During the summer, a number of local young people, namely Grace and Bryn Sutton, Ben Ford, Hannah Flavell and Sana McCarthy, joined charity 'Love Russia' to care for a group of Russian orphans. The Love Russia team of 28 people left on July 21 for two weeks of voluntary work with the 70 orphans from Kostino.
Their mission was to teach the Russian children about the love of Jesus in a practical and fun way: "We shared God's love with the children by using super hero stories," said 16-year-old Grace Sutton from Neyland, a student at Pembrokeshire College. The day was spent by sharing super hero Bible stories like David and Goliath, with lots of silly games, and songs. The team also led a variety of craft activities and computer work.
"The children learned so quickly and were absolutely absorbed in the activities," continues Grace.
The orphanage is a government funded building situated next door to the local school and has good, but basic facilities. This has not always been the case, the facilities used to consist of toilets that were just a hole in the ground and beds that were filthy.
Love Russia has provided extra funds so that the facilities have been greatly improved, making it much more comfortable for the children, most of whom have had exceptionally difficult lives. The orphanage is run by Tatiana, a local lady, and a group of local carers.
"It was good to see some of the carers getting into the spirit of things as they joined in the craft activities and got their hair braided," said Grace.
The language barrier could have been a stumbling block to the purpose of the mission, but the practical love of the team and the fun they shared was a reflection of love of Jesus to the children. When asked their favourite bit of the camp the answer was unanimous: "Seeing the children happy and smiling and so focused on what they were doing was great, just to see their smiling faces was such a blessing," said Bryn Sutton, aged 20, who also attends Pembrokeshire College.
The work of Love Russia continues, and the young people hope to have the chance to re-visit the orphans to see how they are progressing. The team's prayers remain with the orphans, and they hope that their visit added joy to the children's lives.