It’s well-known that December is a wonderful festive time. Seems like people become 
more united and cosier because of the mutual awaiting. It is more obvious among those lacking home atmosphere. We use this special time to remind them about the meaning of this holiday. Holiday is a family, mutual table, d
elicious food and meaningful conversations. We tried to create something like that with teenagers who come to our meetings. We had separate meetings with 
boys and girls. We sat in a circle with boys, there was a cake, Coca-cola and fruit. Every boy shared his wishes for someone else. Surely we reminded them about the reason for Jesus coming to earth. God has lots of names. The most important one for Christmas is Emanuel or God is with us. J
esus had a choice. And He made his choice to come and face what each of us face every day: rejection, injustice, hopelessness. That’s why because of the baby we are not alone now, there is He who understands it all. 
Boys were so grateful for the evening, we said warm goodbyes and they invited us to a school disco in a week. Well, we’ll see them next year. Girls also had a busy program. Below is a story of one of our volunteers, Olya. “Thank God for the opportunities to spend time with children in Vileyka boarding school. That was our last trip with Yulya to the school before the holidays this year , so we decided to celebrate Christmas. We lit the candles, prepared nice tea and remembered what happened during one very important 
night 2000 years ago: the birth of Jesus, shepherds coming and kneeling down before Him, the meaning of Christmas for us today. We sang Christmas songs. It appeared that many kids heard the song “Holy 
Night” in Italian. At the end of our meeting our beauties received presents, as well as proper Bibles that they had asked for. We are praying for kids so that Christmas would be special for everyone personally. Just recently new volunteer Vika has joined our team. Here are her impressions: ” I’ve been coming to Vileyka boarding school for a month now. Every time we come the kids joyfully meet us, shake hands and smile. We talk about different things that worry them, different topics, play together, tell jokes and laugh. Every child is unique and we find ways to communicate with them. After the talk we give them some sweet treats. They are always so happy to get chocolates and other sweet things. When the time comes to say goodbye they walk us to the car and every time ask when we will come again.
Archive for December, 2019
We keep visiting the orphanage and can surely say that we have become friends and 
mentors for the kids there. And they trust us! Their ability to trust was swiped away by their close ones. The people who promised to 
help and never did, who promised to take them home and didn’t. That’s why children who lived through all this trauma are shutting their hearts in order not to get hurt even more, becoming mistrustful. And only with the help of God’s love, present in our hearts, we managed to get through the bastions erected around these children’s hearts, and show love towards each and every one of them not only through words but show it in a
ction!) On the first Monday of December we’ve held a bible lesson on Noah and his ark, where the importance of the relationship
with God and being obedient to Him was highlighted. After the lesson the kids were very curious about the flood and why God allowed all those people to sink except for the Noah’s family. We explained that God the Father was extremely merciful, patient and loving despite all of their sins, but there was nothing good left in them anymore 
that’s why He allowed the flood to take place, and left only a small group of people. Thanks to this the new generation of people followed Him and learned how to truly love each other, their families, and their children. Also w
e had a crafts class where we taught the kids how to make Christmas stockings and afterwards they had them hanging in their rooms. Everyone was happy. Also this month we had a lesson where we talked about the tower of Babel and when the people started to speak different languages. And we’ve talked about the story of Christmas also.Most of the children had no idea about the real meaning of Christmas. They only knew about Santa and that it was something to do with the presents. We are happy that through us and the people who pray about this ministry children have the ability to learn the truth and this truth unchains them.
I would like to tell you about our trips to Belynichi in December. With the youngest kids we discussed such themes as “Job’s faithfulness”, “Birth of Jesus Christ”, and during one of the meetings we were doing crafts. I noticed that crafts 
is one of the kid’s favourite activities. During the ceative process we strive to pay more attention to personal help for everyone, to show care about the children, to let them reveal their creative potential and implement thier ideas. Doing crafts we always seek opportunity to communicate personally with every kid, but of course not always it is possible, because there’s only one hour to finish their handicrafts, 
and we want everyone of them to leave the lesson being happy. Sometimes it seems to me that our visits have no results at all. But receiving serious questions from the kids I understand and get assured that they hear and understand us. And only God knows every kid’s heart. A
nd only God has strength to change hearts. I get surprised by their questions when they ask: “and when I die I will be with Jesus in heavens as long as I believe????” or “Will God forgive me if I believe???” Each trip provokes more changes in my heart than visible chages in kids which I expect to see. But the children 
do change, and it encourages us and brings much joy.I liked what one of the elder boys said to Dima: “During holidays time a lot of people come to us with merry programmes. But only you come to us for real because you tuly love us and want to be friends with us. I was touched by such sencere observations. The elder children had such topics this month: “Greed”, “Not simply a carpenter”, “Life of Jesus Christ”, “Not an ordinary Teacher”. By the example of Christ’s life Dima spoke about hope and, of course, delivered many other important thoughts to the kids. He told that each of us and of the children has the opportunity for changes in life. And that Jesus proved His love by His life, and now for us He is the true example, Teacher, Saviour. He is the one who understands us genuinely.
Hello, dear reader. I want to tell you about our orphanage visits in this month. I conducted lessons for the kids. We talked about Noah, 
the Tower of Babel and Christmas. Every lesson starts with a prayer. Together with the children we 
build the so called prayer house. The guys take the initiative and pray, which is great! The story about Noah made the kids understand it’s necessary to be a righteous person who helps others and does some good, and to be grateful. Also we told them how important it is to build personal relations with God, because He loves everyone.The tower of Babel story made it clear that God doesn’t like proud people and hates when they sin and do not trust Him. During the lesson we tried to speak different languages with the children and they had no idea what we were talking about. Also we tried to build a tower from cups, but they didn’t manage to finish it, because some guy destroyed it. At 
last, one of the most important lessons was the one about the birth of Jesus Christ. We 
discussed the true meaning of Christmas. The guys learned the story about the birth of Jesus and the reason why He came to the Earth.I like when the guys ask and answer questions during the topic, which makes our conversation lively. I’m glad when they remember our lessons and then retell previous topic.We are grateful to God for the children that we may visit, for the team and your prayers. Friends, let’s constantly pray for orphans, amen.
LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN 