LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

Greetings brothers and sisters. February has flown by, but we are glad that the doors to minister to orphans are open like never before. We see that despite all the difficulties that occur, God opens hearts of the people and people themselves begin to seek God. This month we were able to visit orphans in Byalynichy. Just recently we brought children’s Bibles for children and teenagers. We want to instill a love for the word of God. When we have distributed the Bibles, we ask the children to read the stories in advance, which we will discuss in the next lesson. We were looking forward to the arrival at the boarding school. During the trip, we discussed whether the children had read the story of Ruth or not. When we drove up, we met joyful guys who shouted: “we were so glad to see you, we missed you”. Then the guys were telling us, interrupting one another, how their week went and then they said: we want to tell Nikita what we read! We were glad that the Bibles were not just handed out, but the guys actually read them. It was not easy for Nikita because the guys with whom he communicated were children with impaired attention and speech, as well as with mental problems. Nikita is a leader who has been riding with us since the new school year. Nikita listened attentively to each and for each child, seeing his features, Nikita selected questions. I thank God for such leaders who are flexible and know how to work with the guys. When the children told the story of Ruth and Esther they received a special gift. The guys smiled and were happy that they could not only retell, but also get a sweet prize. The subject of Ruth did not go so easily. After all, the guys sometimes even added some facts during the topic. When we talked another time about Esther, some guys shouted out some fact that I missed because the story is big. It was at these moments that I realized that I was so great that the children had a thirst and the word of God through faith instilled into the lives of the children. Also in this month we did crafts for the guys. This is a special event that the guys were looking forward to with joy. During the crafts, we communicate a lot with the guys. Tanya, a girl who was born without an ear, said that it is difficult for her to accept herself because of her appearance and the lack of an ear. And we prayed for her that God would send her comfort. We cannot say why this happened, but we can say that you are special and God’s love is not built on our appearance and our deeds. God loves us because He is our Father. And when we talked about the love of God and His acceptance, Tanya said: “thank you”. Personally I lacked such words and was glad to hear it. We also talked with Vlada and she said that she was thinking about baptism. And Alla from our team tried to explain what baptism means, that it is not just water and a pectoral cross, but a covenant. It’s nice to see teenagers starting to take an interest in more serious questions. Dear brothers and sisters, we are negotiating about summer camp for orphans, pray with us that God will provide and open the doors for a summer camp. We see that many children do not have a connection with the world because they have developmental issues, and the camp is a great opportunity to show love and be a source of God’s love. Thank you friends who prayed for new team members, thank God there are new people in team and it make me happy. God hears and answers. Blessings to all of you!

In January, we introduced the children from the Belynichi boarding school to the story of Anna, who prayed in the temple, asking God to give her a son, whom she would later bring to the temple, thereby fulfilling the promise she made to God. Then the children learned about the life of Samuel (Anna’s son) in the temple, under the supervision of Priest Elijah, and how Samuel’s life eventually turned out. Through this biblical example, the children learned about how faithful God Himself is, and how much He blesses people who are faithful to Him. It is amazing how such examples strengthen children’s faith and give hope that God hears their prayers and that at the right time, they will definitely receive their answer!

The brightest and most memorable event of this month was Christmas event which was followed by the distribution of present boxes! Due to the fact that it was more difficult to collect the required number of presents this year, the event was held a little later than usual. But this did not prevent the festive atmosphere, the opportunity to tell children about the meaning of the Birth of Jesus on earth, and at the end to receive a lot of positive emotions, admiring the moment when children receive and then open their presents! Children are happy with every smallest toy, every pencil and every candy that they find in their boxes. And we rejoice and thank God for every open heart that has been collecting these presents!

The second highlight of this month was our visit to the graduate students who are in a disabled home now. These guys have serious mental and physical disabilities, what makes it difficult for them to adapt to the surrounding reality, and their capabilities are seriously limited, so they are in such an institution. For many years we have not had the opportunity to visit these guys, but they have tried in every way to keep in touch with our team. Some said that they believed and prayed for years that we would come to them someday. And finally, our long-awaited meeting happened! It is impossible to describe in words the degree of joy that every person who was at this meeting experienced! The guys greeted our team with strong hugs and even applause, which was unexpected for us!

Then, we just talked to them, learning about what is happening in their lives, what they are doing and what they dream about. It’s amazing that despite the limited opportunities, these guys are very talented! Someone is engaged in creativity, creating beautiful paintings from beads and other materials, someone sings, and someone composes poems. Then there was a moment when the guys asked us to hold a meeting in the format that we usually used when we came to their school. We gladly agreed! We played a little with them and remembered their favorite songs with movements. We knew that the time we spent with those children was valuable and needed for them, and that for all the years of separation, they had a serious reassessment of values.

