The Land of Buryatia - Siberia

Siberia - the City of Ulan Ude
Natasha and Ruby at the Forum - President of Buryatia held dinner for invited guests.
The bondfire - and the Buryatia greeting.
The Lake Baikal village of Sohio.
Another Buryatia greeting.
Lenin still is evident on the square in Ulan Ude - this is Soviet Square.
The beautiful children of Ulan Ude.
Buddist Temple in Ulan Ude...this is a major complex of temples where study is conducted - seven years for the newly recruited young men.
The St. Basil church on Red Square in Moscow.
And finally - where so much history has marked the era of the former Soviet Union - RED SQUARE

KNOW HIS HAND IS EVER PRESENT...we have faced some major challenges and major rewards in the last three weeks here in Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Siberia.

We still await the information on the location of Slavik - and trust he will soon return to Kyrgyzstan and the safety we so are praying will be surrounding him.

We passed through Russia and headed to the Land of Buryatia - and the city of Ulan Ude and then on to Lake Baikal - for the first ever forum on child welfare - titled: The Russian American Forum on Child Welfare. It was here we articulated many different resolutions for the improvement of child welfare in Russia. We pray these resolutions will be received well by authorities and services for children and families will improve as a result.

Our time in Buryatia was filled with activity. Buryatia is very close to the Mongolian culture and is filled with the mystery of Shamans and Buddist temples of study. One cannot be in the area for long, before you begin to understand the people and the challenges they face. As this area of Siberia is as beautiful as any area one might visit in the world, it is isolated from the rest of Russia and faces the hardships of distance and history. The past history of Siberia is often misread to be the present reality and definately not the case. Buryatia people are kind, gentle people, and want the best for their land, country, children and families.

An amazing evening ending our time in Buryatia was spent by the shores of Lake Baikal around an amazing campfire. National songs were being offered by our Buryatia hosts and they asked for us to sing for them. We broke out in song - singing Amazing Grace - resounding the words so near and dear to our hearts. Amazing Grace - how sweet the sound........that saved a wretch like me....I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I SEE.....

Children and families were the focus of this time in Siberia - making life better for them. It is our prayer that every word and every action of our time with our friends in Buryatia will be a lasting impressing for a better tomorrow and one that truly is filled with AMAZING GRACE.

THE JOURNAL WILL HAVE MORE ....NEXT?

LAMb International will be in Ukraine in just a few weeks - we will be teaching at a conference/retreat for Christian foster and adoptive parents in the south of the country on the shores of the Black Sea. Stay tuned for more on this and updates on Slavik.