Highlights of trip to Moscow

Our Ivanovo and Kostroma kids recently went on a Leadership trip. They participated in a service project in a Moscow shelter for young women at risk, visited Sergei Posad and the church of the late Alexander Men, a famous Orthodox Priest, in Novaya Derevnya. Misha B says: "I was glad to start our trip with a goodwill project. We helped make the shelter a better place for the young women and their babies. We all worked hard and it felt good."

Alexei from Kostroma especially liked the theater production based on Gogol's story "A night before Christmas" at the St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Moscow: "A night at the theater was an unexpected surprise. We were thankful for the invitation.  The performance inspired us to stage something like that in the Ministry Center. I'm sure we could do that.  I also enjoyed walking on Arbat street at night".

Visiting the Church of Alexander Men was a special time for the kids, especially for the Ivanovo kids as the present governor of the Ivanovo Region is Father Men's son.  Alexander Men was an outstanding Orthodox priest who was martyred in 1990. Just look up his name and you'll find a lot of information about this great leader of the spiritual revival in Russia at the end of the Soviet period. Sasha and Nadya said: "Our visit to Alexander Men's Church and the story of his life inspired us greatly.  Father Vladimir met us there and talked to us about the purpose of life, about our responsibility to reach out to the kids at the orphanages. His words deeply touched us."  The kids put flowers to Alexander Men's grave and continued their way to Sergei Posad.

Timur was one of the kids who enjoyed visiting Sergei Posad and the Moscow Armory: "At the Sergei Trinity Laura in Sergei Posad I learned about Saint Sergei's life and his strong faith. His love and commitment to God is a great example for us and it helps us look at our lives differently.  When we were at the Moscow Armory I listened to every word our guide said and I realized how little we know about the history of our country and how rich our history is".

We're thankful to all our friends who helped make this trip possible.