LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

Our trips to the boarding school in Belynichi took place in different formats. At the beginning of the month, the younger guys watched acartoon about Moses, with which we memorized the whole story that we introduced to the guys last month. During the meeting, I noticed that the guys were offending each other, calling each other names, and I decided that we should teach them to say good words to each other. They had to notice some good qualities of a friend in pairs. It turned out that it was difficult for most of the guys to both say compliments and accept them. Katya and I also tried to say kind words to the children about how wonderful they are and highlight good qualities in them. One boy burst into tears, he was very affected by the words that we told him and the fact that he turns out to be so wonderful! At one of the meetings, we held a Gospel concert. Angelina, a member of our team, came with a worship group from her church. They sang songs, some of those which we sing with the guys, and also asked questions from Bible stories, for example, about exit from Egypt. It was obvious that the guys knew the answers. Vanya was themost active in answering questions, he strives to read and study the Bible. There was a contest with chocolate hidden under a chair and Yarik, who has down syndrome, found a chocolate bar and was very happy. He was called on stage, and he even answered some questions in his own language, which we have already learned to understand. At the end of the meeting, a new girl from the younger group, whose name is Alina, came up. She warned that she would not be at the next meeting, it was clear that she listened with great thirst and that our meetings were important and interesting to her. I also managed to attend a separate meeting with the older guys. At this meeting, we talked about theft. 

About where it starts and how it ends. We gave examples from the lives of the guys who graduated from their own school, how it all started from a very little thing, and how later theft led them to prison. We gave an analogy from the Bible that the biggest thief is the devil and if we steal, we imitate him. At the very end, we prayed with the guys that they would make the right choice in their lives and never get into a situation with theft. At the last meeting, we talked with the older guys about the difference between true love and falling in love, which often leads to early sexual relationships and many other serious consequences and wounds. We also talked about how God looks at sexual relations and that He intended it for healthy family relationships. In the end, according to a good tradition, we prayed for the guys, so that they would avoid wrong relationships, respect and appreciate each other, and also so that in the future they would have good healthy families. I was very pleased that many oldest guys came at this meeting, because they used to run away to school football or somewhere else on their own business before. The topic turned out to be very relevant for them, so the guys were very actively involved in the conversation. Meanwhile, Dima was teaching the younger children a Bible lesson about the Bible, about the message that God wants to convey to all people! I believe that this month of our ministry was very eventful and fruitful! Thank God!