10 days...and a visit with the Nuns to the "Dump"

WOW! The 10 day mark has caused reality to set in! The mixed feelings are starting to set in about going home. While I'm anxious to see my family and friends and be home for Christmas, this has been my life for over 4 months and now it's just going to end. I can't really "explain" this to people back home and I know that there will need to be plenty of "explaining". I pray that I can somehow be clear in my words and verbalize some of the things I've learned and experienced while in Europe, Lithuania, Russia, Turkey, etc. As I look back over what I have actually done I am amazed and overwhelmingbly blessed. Anyway, today I had an amazing day and I want to share some of my thoughts on it.

I got up at 6:45 am and walked to the bus station to take a minibus to a town about 25 minutes away. Terra had invited me to come help out at the Sister's of Hope Monastery today. I got there and had forgotten the map Terra made me so I stumbled around clueless for like a half hour before finding it! I literally knocked on the wrong door of this church building for like 5 minutes and no one answered it. I found it by the grace of God and the Sisters welcomed me in for breakfast. THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WOMEN OF GOD! There are 4 of them and they have like 25 or so homeless people living at the house with them. They take care of them in every way. What a life! I was seriously challenged. We made tons of food, actually I didn't do much but it was fun. We then took the food to the "DUMP" where around 80 homeless people have their "homes". They actually have built little huts out of the trash which is constantly being dumped their and mixed and buried, etc. These people immediately shocked me because they were literally more outwardly joyful and welcoming than ANYONE ELSE I have met on the streets in Lithuania. They kept saying "laba diena" (good afternoon) and smiling. Oh, wow. And this nun was taking me around and talking to them and telling me about this place. She would just touch them with love and didn't care how dirty they were. She would go in their houses that were about 3 by 5 feet. It was incredible! We fed them this amazing meal and gave them some other goodies and they were so appreciative of course. This was their home!!!!!!! Many don't have passports or ID cards so they can't get health service. People die often. They protect their "possessions/trash" that they are going to sell. They sometimes seriously hurt or kil e/o (often alcohol related accidents) It's a neighborhood. Anyway, it was very very cool to see! I was most challenged by the humility and sacrificial lives of poverty that these nuns had chosen for their entire lives and they weren't just "praying". They were praying and spending time with God much of each day (they get up at 4 am each day) and serving the poorest of the poor in the middle of this. This house was a direct one from Mother Teresa. Very challenging and another life changing experience!