And also I noticed that, despite the fact that these guys are already quite mature people externally, inside they are still the same children who, as before, need the simplest hugs, acceptance, love and affection. Their eyes are still the same children’s eyes, hiding dislike, rejection and a very difficult life path. That is why we used the opportunity to remind them of God’s love for each of them, as well as to tell them about Christmas and congratulate them on this wonderful holiday! At the end of the meeting, each graduate received his Christmas present! The guys hugged and thanked each of us and said they would be waiting for us again! And by the way, we also left them with presents – the children gave each member of our team pictures that they’ve made on their own!

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.

In November at the Belynichi orphanage we talked about Abraham’s faithfulness, about the God’s promise and how faithful God is in his promises. The example of Abraham showed how the Lord can bless those who trust Him. We also talked to the guys about the purity of relationships using the example of Sodom and Gomorrah: the Lord hates fornication so much that he sent his angels to destroy these cities. Also we talked about Joseph. We talked about God’s care in different situations, how He raises people from hopeless situations. We wanted to show that the Lord can raise from the very bottom and make a person to be the most important person in the country.

A lot of guys come to the meeting every time. They look at the surveillance camera and when we arrive they joyfully greet us in the lobby. At one of the meetings we talked about forgiveness. Because Christ emphasized the importance of forgiveness a lot. We tried to tell the guys how important it is to forgive ourselves, parents, our abusers, those who betrayed us and not blame God for any failures in our life. One of the girls — Kira, said that she is not able to forgive her father. At the end of the meeting we suggested the guys to turn to God with a request to give them a power to forgive the offenders and to aske the Lord to heal the wounds of their hearts. The guys said the words of prayer loudly. We believe that for many of them it was a significant point in life, even if now we cannot see it so clearly.

In October, I went with the team to the orphan house in Belynichi.

This year I have been to the camp in this boarding school for the first time, and it left a deep mark on me. We managed to make more friends with children during the week of living together, so for me our meetings became more personal. I see with what joy the guys are waiting for us and come out to meet us in the lobby. I feel their sincerity. I want to give them back even more. There are a lot of new kids this year. On the one hand, I am surprised that they begin to trust us so quickly, constantly come, participate in activities, that they are open hearted in conversations. But on the other hand, I notice that this is the result of the atmosphere that has already been created here during the time of communication with children who had been here before the arrival of the newcomers. Our meetings as usual consist of games, songs, bible themes, communication and hugs).Since there are a lot of new ones, we decided to take topics from the very beginning. This month, for example, we talked about Abraham, the Tower of Babel. It is clear that the guys, whom we have been communicating with for more than a year, remember these stories. We try to involve newcomers into more communication, specifically ask them some questions. We show that it is very important to listen carefully, that it is important for us to convey the essence of the stories to them. That these are God’s messages for them. I try to get to know new kids more. I pay attention to those whom I already know well. I regret that our time together passes so quickly. Also at the beginning of the month, we distributed children’s Bibles to the kids and suggested them specific homework – to find and read some stories by themselves. We divide them into 2 categories – senior and junior. Each has its own theme. However it is not obligational. On the following visit, we ask those who had prepared and read the assigned story. There are always such kids! Most of them are always prepared. We ask them questions separately to make sure that they have completed the task. We answer their questions. Also this month we managed to take some children from the boarding school to visit us for the weekend. The idea came to a person from our team. Luckily, we managed to arrange everything and spent the whole weekend with 5 kids. These were the children whom we had known for many years. We remember them as 6-7 years of age. And now they are already 12-15. When planning this time, the main task for us was to put the children into a family atmosphere, to talk seriously about their lives, to please them. During this time spent together, we visited a zoo, walked around the city, jumped on trampolines, ate in interesting places, cooked dinner together, played board games, sang songs with the guitar, went to church on Sunday, were at a Sunday lesson, sang songs on the road, talked heart to heart before going to bed. Of course, it was a fun time for the guys, but for me it was the time of revelation about God’s love and care! It is impossible to look indifferently at the kids’ sincere admiration and joy for such simple, to others, things. I spent a lot of time with Katya, who has diagnoses on physical and mental health. It was a whole adventure for her – we saw her favorite animal, the lynx, she was able to jump on the trampoline, initially with my help, and then by herself, admiring how she overcame her fear of heights.

Katya has short fingers by birth. She helped me to cook dinner. I thanked her for help and said that she did great! We had a conversation before going to bed. She shared with me that she wants her own family, that she is offended by the people making fun of her because of her appearance, and her fear that a home for disabled is waiting for her. She asked if I could be her mother. She recalls and fantasizes about her own mother a lot. I understand that she is very lonely, although the other kids who were with us tried to take care of her. But rather as a younger sister, not as a friend. That’s why I hugged Katya a lot and said a lot of kind things to her. She said it was the best day of her life! I think it was. We have heard many words of gratitude and love from the children. I also talked to them about the Halloween holiday, about fortune-telling. What the Bible says about it, what harm they do to their spiritual life and what consequences they can face.