9 and 10 March

9 en 10 maart

On Sunday we went to church in the Baptist church again, and then moved to Melnikovo, a village at about 60 minutes drive from Tomsk. We had nothing planned for the rest of the day so had a quiet afternoon and evening.

In the morning I made one of the ladies in church very happy by talking with her in German. She has spent part of her youth in Germany and never has the opportunity to speak German. Sometimes it is so easy to make somebody happy. J

On Monday morning we went to Barbarykino (or a small village near Barbarykino), where we had invited the children of the village to come and play games. We could use one of the rooms of the village hall for this, which was in a very poor state. Most of the furniture was broken or about to fall to pieces, paint was coming of the walls, and only an outside toilet. But the kids had a great time, and that’s what matters.

On the way back we visited a poor family. They live in a traditional wooden house and share that with three adults, several children (plus one more on it’s way) and all sorts of pets and animals. They are very poor, all they own is the house and the clothes they wear. But when you get there, a wonderful meal is waiting for you. Soup, mashed potatoes, meat, salads. And don’t dare not to take some of it. I went for the soup, it was delicious.

Back in Melnikovo we had dinner with the lady who has started the baptistchurch with integrated rehab there.