LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

Greetings, brothers and sisters. Today I want to share how we attended the Belynichi boarding school. At the moment, there are one hundred and twelve children in the school. Most of the guys are children up to the seventh grade. And about these guys I want to tell you. This month started with crafts activity, we wanted to do something different at our visits, so Natasha, one of the leaders in our team, offered to conduct crafts activity. Children love it very much, they like not only the process of creation, but also the fact that they can tell and sometimes eagerly about what they feel and what they live through. Such events always open up the world of children to better understanding. During the creative process, we learned that Danik’s parents began to come and that they were preparing papers in order to recover. Sasha said that our visits bring her joy every time. Slava, a boy who speaks very little due to the diagnosis, showed with his hands and smile how he likes everything. The next week, when we arrived, we talked from the Bible about how Anna asked God for a son. After reading this story, we could meditate on how God responds to us. Sometimes God says wait or not, and sometimes God answers right away. This lesson helped to understand that turning to God is not a lifesaver, but a real relationship being built. And that sometimes you need to put faith in order to get an answer. And then Danik told to the guys ‘I prayed and my parents, who abandoned me, want to take me home again’. When we finished the topic, the guys prayed for their parents, that God would help them, and that their parents would come to visit more often. When we arrived another time, we had a topic about Eli and Samuel. We said that every person on this earth has his own purpose from God. And following the example of the story, God wants to talk to every person. It is important for God when He speaks to us through Scripture and through prayer, so that we do not just listen, but obey everything He says. The main point of the story is about Samuel’s obedience, that he was not afraid and said everything that was needed to people. Despite the fact that Samuel lived in Eli’s family, he told the truth, which was very poignant. And then the guys started saying that it was difficult for them to tell the truth, because they thought they would not be understood or they would be immediately punished or simply ridiculed. But we encouraged the guys to pray in order to speak the truth boldly and be faithful in word and deed. When we left the block where the lesson was taking place, we talked to the guys about how they spend their time and they told us that they watch horror movies.

Our team decided to hold the following topic about the horrors, what they bring and what are the consequences. Katya from our team said that she would hold this topic. When we arrived, we talked about the dangers of such films. Roma said that when he watches much of such films, he can’t sleep afterwards. It seems to him that something bad is about to happen to him. The other guys started telling what was happening to them. And Katya in her topic said that fear can bind a person and can steal peace and rest. That watching such scary movies opens the door to fear and problems in the future. Many of the guys asked us to pray so that their sleep would be restored and they could sleep peacefully again. We are so glad that then the guys called us and said that they began to sleep better and the horrors of the night no longer interfere with their sleep.

On March 31, the whole world celebrates Easter. We also decided to hold an Easter service at the end of the week, where we told the guys where this holiday came from,  what Easter means to us now and how we can see God’s plan now. We talked about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and at the end we showed a couple more scenes for children. At the end of the performance and our lesson, we gave gifts to the children. We are so glad that this special month we could focus the children’s attention on important truths, as well as help them to overcome the inner fears that the children have lived with for so long. Dear friends, thank you very much for your prayers and your support. We believe that this joint ministry will help the children to succeed both spiritually and physically. Thank you very much and blessings to everyone who reads and to everyone who serves with us. Christ is risen! Truly risen.