WE ARE GOING TO RUSSIA!!!

A few conversations as we prepare:

Father Steve: hey, Missy, we are going to Russia. 

Missy: YES!! We're going to Russia!

Chris: Hey Brian, where are you taking us? Not somewhere crazy like Russia, right? 

Brian (in Russian voice): oh no. Not crazy! 

WE'RE GOING TO RUSSIA!! 

A gift from the sisters.

The Little Sisters of Poor have continued to be extremely generous to us. This morning as we were heading to Morning Prayer, the mother of the convent came by and offered us a very special gift. As I mentioned before, the entire team read "He Leadeth Me" by Walter Ciszek. Well, after his return to America, Father Ciszek came to this convent and said a few masses here and also baptized a maintenance man here. With the Little Sisters he left his personal crucifix (which Father Steve is holding in this picture), a mass garment, and a couple of recorded homilies. The sisters have been so generous to offer us these things to bring with us on our mission! After morning prayer we listened to one of the recorded homilies. It was amazing to hear the voice of a man who did so much and we had read his story. He sounded so jovial and light hearted in his sermon. Father Walter Ciszek, pray for us and our mission!! 

Wonderful Company for Lunch

By Chris

Today the Sisters invited us to dine with them for lunch. It was a fantastic meal with even better company. They have been so welcoming to us. Emily and I met a sister all the way from from Florida!! Hearing about their stories and their love for Christ and the service they are doing here in Queens was very uplifting and inspirational as we prepare to do our own work and show the love of Christ on the other side of the world. As I shared with a few of the sisters, and I think a lot of the team agrees, the fact that tomorrow we leave for the opposite end of the globe seems unreal and hard to grasp. Anyway, here is a picture of the mission team and the sisters on the front steps of the convent after lunch. 

Photo credit: one of the sisters took the picture using Father Steve's camera. 

KNOT EASY warm up activity

Missy thought a great get to know you activity would be the human knot. Well, the team was very close and we each had our turn being tightly knotted up. Though it was way harder than we thought it would be, Missy was right and the team had a good bonding experience. AND to top it all off, we did succeed in unknotting ourselves. 

Photo credit: Father Steve (while he was also attached to the knot) 

Day One = Success

By Chris

So day one was a success! The entire team has arrived and is bonding really well. It feels like we have been together longer than one day. We are staying with the Little Sisters of the Poor in Queens, NY. They have been so wonderful to us so far and are such gracious hosts. 

Tomorrow we start real training. We have both spiritual and practical training on how to treat a mission trip, and particularly this one to Russia. Everyone is getting really excited and geared up to finally start this mission after our months of preparation. 

Amassing the army!

The team is starting to gather at JFK. The mission begins!! 

Welcome to the blog!!

By Chris

So as our departure approaches, I know that I, along with other team members, am starting to spread the word on this blog. If you are just learning about this blog, WELCOME!
From here we hope to keep you up to date on where we are, what we are doing and seeing, who we are meeting, and how God is helping us on the way.

From this page you can see all of the text, videos, and pictures we will be posting. The newest stuff will be at the top, and the further down you scroll the older the posts. You should also be able to sign up for email alerts on the left side of this page somewhere. Tyler, our trip director, has told me that we may not have access to Internet at all of our locations, so we may go a few days with no material, and then post a few days worth of stuff all at once.
Feel free to check out the "team" page at the top there. It includes pictures and bios of each team member (note this page is not yet complete as of now)

A special thank you to all of our generous donors. I am sure many of you are following the blog while we venture into the Far East. This trip would not have been possible without your donations and prayers to help us fund our mission. Also thank you to anyone who made donations of things to bring for the parish in Russia.

Please keep the team, the parish, orphanage, hospice center, and all the other people we will be meeting and helping in your prayers.