In October, there were still quite a few children. Compared to September, you can feel that they have 
already gotten used to us and consider us “their own.”
For example, a girl named Varya joyfully hugs me every time the children greet us, and a girl named Alice said goodbye in a way that made it clear she is already looking forward to our next visit. The little ones eagerly come to us for hugs. During one of our visits, a girl named Kira, who is 5 years old, tightly hugged me as soon as we arrived and didn’t want to let go, not allowing me to greet or hug the other children. There are kids whose parents visit them periodically, and there are those who are hardly visited at all. At times, they have shared that what they want most is to return to their families. But during the time they are there, we try to make the most of it, helping them understand the Gospel more and more, as well as who God is, what He is like, and how this relates to their lives.
This month was dedicated to the parables of Jesus, including the parable of the wedding feast, the parable of the good shepherd, and the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee. We dedicated our first meeting in October to studying what the Bible is, why this book is so special, and why it is the most important for us among many other books. While discussing the topic, we strive to explain it as clearly as possible, also using visual aids. For instance, while studying the parable of the wedding feast, we acted out the parable with the older children as we told the story.
During the sessions, the children periodically ask questions related to God and faith. Prayer holds a special place in our visits, and we also set aside time for it, including showing the children that they can pray on their own without anyone’s help. The older children even tried praying out loud, and they did so quite willingly. Besides the educational part, we sing Christian songs with movements that they have already grown to love at each meeting, and we also play fun games with them to help establish a connection and create a friendly atmosphere. We hope to further build friendships with the kids and continue to help them come to know God.
me. And with the guys, which I was the leader of in the summer camp, I even have great relationships. Sure, they are always glad to meet us, to tell us about themselves, to ask how we’ve been doing. Interestingly, they always notice every change, every detail in one’s appearance. That surprised me at first. Later on I got used to it. There is a girl, when meeting always hugs me and says: ‘ My dear Nadya, I’m so glad to see you! I love you so much!’ It’s worth a lot.Now we tell them Jesus’ parables. I like that most of His stories teach us about God’s nature, His Love, His character. By these parables we try to reach children’s hearts, to explain, that even though something wrong may happen in our lives, we always have our loving Father near us. Way more near than we think.
Almost each meeting at least one kid tells me about his or her bad dreams, and we always pray for them together. So that the kids know, that if they are afraid of something – turn to the Christ- He will protect you. I always teach them, that God will always remove our fears, we should only ask Him. Hi will never leave us. I’m sure, they will keep these words in hearts. One girl told me that after our conversations even her sleep is getting better. I understand that it’s not because of me. I don’t know how it works, but I believe, that Holy Spirit does His work among them even after we leave. My goal in this meetings is to share what I have in abundance, my Love. God is Love. I believe that even though God is everywhere, sharing our Love we in a way introduce the guys to the Holy Spirit. He shows them His character. It delights me.
I remember that many kids were hooked on the topic of forgiveness. When asked if God forgives criminals, most answered that no – it is not easy for them to accept that God is forgiving. That time, no one shared their story of unforgiveness with me. But earlier in the camp, one girl had told me how she had been offended by her entire family, who abandoned her. I think such stories are common. On the last trip, one girl of about 10 years old cried so bitterly that everyone left her, no one calls or visits her. It’s very difficult to find a proper word in such situation . There is nothing much to say. I’m not sure that at that moment she took my words, which sounded something like this:”Angelina, I can’t imagine how much it hurts you and I can’t explain why this is happening in your life. But I want you to hear me now.
Even when your family is somewhere far away, not near you, no matter for what reason, you always have Jesus. He knows how to wipe away your tears, He knows how to comfort you. He loves you very much and doesn’t want you to cry.” I hugged her and added, “He hugs you like that. When you’re in pain, tell Jesus about it.” She nodded. Apart from spiritual food, of course we do not leave children without entertainment. I noticed that most of all they like outdoor games, where they can run, jump and shout.
Something intellectual holds the attention of only a few and quickly tires them out. The same thing with songs: they get bored with more melodic ones, but sing fun songs with pleasure and movements. Their favorites are when interacting with other people like “Wave your hand to everyone” – this is how they especially like to communicate with us. And in conclusion, I would like to say that children’s prayers touch your heart – the most sincere and natural: “Lord, help me to be good,” “Excuse me for saying bad words,” and so on. The tradition of praying in circles at the end of a meeting (when each child goes to the adult he wants to) is my favorite. This is how we develop in them a habit of common prayer for each other. And we see the fruits of it.
At the end of SeptemberI went to Belinichy
orphanage for the first time. I was very happy to meet and get to know these children. They welcomed me very warmly and we were able to become friends with them right away and I am very grateful to God for this, because I understood that if I could have a close relationship with the children, then it would be much easier to spread the Gospel tothem, and so it happened! The children listen attentively in class and even when some of them make noise, the children still remember the stories and conclusions from the stories and answer questions well at the end of the lesson.
Every Thursday, when we come to Belinichy the children greet us with love, hug us, say that they were really looking forward to seeing us when we arrive, we really appreciate it! After 
thatwe divide them into groups as before. The children are dividedinto 2 groups: older children and younger ones. At the beginning of our meeting we always pray with them that God blesses our meeting, after that we sing a few songs and play games with them. After the games the children sit down comfortably and we tell them a Bible lesson. The topics of the Bible lessons in the 2 groups are the same, but it is very good that there is an opportunity to divide the children, because the same Bible story or topic can be told to different ages in different ways so that it is more understandable, for example, with older children you can touch on deeper life themes based on the Bible lesson, while the younger ones understand perfectly well if there is some electronic material, for example, a presentation or colorfulpictures.
In October I was mostly with the younger children, we were able to get to know each other well and communicate. About 20 younger children come to each meeting, thank God for that! This month almost all the lessons were about the parables that Jesus told. For example, “The Parable of the Sower.” It is very important for the younger children to speak in simple words during the lesson, because the parables have a deep meaning, it is important that the younger children also understand it. The main idea of this topic is that if we have a soft heart and not a hard or stony one, like other types of soil, then this helps to remain in our hearts what we hear in our Bible lessons: to believe in Jesus Christ, to try to do well, to be kind, obedient, to help others, not to swear and so on.
Another parable we looked at was “The Parable of the Unmerciful Creditor”. That day, when I was in the group with older children, the guys and I were all sitting on the carpet and listening to the lesson that Vasya was telling us, there was a very friendly and informal atmosphere at this lesson. The children heard a story about a man who owed an incredible amount of money, and his debt was forgiven, but after a while the same man owed ten times less, he did not forgive the debt. The main idea of this parable is that sometimes we cannot forgive a smalloffense from another person, while he forgives us many of our bad deeds, so we must always be forgiving and lenient to others.
I am very grateful that I was able to communicate with some of the children in person, I am very sorry to hear their stories from life, when a small child comes to you and says that one of his close relatives (one of the parents) died recently, it is very painful to hear. However, I am glad that many of those children periodically go home, during the week or on weekends. And at this time they can be with their parents or grandparents and other brothers and sisters. Praise God for this peaceful time to spread the Gospel. Blessings to you!
LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN 