Ten students, including myself, embarked on a journey to frosty Russia to witness firsthand the workings of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Russia in January is not allthat different in temperature from Northfield, in fact is very similar, it is always bone chillingly cold. Yet in amongst the snow and bitter cold of a January day in Moscow, there is a great deal of warmth to be found. It is not to be found on the cobbled stone in Red Square, nor can it be discovered in the cavernous depths of the elaborate and expansive Metro system. But,take a five-minute walk from the Kuznetsky Most metro stop and you will find a little restaurant that doubles as soup kitchen for many of Moscow's impoverished where warmth radiates from those within. The soup kitchen's patrons receive government support, which amounts to a pitiful total approximately equivalent to US$32 a month. It was our job to help serve these people their free meal of the day. Although service was not the point of excursion, we felt this would be a wonderful opportunity to give something back to a place we had taken so much from already in our short time there. Even in our efforts to give back to people, it was each person in our group that was received so much. The people who came to the soup kitchen received a portion of meat, potatoes, vegetables, and soup, and since it was near Christmas each person also was given instant soup, cookies, and sour cream as presents to take home.

I had the privilege of handing out the presents to people as theyarrived, never before have I witnessed such gratitude on a group of people's faces. Almost every time I was profusely thanked. Although I could only understand the word thank you, it was their eyes that conveyed the message.

I don't believe my group would object to me saying their experiences were almost identical. It was only two hours spent out of an entire month, but it was time we all treasured.