I peeked back at the last update I wrote for Stoneworks and it was interesting to read what I had been thinking about before we had a little emergency. I was thinking about finding joy along life’s path.
About a week later, David and I ended up in the hospital for several days after he burned his arm when he pulled a hot cup of tea onto himself. You can read about it on my blog here. The healing process is continuing to go well.
While on the burn ward, we were touched by the suffering of the other families. Not because any of the children were at death’s door, but because it is hard for any parent/caretaker to see a child suffering. I’m told that the children from orphanage #8 stayed in the same hospital after their car accident last year, and I imagine them and their caregivers going through the same emotions. My heart aches for children who don’t get visitors, for whatever reasons.
In general everyone just wanted to go home, and without taking the commute into account, most patients needed no other medical intervention than to have their dressings changed once a day at the most. The days drag on there and our heart went out to one family who had already been there a month. We have been thinking about what we could do for the ward to help make it more comfortable for families staying there. Short of building a new wing with more spacious living quarters, what could we buy for them? Some books? Medical supplies? Diapers? Room decorations? Water filter? Andrei has the number of the head doctor and will be in touch with him.
The Bible study we had canceled on the night of the accident was to cover the topic “trials and temptations.” We were very thankful when the worst was behind us and we were finally able to gather with our home group.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)
After going home and making a few final trips to get David’s dressing changed, we resumed making plans for a trip to Finland. Andrei went ahead and applied for a visa and it was approved a week later. After a few false starts, we eventually made it over to Helsinki by train. You can read about our little day trip on my blog here. We’ll be registering David for another 6-month stay in Russia, as that’s the maximum he’s allowed on his particular visa.
For the past two Sundays, Andrei has been teaching Sunday school for a church with an outreach to Uzbek immigrants. They used a translator to listen to his lessons, as they are still learning Russian. The topic this time was Church History. It was a good opportunity for Andrei to use his teaching gift for outreach.
Thanks for reading and sharing in our work,
Elizabeth, Andrei, and David
