Scott Collins is blogging about his experiences in Russia as part of the 2008 ‘Shoes for Orphan Souls’ mission trip. This is Scott’s first trip to Russia with Buckner since 1999. He is vice president of External Affairs.
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA – Vanya got his new shoes today and no matter how many times I see it happen, it’s always the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.
Vanya was at Orphanage No. 40 here. It’s filled with boys and girls who have a variety of problems, the most noticeable being vision. Most wear glasses that sit crooked on their faces. Some have an eye covered with tape and a patch.
This is one of the first places I remember giving shoes to the children on the first Shoes for Orphan Souls mission trip nine years ago.
I remember Orphanage No. 40 so well because we shot a lot of video of the kids getting shoes that day in 1999. It was video we eventually used to edit our first Shoes for Orphan Souls video.
But I remember No. 40 for an even more vivid reason. It was here that I spent some special time with another Vanya. Vanya had only recently been moved to No. 40. I had met him on a previous trip to St. Petersburg, so seeing him that day was a reunion.
Vanya suffered from vision problems because he was hydrocephalic, meaning he had severe water on the brain. I wrote about him and even posed for a photo – one we actually used in Buckner Today.
As a result of that article, several people contacted Buckner wanting to help Vanya and he eventually received shunts that alleviated the pressure on his brain. Now, Vanya lives with a Russian family that adopted him a few years ago.
Today, as I watched Scott Matthews place shoes on a little boy’s feet, I did so through the viewfinder of a video camera. Part of my work on this trip is shooting video for a 10-year anniversary Shoes for Orphan Souls DVD we’re producing. Next year marks the 10th year Buckner has sponsored the Shoe program.
Watching Scott playfully tickle the boy and hearing them both giggle was beyond description. And then Scott got down on the floor and joyfully removed the boy’s old shoes and replaced them with warm winter boots.
The boy was proud of his new shoes and I couldn’t help but notice that what should have taken a couple of minutes stretched into 15 or 20. It was hard to tell who was having more fun – Scott or the orphan.
When they finally finished, they walked our of the room together, hand in hand. And I was reminded again what I thought the first time I saw this. Putting shoes on the feet of orphans is one of the most Christ-like things I’ve ever seen.
After they’d left, I realized I didn’t know the boy’s name. So I replayed the video I’d shot for one our Buckner follow-up team members and asked the boy’s name.
His name is Vanya. So again today, like nine years ago, Vanya got his new shoes and I’ll never forget it.
0 comments:
Post a Comment