Good bye Russia

I am packing up as we leave very early to leave Russia in the morning. As I reflect on our time here I wanted to highlight a few things...
The church that hosted us were a body of amazing people. They housed and fed us for 11 days and were such a joy to worship and pray with. Immanuel church holds a special place in my heart as it reminded me very much of our Saddleback Covenant church body.
The people from Mercy Ministries...Paul, Sergei and Olia have amazing hearts for the Lord and servant hearts for Gods people. it will be a sad good bye tomorrow. Thay taught and imparted a lot to me and I am so thankful for the opportunity to be around them.
Our times in the boardinghouse and orphanage were incredible for our family. For me personally it was hard to see so many kids with out a mother or father. As I walked around the baby orphanage I found myself just praying constantly for these little ones. There was a special room for the disabled children that mainly remain in their cribs most of the day. Most were sleeping or blankly staring as the nurse told me they were in a vegetable state. But one little girl had her full mind but was paralyzed. Since she is an orphan she is left at thus facility with nurses helping her but not able to be near her at all times. They have dressed up stuffed bunny in a nurse costume so when they are not there she has someone to look at. As soon as I leaned over her crib, this 2 year old little girl just lit up. We spent only 10 minutes together but she smiled and made cooing noises the whole time. She loved peek a boo. She was precious to me and I know the Lord loves her beyond what we can conceive. It broke my heart to leave her alone with only the bunny to look at. This moment I realized that much of what we will see on this trip is going to break my heart. Lord please be with this little girl tonight who I don't even know her name. Please give her a peace and joy that only comes from you. Thank you for letting me meet her.