LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

Hello dear friends! October passed quickly. This month we visited Smilovichy orphanage. Currently there are only two children in the orphanage — Alesya and Maxim, they are siblings. They are waiting for a court decision, after which the fate of these guys will be known. Let me remind you that they were taken from a family with addicted to alcohol parents. These guys have never heard of God before. I am still surprised by the fact that in the Belarusian villages so little is known about Christ! That’s why we started with the basics. Namely: “The Creation of the world, the Fall, the history of the flood and Noah’s Ark.” In October we spoke with Alyosha and Maxim about the story of the failing construction of the Tower of Babel. We talked about people who wanted to reach God by their deeds, as a result, God’s reaction was a mixture of languages. After listening to the story Maxim asked why God did this to people? I told him that we cannot reach God by our deeds, because there is too much sin in our life. The only mediator because of whom we come to know God and can live with God is Jesus. After all if by deeds You can reach God and please Him, then God wouldn’t have had to send Jesus to us. The main goal of people would be to glorify themselves not God. Pride is a problem of people, as well as envy. They pass through generations and are still relevant.

Also after our lesson I offered coloring pages on the topic of the Tower of Babel saying: “Guys, if you colour these pages, you will get a prize.” The goal is to help get rid of an orphan mindset (everyone owes me), but to enhance the desire to take control over the situation and think what I can do to be rewarded. When we arrived another time Alesya ran up and asked: “Dima, where do you think Maxim’s drawing is, and where is mine”? I assumed it was the right one, and she said, “No, the left one”! Then the teacher, who was nearby said: “Alesya, you should always tell the truth”! Alesya blushed at that moment, and the teacher once again asked to tell the truth no matter how difficult it is. Then Alesya said that Maxim had a lot of homework and she decided to help him earn candy, so she coloured the drawing instead of Maxim. But she also lied in order to get her own benefit and because of this she was very ashamed at that moment. The teacher praised the truth and said that it was better to tell the truth and then people will be more open and even more willing to help. “The truth helps people to be friends and even God likes it when people are honest. After all God sees our heart as once, He saw the Cain’s heart. I was just surprised when the teacher came to such a conclusion! “Thank God, I thought!” Then we sat down and I told the story of Joseph. About his childhood in a big family, his dad’s love to him, and his brother’s envy against him. He told about Joseph’s brothers, their evil actions against Joseph when they sold him into slavery and then deceived Joseph’s father.

After Joseph’s story I said, “Guys, look, our reactions and actions are often similar to those of Joseph’s brothers. We also envy when parents take care of someone more than about us. When someone is given new and beautiful things but we have only old ones. And of course we get offended by this and get envy and anger.” And the guys admitted they are often jealous of one another. Also we talked about Joseph’s sincere trust in God that didn’t vanished when even when he was sold into slavery. Instead he relied on God and God helped him. Joseph was also like an orphan. He lived in a place that he did not choose. At that moment Maxim said: “Oh, an orphan like us”! I replied: “That’s right, Maxim!

But Joseph always asked God for help. And one day, when Potiphar’s wife wanted to cheat on her husband with Joseph, he didn’t want to betray his master Patiphar.” “Why did Joseph refused to do this? Because Joseph knew that if he did this, it would bring pain to God. Joseph did not want to upset God because he loved Him very much.” At the next meeting, we finished the story of Joseph’s life. Summing up, we reasoned that sometimes we do not understand much of what is happening in our lives. But if we trust God, He can turn any circumstances into good for us. “Today you are in a shelter, far from your parents and friends, but God has a plan for you. Therefore, if you learn to trust Him, then God will help you in your lives. After all, only God can greatly change your life and change orphanhood to loyalty and heirship. But you need to believe in God get to know Him better and have strong hope in God’s plan for your life”. Friends, thank you very much for your prayers! Let’s continue to pray that the guys return to their families as soon as possible and that God help all these parents to change their lifestyle to have their kids with them and not in orphanages.