Hiking in the Crimea

Recently I got to be part of a group that took 16 teen orphans camping in the Crimean mountains. Almost nothing went as planned… the group leader didn’t show up, train tickets were purchased for the wrong day to the wrong city, a different orphanage came, and the group was co-ed instead of just boys… yet it’s hard to see how it could have gone better. The orphanage that came was the same one I helped at the soccer tournament in April, and also one of the groups at our summer camp, so I already knew some of the kids.

Our 12 hour train ride began at midnight so I thought I’d be able to sleep. That was wishful thinking however, since the kids were so excited and chattered non-stop. Upon our arrival we met a couple local believers who proved to be excellent guides (I think that part actually was planned), drove for a while on some remote roads and then started hiking. One of the places we came to was an unfinished, Cold-War era fortification built into the side of a hill. It was supposed to be a secret front-line form of defense in case of a USA attack. As the lone American in the group I heard a few good-natured “If I show you this I have to kill you” jokes. One counselor told me very seriously, “Only 3 can know about this place: you, me... and facebook.” There was also a profound moment as we walked up to the fort and considered the enormous amount of money and labor spent in hauling up tons of cement and heavy equipment, only for the funding to run out and the Soviet Union to dissolve. A counselor quoted Psalm 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” There was a wonderful sense of irony as I thought about this Scripture, so appropriately quoted at the ruins of a site supposed to represent the power of a regime so hostile to the Gospel. Empires rise and fall but God’s Word remains.

As I talked with the kids I got more of a sense of what their lives are like. Their orphanage is in a small village, from which most of them have never travelled far. It only goes up to 9th grade, so at age 15 they are on their own. They spoke of their ever-present boredom but also of the fear of leaving the only place they know. There were numerous chances to talk about faith, and I felt a confidence in my Russian to share about Christ that could only have come from the Holy Spirit. When it was time to say goodbye, a 15 year old girl named Nadia broke down in tears. “Thank you for taking us on this trip. It was the most fun I’ve had in my life and I will never forget it. I miss you already and will pray to God that you all can come and visit us soon.”



Nadia (on the left)