So here is the end of an other school year and this season of our ministry. We had a lot of bright memories, 
positive emotions and victories that we got to see this year. And the biggest victory of them all has changed the lives of the children that we serve! And we are very grateful and we glorify our Heavenly Father! 
The bigger part of our team served in the orphanage in Belinichi because right there we served in three different classes. In the beginning of this year we, for the first time ever, started having meetings with the youngest kids with the most difficult diagnosis. The first 2-3 months were the most difficult for us and for the kids. It was hard for the kids to understand what we wanted from them, it was difficult for them to pay attention and it was hard for them to receive bible lessons. And also they were really checking out our reliability! Often they would scream something on purpose in order to upset a lesson, they would spit on us and dry their wet hands with our cloth. They did all of that just to see how we would react in those situations! They wanted to see if we were gonna yell at them or if we would be able to love them just as they are. But we steadfastly withstood those difficulties and today we realize that it’s only God
who gave us this victory because we would not be able to do that in our human power! Praise God! 
Today when these children meet us they meet us with joy, they try to be active during our bible lessons, and they remember some of the bible stories. The most favorite bible characters this year became Moses, Ruth and Samson. Isn’t that a victory? After all a lot of these children have difficult diagnosis, they have mental and physical disabilities, but despite this God makes them able to understand and remember bible lessons!
In the mid group the kids are special because it’s always quiet during the lessons and also they have some great mentors that work with them and even after our meetings they try and read the bible stories to the kids which we talk about during our lessons. And sometimes kids tell us which bible stories they read during the week on their own. 
Also often they tell us their little testimonies of how God answers their prayers.
We have special relationships with the oldest group. Some of them we know from when they were still little,
when they first arrived to the orphanage. And today some of them are already graduates who very soon leave to live and study in different cities, who will very soon enter into adulthood. During this last month we tried to give them as much admonition as possible, and also answered the questions that they had. We talked to them about peace in our relationships with people and with God, about faithfulness and about the meaning of a word “freedom” from a biblical worldview. We believe that all of these admonitions are not in vain and that God will not leave these kids and He will continue to reveal His Fatherly love and care to them more and more!
Archive for June, 2017
Summer has begun, and with summer began last visits to boarding schools this academic year. We continue talking
with guys from Smilovichi orphanage, and speaking with them about different interesting and useful topics.
This month, we told the children the story of Gideon, 
Job, and showed the puppet show.
The story of Gideon showed the children that God can even through a few people show His glory and save His people. It is very important to rely not on ourselves, but on the strength of our Lord. Gideon was able to defeat the army of other nations that outnumbered at hundreds of times, and we will be able to cope with the problems of our lives, thanks to the fact that we trust in God.
It was very interesting to tell the children the story of Job. Each of them lost something important in this life – that’s why they ended up in a boarding school. 
Job lost everything – his wealth, his children, and even his health. But he remained faithful to God.
Many in this life believe that health is the most important. But the history of Job shows that there is a God who not only holds every man in his hands, but also the entire universe. He thought out everything, and knows everything. He knows even that about what modern scientists are doing only theoretical assumptions. Therefore, Job, and every child is in God’s caring hands, and He worries about every person.
This is a story with a happy ending – God took care of Job and multiplied his wealth twice.
At the end of the season of our visits we had invited a puppet theater. Guys liked very much this great staged production. 
During the story that the dolls showed, children learned that neither wealth, nor proper behavior, nor that their parents believed in God – none of this would help them get to God. Only personal faith in Jesus Christ is the key that opens the door to the heavenly kingdom.
Now most of children start visiting different camps, so we have a break in the service before the beginning of the school year. We are very glad that we can influence children’s lives! May God bless all who are not indifferent to the orphans of Belarus! Thank you for your spiritual and financial support!
May is the finishing month of our visits this school year. And this is the time when so long-awaited warm weather comes, the days become longer, and children have more time to spend on fresh air. But it doesn’t intervene with our plans.
We spent time on the sport’s ground with older children instead of doing proper organized meeting, we shared about what was happening in our lives and our plans for the upcoming summer. It’s easier for many people to communicate and share in an informal atmosphere.
Even though it’s the end of the school year, we still have people joining in, and we are glad it’s happening. One of them is Yuliya, she is from a church “Blagovestie” in Minsk. She’s quite experienced in counselling and she interacts with older girls. I must admit, the girls themselves got close to her and look forward to every meeting.
I should also mention that the translator of our reports Julia decided to join our Friday orphan’s ministry after she had spent a week with the Irish team in the orphanage. During that Irish camp, she made many friends among kids who keep in touch with her through the internet,
take pictures with her, have fun and post it on social media. Building relationships with kids is one the main goals of our ministry. So when it happens we are extremely happy.
On the 12 May, Dima came to visit the children. As always, he explained the topic of gossip in an understandable form for the kids. Kids live in the atmosphere of forced interaction so different conflicts appear because of gossips, misunderstandings and jealousy. Children were listening attentively to the answers to serious life questions and took part in discussions. We believe they made important decisions for themselves.
One of our leaders, Roma can’t always make it with us to the orphanage. He managed to come on one of the Fridays and it made children happy as well as Roma himself.
Many children lack love during the school year and as a result they behave aggressively, hiding their vulnerability. The best remedy from that is the healing truth about God’s love. If a person knows that he is loved, he wants to love back. That was the main idea for the discussion Roma had with kids from Vileyka boarding-school.
By the way, we organized a photo shoot for the graduates this year and that made children happy as well as the teachers. Afterwards we are going to present albums for them which will keep the atmosphere of school years and the warmth of friendships. Many pictures are already in their social accounts.
Another month of our ministry in Belynichi orphanage has come to an end. All of the planned meetings with the kids were held 
and each meeting was filled with a special atmosphere. We have already succeeded in building good relationships with most of the children who visit our events, but there are yet some of them with whom we still need to create good friendship.
Together with the elder kids we have completed a series of themes dedicated to the qualities of God. In my opinion, the themes were rather relevant for children, as we were talking about our Creator. From our side we wanted to teach them to be like God, not only expect their friends to display those qualities, but to do it themselves always. We touched on such themes as: “God is light”, “God is the way”, “God is bread“.
We also held relay races with elder kids this month. Children are thrilled and excited about such events. During relay races they pour out their different emotions, and physical exercise is always good for them.
Younger children and middle classes were going through the Old Testament themes: “Ruth”, “David”. The Puppet Theatre visited children this month, which also brought them a lot of joy, they always meet new people warmly and gladly. During lessons children try to behave themselves. You can tell by the expression of their eyes with what interest they are listening; they love to participate in the course of the lesson and answer the questions vying with each other.
This suggests that the kids understand and embrace information. Roma was a special joy of mine this month, he knows very well how to behave in the right way and what sin and bad actions are. 
During a lesson he happens to push a friend or call someone names. And after that he remembers “Ah, this is not right” and always tries to ask for forgiveness and doesn’t repeat those bad things at least till the end of the lesson. I told about it because here I also see changes. Previously I saw that after doing something bad or harmful they would just laugh, but now they understand that this is bad and try to change. It is a joy to see each small victory and transformation in the behavior of the children.
LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN 