Some of you know her as mama Yana. . .For some of you she is just Yano4ka. For those of you who have no idea who I’m talking about, she is Yana Chuprova, a missionary who went to serve the orphans in Russia. Here is a letter from her:

Hello everyone from our mother Russia!

I can’t believe that over a month has passed since I left to Russia to serve the orphans! Time went by REALLY quick!

A little bit about what we are doing. I went with a group called H4O (Hope for Orphans). It is a Minneapolis based organization that works with orphans in Soviet Russia. (http://hopeforphans.com/H4O/Hope_for_Orphans_Home.html)

Our first camp was so blessed! Our first orphanage was in the city of Tagai. It is a place by Ulyanovskaya oblast’. When we came there, I honestly didn’t know what to expect, since this was my first time going to an orphanage for over a day. Our plan was to spend 2 weeks living, interacting, playing with kids, and just being their older brother, sister, friend. But most important, we were there to share the great LOVE that our Heavenly Father has given us. The kids differ very greatly from the kids in the United States. First and foremost, most of them smoke and curse. A LOT. Most started smoking at a very early age (as early as 4 years old!). Some because they wanted to fit in, some because they were forced, some are “just playing and can quit anytime they want to.” I had the oldest kids, ages 13 – 15. Second, the kids at that age are pretty much grown and have their own mindset. You would not be able to get them to do any activities if they don’t want to do it. All you can do is to just spend time with them and love them. Little kids, on the other hand, were super enthusiastic about anything!  Our daily schedule consisted of morning workouts, daily chores, where the older kids took care of the garden while the youngest kids had free time. After we were done with the chores, we had discussions where we talked about God. Then we just spent the rest of the day doing crafts, playing sports, showing skits, singing songs, and just being with kids and teens. The kids were so open to us and our love! The administration was cautious of us at first, but by the end of the camp, they were requesting bibles! That was truly a major blessing! Older kids received new testaments, as well as all of the administration. I was so surprised that the nannies themselves were curious about who our God is, and why we pray from our heart and not repeating a memorized prayer. It was really interesting to see the teens, instead of running outside, sit in their rooms and read their little blue new testaments. May God grow the planted seeds!

Currently, we are in the second orphanage, until August 8th. This one is much harder and stricter. In this orphanage, the administration said that we can spend time with the kids, but we are restricted from talking or mentioning ANYTHING about God. This hinders our plans greatly, but our God is a GREAT God! The kids see that we are different from other volunteers, and they ask why we spend time with them, and that’s where we get a change to witness and talk about God. We can’t sing any songs or do skits that have God in them, which is difficult.

Kids here come from many different families. Some were taken away from parents because parents drink. Some were rejected by parents, and some who don’t have parents at all because they have passed away or are in prison. There are many different backgrounds with these kids, and it brings pain to my heart to see such incredible kids being left or being mistreated. This orphanage has some kids who are mentally challenged, so they need an extra special way for us to talk to them.

This whole trip so far has been one giant learning experience for me. I am truly blessed to be alive, and to be here in mother Russia with these kids! I love them as my own.

Our major prayer requests: PLEASE pray for the hearts of the orphans and most important, administration. We pray so that God opens the heart of the director so that she can let us introduce God in the program. Also, please pray so that God will give us wisdom and opportunities to witness, as well as how to behave with the kids and the administration. Pray so that God also gives wisdom to all the leaders and spiritual and physical strength within the teams. Also, we have another team doing a camp in another city, and also, we have a team called Project 1. This is a group of people who went to live in Russia for a year to work with the orphans who had finished school. Check out the site for more information.

I will be updating more info on my facebook page, so you are welcome to look at pix and to pray about the teams.

Other than that, I can’t wait to see you all!

Love, Yana.

Please continue praying for all of our missionaries who are serving the people of Russia!