The trips to the Belynichi orphanage continued this month as well and this trips give a great joy to our team and to the 
children we visit! Of course we keep the distance and mask mode, but this does not prevent us and the children from maintaining a spring mood and 
enjoying every minute spent together! Thank God for the opportunity to be in this place and tell the good news! This month we have been talking about time. During every meeting, we talked with the children about forgiveness and peace in relationship with God. Of course, the most difficult thing for orphans is to forgive their parents. Despite the age of the child and the time spent in the orphanage, the pain of memories, resentments and disappointments are still fresh. 
Each of us understands that only God can completely heal and restore these children. That is why we try to speak on such topics, despite all the complexity. God works in the hearts of children and adults and there are
victories – there are those who were able to step over the barrier of unforgiveness and forgive their offenders, but there are those with whom we still have to work if God permits. A new girl, Julia, appeared at school, she is already a teenager and it is especially difficult to be in a orphanage at that age. At first, the girl tried to stay aloof and did not make contact. But within a month, she began to come closer and closer 
and slowly, with very small steps she begins to open her heart and start to smile. We hope that over the time we will be able to support Julia and introduce her to Heavenly Father, who heals any wounds and gives comfort and peace. We have allready spoke in our previous articles about taking a 
break from trips to the orphanages. Now it is very strongly felt that the children have had a reassessment of values and now they value every minute spent with us. Even in the classroom, they try to behave better. This month I’ve managed to talk with Lesha and Igor. Very soon they will be graduates who will live a new, independent life. Lesha will still go to study as a builder, but Igor will go to a home for the disabled. Both, already adults, with tears in their eyes told me how difficult and scary it is for them to leave the school and how much they value every minute at school, in communication with their teachers, friends and our team. We really hope that they will remember the word that we have sown in their lives and will remember that Heavenly Father is with them! Thanks to everyone who supports us financially and prayerfully, as well as everyone who is not indifferent to the destiny of orphans in our country!
Archive for March, 2021
We are glad to inform you that the doors to the boarding schools, and the Smilovichi’s orphanage are open for us, and 
they now allow more volunteers from the team to visit. We can see how 
the Lord answers our prayers, and we thank everyone who joins us in prayer for the salvation of orphans in Belarus. In the first week of March, we had a creative time with the children from the orphanage, and they were delighted. Together we made beautiful notebooks for school and personal notes, and most importantly, we taught the children to do useful and beautiful things with their own hands. Each of them was pleased that they were able to learn new skills, and show their talents. We then taught a Bible lesson on forgiveness, based on the New Testament story of the debtor and 
the king who forgave him. This story is pertinent for each of them, because they refused to forgive due to the harm inflicted on them by their own families. 
Lisa asked: “How can I forgive my mother, who left us all for her friends? She chose alcohol and did not even apologize!” Each of them had questions about how to forgive them, if they don’t repent of their cruel ways. It was difficult to hear their stories, but we tried to direct their gaze to Jesus Christ, and His infinite power of forgiveness that He gave us on the cross. At the end of the lesson, we saw how the children’s faces brightened, and they said that they felt lighter (in their soul). There was another meeting, and the topic of the meeting was prayer. We gave the guys a question to think about. The question was: “Where do you think God does not hear us?” Some answered that in space, Ira said that in a cave. We were surprised by Diana’s answer, who is only 16 years old. She answered that God does not hear us after death, i.e, at the cemetery. It’s so great that they really think about God, about how He loves them, and that they understand that they need to pray now, and not let a single day pass by without communicating with their Loving Heavenly Father!)
I am very glad to have the opportunity to attend an orphanage and serve children despite the epidemiological situation in the country. The administration is well disposed to us and supports us in spending time with the guys.
We can see that the children missed us and are very happy to visit us. This month I would like to highlight a few guys. When we were talking about “Forgiveness”, Artyom of the older boys came up and told us that it was very difficult for him to forgive his abusers. I got to talk to him and said that it is indeed difficult. Sometimes we can’t forgive ourselves, but God can help us if we ask Him to. And in fact, not everything is so 
simple-sometimes you need to forgive the offender many times before you get freedom. 
I would also like to highlight Petya. He loves to dance. Many people say that he won’t succeed, he won’t achieve anything in his life. But we try to encourage him, to praise him, to highlight his efforts and talents. We also emphasize his good qualities, such as loyalty and responsiveness. He always comes to our meetings, always helps. Another person I want to mention is Christina. She’s one of those people who has just started coming to our meetings. It was she who asked us to pray for her on her birthday. Alyona prayed for her and blessed her. In general, we can see the changes in the guys. They open up, share more personal experiences.
I want to start with great news about the children who were in the 
Smilovichi orphanage. Yana, Boris and Nastya were taken to three different families for custody, and Nastya’s adoptive parents are believers (she always asked in prayer that her adoptive parents will know and love God)! For each of them
, finding a family is the answer from the Lord! Thank God! In February, children abandoned by their Mother have arrived at the orphanage and now they are awaiting for a court and father’s decision. They are going 
through a difficult period of pain and resentment, misunderstanding and judgment. When we met, we tried to build good relationship with them and we see that we achieved this thank
s to the right communication and games that do not lead to competition and rivalry. While teaching a Bible lesson about the miracles of Jesus Christ, we asked them what they know about God, whether they had read the Bible 
and whether they had been to the Church. We were surprised that they had never attended Church and knew nothing about Jesus Christ. Then we simplified the lessons and at the simplest level, adding testimonies from our own lives, told Bible stories. At the end of each story we answered to children’s questions and gave them the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned and what can help them to believe and trust God! Liza, she is 14, said that thanks to our visits she stopped being afraid and calmed down. Vanya, Matthew and Timofey felt loved and very important and Ira who is 4 years old stopped waking up at night and cry.For us these words and changes in the lives of the children once again prove the power of God’s love and compassion which can heal any pain and restore any destruction!
LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN 