Dear brothers and sisters, I am glad that you are with us and can see and understand what is happening
in the ministry to orphans 
in Belarus! For many, this year was not easy, but in every day we can see the hand of God. Thank you for your prayers and also for your interest, which is awakened by the Spirit of God. Summing up this year, we can note that in every day the grace of God was with us! This month we have had 5 trips to the Rudensk boarding school.During our the first trip , we sooke about the importance of prayer in a everyone’s life, and when we discussed this topic, the kids were very impressed with how important prayer is for each of us. Petya, 
who constantly attends our classes, said that when he prays, 
God sends peace and he feels much better andfeels less stressful. When Petya speaks his feelings to God in prayer, He comforts and helps to forgive his offenders. Polina said that after the theme of prayer, fears began to disappear. She prayed and God sent her new friends who do not betray or hurt her. It can also be noticed that the kids started to ask more often to pray with us at the beginning of the meetings. We have noticed that the children ask in prayer for their teachers that they be healthy and more joyful. Another topic we had was talking about idols. Who do you want to follow as an example? And why? The kids talked about celebrities and despite the fact that they don’t go much outside the boarding school, the influence of information through the TV does its job! I like that actress because she is beautiful, and I like that actor because he is strong! I like that singer because I want to sing like him , he has a strong voice. Then we talked about the life of singers, actresses, talked
about their lives and the moments 
that they went through. And many, despite the popularity, have their own problems in life. Then we moved on to the example of Jesus. We said that despite thousands of years He still has His influence on people’s lives. We gave various examples: how drug addicts became shepherds, and how homeless people became caring parents, were restored and returned to their families. It was important for the kids to hear. Many of their parents live with various addictions and before they had no idea that God could change lives in such way. No matter how difficult life situation we are in, God has the power and ability to restore us. It is important that any person can believe in God and ask Him for help. The kids then came up to us and talked about their parents and what happened to them, and we said that each of you can pray for your parents and God will help them. God has the power to change circumstances!
When we arrived on Christmas Eve, we talked about the Savior Jesus Christ. We have retokd His birth story. It was wonderful that there were new kids who hadn’t known about the birth of Jesus before. We told how Mary knew that she would soon become pregnant and how she should name the Son of God Jesus. How Joseph became the adoptive father of Jesus Christ. We told them about first people who came to bow to Jesus and why there was not enough room for the family of Mary and Joseph. We explained why a baby was born in a barn and why the wise men were guided by a star when they went to bow to Him. The children were very impressed by the Angel, who constantly said: “Do not be afraid,” and also the wisdom of God that everyone, not only rich, but also poor, could come to baby Jesus. So now God calls all people to Himself: rich and poor, and He is glad to everyone. Belarus celebrates two Christmases of Jesus Christ on December 25 and January 7. We celebrated in Rudensk on January 25th. We invited everyone who wanted to come to the celebration, where they sang, played and we had a quiz: Who knows better about the 
birth of Jesus. There was a lot of laughter and joy, it was 
clear that the children felt safe and their hearts were opened to God. We tried to create a family atmosphere and when we invited the kidss to the festive table, everyone was happy. Each child took turns praying, saying their heart’s desire to Jesus Christ. We prepared gifts and handed them out to the children, the gifts were personalized and we knew the children and how nice it was to see when the gift was what the child needed so much. Thank God that it was possible to purchase everything necessary for the children. Dear friend, I thank God that together with you we can serve children in Belarus. We sincerely thank God for the strength and wisdom that He gives us, as well as for all the graces both in the lives of children and ours. Thank you for your prayers and for praying for these children. Merry Christmas to all of you in Jesus Christ!
hearts to us. They trust us and tell 
their stories, share their joys or experience. We rejoice that God’s love flows through us and heals their hearts, fills the void inside every child! The first two weeks we completed a series of topics about the life of David and Saul, reflecting on where God was in the difficulties that David faced, because he loved God. The guys drew parallels between the reign of Saul and his character, as well as the reign of David. We realized that without a close relationship with God it is very difficult to be a king or other influential person, because only God gives wisdom, love for people and humility, which is so lacking for those who have been entrusted with power.
