LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

Greetings, brothers and sisters!
I thank God that during all this times we were able to fulfill the great God’s command by serving orphaned children. This year was a special one, we believe, that the seed that we planted in the hearts of orphans by means of prayers and our ministering will continue to grow and in due time will bear much fruit in the form of changed orphans’ lives.
The last month we were able to visit the children in the Rudensk orphanage five times. The last month of the year is the month of expectation of the birth of Jesus Christ. During December we talked with the orphans about Advent – the time of expectation of Christmas. As a symbol at each lesson we lighted a candle. Children liked a lot the moment of lighting a candle because each candle had a specific meaning. The first candle symbolized the fact that Christ has brought Peace to the earth. It is especially relevant to the orphans because most of them do not have peace nor with their relatives nor with God.
The second candle symbolizes Joy because we do not need to earn salvation – Jesus Christ gives us salvation freely! With each meeting we had more and more children. Since they already knew that we would light up the candles they started to ask in advance that they would get to hold the candle this time.  At the third meeting we talked about the fact that Christ has brought us hope. In my opinion orphans especially need hope for a better life here on earth and for meeting God in after life.
The fourth candle symbolizes God’s love which God proved in Jesus Christ Who suffered by bearing the punishment for sins of those who would believe in Him. At the last meeting which took place on December 25 we lighted the last candle which symbolizes the long awaited Holiday – Christmas! The morning we had fellowship in the church but the afternoon we decided to dedicate to children of Rudensk orphanage.  We sang the songs, had fellowship and watched a cartoon about Christmas.
If God willing, on January 15th we are planning to bring to orphans theatrical show with giving away of Christmas presents. We hope that it is going to be not just entertainment show and presents but another opportunity for children to hear about birth of the Savior.
We are thankful to God for opening of hearts of orphanage administration so we can continue to minister to these orphans! Please pray for the orphans and orphanage administration so we could continue to minister to orphans and God in this place.