LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

The April weather was pleasant with sunny days and trips to the farthest boarding school were even more enjoyable . Every time we come to the children, see their joyful faces, we can’t help but respond in kind. I am pleased to think that children really consider us friends, trust us, and tell us about their joys and experiences. In April, the younger guys had the themes “Friendship with God. Abraham”, “An incident in the desert”, “God chooses a king. The beginning of the story of David”, “David and Goliath”, “Friendship with Jonathan”. We try to make every lesson for special children very clear, vivid and memorable, so we often involve them to participate. It is really joyful to see how children with limited minds but with great enthusiasm help in conducting the lesson, participate, stretch their hands to answer, and just glow with happiness when they hear gratitude in response. For them, the recognition of society is very important. Yarik, a boy with Down syndrome, is our main assistant in all matters, a lover of singing songs and calming noisy children. And how proud and pleased he is when he hears “Thank you for your help, Yarik!” This is such a simple moment for us, but so incredibly important for them. At that time, the older guys had a series of topics about the multifaceted personality of God: “God is the Creator”, “God is pure and righteous”, “God is bread”, “God is omnipresent”. In addition to the themes, there was crafts that children of any age simply adore. Those who can’t speak normally can express themselves in creativity without words. For such children, it is important to be heard and noticed. Every time we thank God for the open doors to boarding schools, for the hearts of educators and children, and we rejoice in every hour spent together.

There is a boy at an orphanage, his name is Vanya. Vanya always comes to our meetings, and participates actively. Recently he came up to us during another meeting and says: -Guys, you taught us to learn to forgive. It’s really difficult!-  and he told us a story about how he was offended. Thank God that the kids trust us and tell us about their problems and needs. After the story, Vanya began to ask us questions about the best way to deal with his situation. We gave him a couple of advices. He thought about it, and at the end of the meeting, after we prayed, he came up to us and said that he had made a decision to forgive those people who offended him, because it would be the right thing on his part. After all, they might not even think about it, and this probably was the hardest thing for him. And after he forgave them, this burden fell off his shoulders. Thank God that we can help and influence the children in a kind way!