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 30, 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!