Before the feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, Dima revealed to the children the topic of the birth of Jesus and what we actually celebrate. We broke false beliefs about Santa Claus, different heroes of fairy tales and spoke the truth. The children didnt know that the Savior was born on this day and that he was the Son of God, who agreed to live the life of a man, be brutally killed by people (his own creation), resurrect and continue to love us all. Alesya, she is 10 years old, she was very surprised that Jesus was born in a barn, because He could be born in the best palace on earth. We explained that God showed his accessibility to any person, that he loves not only rich, but also poor people, that for the sake of love for us, Jesus is ready for anything!!!
At the end of the month, we, together with everyone who supports the ministry, bought gift sets for children, with everything they need. We bought a cake and lit candles and thanked God together for His Son Jesus Christ. At the table, we talked, answered questions, ate and rejoiced that we could be with these children and show them how families celebrate Christmas.
Winter came to Belarus, roads to Vileyko didn’t become shorter but became more attractive. Our Friday trips continued. With great pleasure we were seeing our friends and they were seeing us back. December is the last month of the year. It is a 
special month in every person’s life and in each family. It’s time to rethink some stuff, to prepare for a New Year, to buy some presents and decorate Christmas tree.
each other The topics of the month were “The greatest personality/person, Christmas, Why Jesus came to the earth (Если вопрос то: Why did Jesus come to the earth?” Each topic is important but they all have got one point and the point is Jesus Christ. Jesus 
Christ the greatest person of all time was born and died in orders to give us salvation. The was an amusing incident while we were on a trip. When we told a story about Jesus and what gift he had given to all humanity we gave a huge box of chewing gums to Nick/Nikholay/Kolya as a present. He thought that it had been a part of show and he would need to return them but when He was told that it had 
been a present, he was really surprised and couldn’t believe that all those chewing gums were for him and he could have/eat the all. That evening Kolya understood that those sweets had been given to him as a present for free. We sang a lot. A favorite song of all the kids was “unique”. That song was about each of us, how all we were important and loved by Jesus. Our tradition is to hug someone standing next to you and sing songs together. The kids really like it. One of the brightest moment of December was relay race inspired by the theme of Christmas. It was fun and noisy. Everybody took and active part in it and got presents. Each trip is a special time for us. We pray for our kids and believe in changes in their hearts.
Our December visits to the Belynichi boarding school began with sports games, which were associated with winter sports, as well as with Christmas and New Year. All the games were fun and interesting. But I especially want to say that over the years of our visit to orphanage, there have been serious changes in children. This is especially noticeable during the relay races! If earlier, the guys competed in such a way that it could come to fights and swearing, today they are focused on competition and of course strive to be winners, but they also already know how to react to defeats normally. If earlier, the guys inside their own teams ridiculed and humiliated those who were physically or intellectually weaker in every possible way, now they are learning to be a united team and strive to help those who are weaker. We cannot say that they have reached perfection and it is clear that there is still a lot to work on, but comparing what was before and what is now, we can safely say that this is another victory of God in the lives of these kids!
At the next meeting we talked about the fact that God is a light that can give a person freedom from any darkness, from any sins that lead a person to serious destruction. The topic alarmed the guys when it came to the fact that sins lead a person to hell. But after Ilya has explained the guys a way out of darkness into light, the guys rejoiced that each of them had a chance and hope that Jesus Christ brought to people. This month we also talked to the guys about Christmas. We made a separate topic in which we talked with the kids about the meaning of this holiday, as well as the purpose of Jesus’ coming to earth. I really wanted the guys to get into the depth of Christmas, and next month, we really hope that we will have the opportunity to organize a Christmas program for the guys, as well as to give out the gifts.
LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN 