  Very cool.  I sang and Bro. Danny preached.  It was a good time.  After the service we went down to the river to play volleyball with the group.  The mosquitoes were monstrous!  And they little monsters loved American blood.  It was as if they recognized the fresh meat in the area.  The locals did not seem to be as attacked as we were or at least they didn’t show it.  We played a while, prayed together and headed back for home.

Natasha had something to eat when we returned home.  We had a small meal with tea and cookies.  She is a great cook and is tireless around the house.  She is a gracious host who is going out of her way to make us comfortable.  We discussed the worship service for tomorrow and planned the order.  I am excited about worshipping with the Belarusians in the morning.  It is late and we are going to bed.