Russia (MNN) — American young adults are influencing orphaned kids in Russia this summer. It’s something that has been going on for a number of years. Orphan Outreach sponsors young people to spend time in Russia loving children in the state orphanage system.
Executive Director and Anchor of Mission Network News Greg Yoder is there. He says three young adults are St. Petersburg to begin their internship this week.
Christian Yonkers, Lindsey Karasiewicz and Charissa Petree OO’s interns in Russia this year.
Christian Yonkers and Lindsey Karasiewicz are from Michigan. Charissa Petree is from Colorado. They’ll spend about three week in Russia.
What will they be doing? Anya Utyusheva (oo-TWO-shah-vah) is the intern coordinator and says they’ll play with the kids, do crafts and most importantly, share the Gospel. It’s effective. “When they come to the orphanage they come with broken hearts and minds. They are very hopeless and sad. But, when we come and they see the Americans and the fun, they want to spend time with them because they’re very funny and happy and we want to share this with them. They’re very excited to see us when we come.”
Utyusheva says they share the Gospel every day, “through Bible stories, through Christian crafts and through bracelets which makes it easy for the kids to understand.”
Petree says, “God really placed the orphans of Russia on my heart three or four years ago and so it’s really exciting for me to be finally in the city and the country and just to see what God has in store for me.”
She’s also asking you to pray, “That [the kids] would be open to what we’re teaching them and also that we’d just be able to clearly share the Gospel in the little time that we have a the few ways that we have.”
You can do an Orphan Outreach internship in Russia or India. Make plans for next year now. Go to MissionNetworkNews-dot-org for details.
