In January our tutees were back to school returning from their long Christmas holidays. A 
lot of them spend their holidays in Italy, some went home while there were those who had to celebrate New Year at the asylum. In our first meeting this year we asked the kids to share about their holidays. For almost every tutee it is a true pride to claim he or she spent this special time of the year with their families – parents and siblings. And the real challenge is to stay awake as long as possible and not fall asleep during 
the New Year’s night. They were so excited to say when was the latest time they went to bed. Certainly the kids would naturally omit their family traditions to get drunk and raise scandals. For them this all goes together with the notion of celebrating something. So 
that’s why the kids would remember and tell only about the good time they spent TOGETHER – because the orphanage robbed it from them from early childhood. These simple children stories prove absolute vitality of every human being to have a Home. Not just a house with a rooftop and walls. The government provided they have it. But a Home is first and foremost about relationships, accep
tance and genuine care. And this kind of heaven the Lord descended to bring back to this earth. Our prayers go for the Vileyka 
Orphanage tenants so that through believing in Jesus Christ they would one day retrieve the feeling of acceptance and belongness to their heavenly Home. We arranged a big celebration at the asylum. In cooperation with the youth from Golgotha church we brought a puppet theatre to the kids on January 24th. The kids were in for games, a lot of interactive scenes between the 
puppets and their excited audience, getting-to-know activities and of course a surprise behind the curtain! The heroes of the puppet show reminded a lot of the kids so the latter could relate to them easily – they could see the puppets who make friends, break up, act naughty and are always excited to get to know new things – just like themselves. The heroes of the staged play were witnesses of the Christmas story, of how Lord Jesus came to this world. And the faraway Palestine became so close while the events were unfolding right before the children’s eyes. No holiday goes without gifts! So at the end of the party each child received a present. Everyone was pleased and happy! A lot of kids would approach the performers and thank them and a lot of them expressed their gratitude for the gifts. And then we had to leave – only to come back again! Until February!
Archive for January 31, 2020
Brothers and sisters, I am grateful to you for your prayers for orphan ministry in Belarus and 
for children! We are glad that God has moved us to a new level and all our dreams have already come true! This month God has blessed us and we have had a great opportunity to visit the orphanage school in Belynichi. At first, we saw that God fulfilled the children’s physical needs. When
came there they ran to us and told how God answered their prayers. Some of them got a new long-awaited pack of pencils other got a new pair of shoes, a flashlight or new glasses. Simple gifts brought great joy to the kids 
whose childhood was stolen. “Dima, what unusual present did you use to get?” they asked me. It was hard for me to remember something like that because my father had been brought up at orphanage, so he didn’t give us any presents and often got drunk. That’s why the best present for us was our father’s good mood and sobriety. When I told the teenagers about that I 
realized that the majority of them have the same past. God also blessed us, and we could organize a Christmas event! I thank you, brothers and sisters, for your help with getting and spreading presents, your prayers and your participation in the program itself! 
We notice that during such events children and orphanage workers are especially open to talk about God and faith. Christ is born! “But who is He?”, newcomers asked. They grew up in small villages and didn’t hear about this holiday and its birthday person. We were happy to tell them that Father God gave Jesus, the Son of God, who brought Peace, Joy and Love to the world! We could also visit them later and 
discuss more serious issues connected with the orphans’ everyday life. We talked about swearing, why they swear, what people around think about it and, which is the most important, what God thinks about it. We discussed what we could practically do to get rid of swearing. Roma said that when he lost his temper he would try to restrain himself for at least the first ten seconds. He said that he would do it step by step. Sasha said “if you want to come to the finish line you have to move toward it”. I am happy that it was a good time where everyone said that during the week they would try to cope with their addictions.Many children have a wrong example of life and we are the only ones who come and help the teenagers to see the right way. Friends, let’s pray for God to keep the planted seed and their faith would grow on the right grounds! Praise the Lord!
LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN 