LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

For the last four months we were able to arrange several events for those who graduated from different orphanages.  We had been working with them closely for around 8 years.  On February the first we visited a girl who was a recent student. She now lives and studies in Dzerzhinsk.  Her name is Marina. Marina’s life is not easy. She got pregnant when she was 15 years old. Because of that she was not able to graduate from school. She gave birth to a boy when she was 16. When her boyfriend found out she was pregnant, he left her. He got married to another girl shortly after he broke up with Marina. Marina’s son is 4 already. He is in an orphanage also. Marina will be able to take her son live with her only when she graduates from college, finds a job and a place to live. Marina misses her child a lot. She cries very often wishing to take her son from the orphanage. We are trying to support her and stay in touch with her. We visit her sometimes, and also bring her to the orphanage to her child. Also, Marina has many health problems. She spends a lot of time at the hospital. We are trying to help her as much as we can. We also introduced her to a pastor of a local church and his family. We are asking to remember Marina in your prayers, so she could find hope in the Lord.
On the last Saturday of March we managed to have a meeting with the graduates from Slyzhsk’s orphanage, which was closed in 2010. The children were distributed to other orphanages. When we met, the weather was great! There were no such surprises as snow storms (as it sometimes happens). The students were able to be there on time with no problems. It was also great that almost everyone who was invited made it there. Some of them stayed from the beginning till the end, some of them just came to stay for a little bit; however, overall it was good for them to stay at least for some time. Also, the leaders had more opportunity to spend some time with some of the students individually.
Our meeting was very bright and lively. The students were very glad to see not only each other, but also the teachers whom they first met while being at school. We made a dinner for them, so we had a chance to talk to each other more. Later, we spent some time remembering the past while looking at the pictures of our previous meetings. We were taking a lot of pictures when we visited them, when we played sports, when we arranged summer camps,etc. We remembered a couple of games we were playing with them a long time ago at school. It was really funny and enjoyable. We spent a lot of time talking, laughing, singing, and playing. However, the most important part is that at the end of our evening the leader of our team was able to share the Gospel with the students.
Besides that, not a long time ago we arranged a meeting for the students from Belinich’s orphanage, who live in Bobruisk now. These students have either physical or mental illnesses. It was amazing that despite of their conditions, their hearts were open to God’s Word!  The local church does a great job serving them. Praise the Lord! Unfortunately, not every church is so open to such children willing to care and support them. Our main goal is to draw these children to a local church.
Also, we would like to mention that it is great that God is using such things as the Internet. The social network helps us to find the students with whom we lost any contact. We talk to them through the Internet and invite them to our events. We are planning to arrange such meeting in future, if God allows it. We would like to visit the students from different orphanages, so the distance between us reduces. The wish of our hearts is that they meet the Lord Jesus Christ and accept Him as their personal Savior.