LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

Greetings brothers and sisters! I want to share how our February went and what we did this month. This month was full of trips, as well as fellowship with the guys. Even though many are leaving Belarus God is blessing us with new kids on the team. We are happy that God hears and sends his servants to the field. Anya and David are new helpers in sharing the Good News with the orphans. Pray for the kids. This month we started with the topic of stealing and what to do if you really want to. All of our meetings are held as a dialogue and many of the kids get involved with what is going on in their lives. “Dima I often have people take things without asking, tell them it’s not allowed!” And we dealt with the topic of stealing. We realized that for many of the kids, the topic is very relevant, and also that for them there is a very blurry line between stealing and borrowing things without asking, which is definitely a sin. When they take things themselves without asking, e.g. deodorant, shampoo, a phone to play with so it’s just borrowing. And we used to say that there would be a consequence for all the guys who do that. Because when you get out of school and go out to work, go out to school, and if you do something like that, the consequence is you’re either fined or locked up. And at times like that, you realize even more how much more at risk these kids are because of their naivety. The other time we came, we were doing a creative activity. We were making beautiful gift cards. The kids were very happy when they found out that we would be making cards because they don’t often get the chance. And it can be noticed that such creative breaks bring the children an opportunity to disconnect from all the problems, as well as those guys who come with us can communicate a lot while helping the guys. Polina said that this year she wanted to learn even more about God, so she decided to go to correspondence Bible school and then Petya said the same thing. The kids are doing an assignment from the Bible school and mailing everything back. We are so happy that the guys want to learn more about our Savior, Praise God. They also said they were thinking of getting baptized this summer! The next time we came we talked about the subject of Esther. Many of the kids at boarding school have low self-esteem and it is important for them to hear stories like this. We talked about how Esther dealt with challenges and fear. It was a revelation to many of the children that an orphan became a princess! That God can help the most unprotected, as Pauline said. But I probably wouldn’t have been able to do that, Masha said, because it’s hard for me to fight my fears. At the end of the meeting, we suggested that we pray for them and ask God to help them overcome their fears. The next lesson we had was on the wonder of Jesus. How Jesus healed a paralyzed man. Friends brought a paralyzed man and seeing their faith Jesus healed him. And the guys said we wish we had friends like that, then we said, so you can be like that for somebody. Because of your faith, the people who don’t come to our meetings can believe and have the salvation that God offers. Dear Brothers and Sisters, please pray for the children!

Greetings, brothers and sisters!  We thank God for the renewal of the school year. While the children had their winter break, which took place at the Rudenks’ orphranage, we missed them very much. We didn’t see the kids for two weeks and managed to get a bunch of messages from them saying that they missed us. Petya said: you guys are like family to us because you’re the only ones who regularly spend a lot of time with us. On our first trip, despite cold weather, the guys were already waiting for us outside. And when they saw our car they ran to meet us. It was so nice. Everyone was trying to tell us how they spent their vacation, what to them happened during that time. Petya and Polina said they thought a lot about their repentance, which had happened in December, and later they said they would like to be baptized. I was so excited that the kids told me about that themselves. Thank God that in spite of that short break, the kids were figuring out what to do next. Brothers and sisters, let’s pray that God affirm this desire and the guys will dedicate their lives to God.

The first topic of this year was gossips. We have seen over the past few years that this topic is becoming more and more relevant. Gossip is a problem for orphaned children and we see how painful it is for the children when false accusations are made against them. We offered them to discuss that and everyone got actively involved in the dialogue. We answered the question “Why do people gossip?” That happens because they are jealous, they gossip when they want to do something out of spite, Polina said they gossip because they want to appear better than others. We are glad that the children themselves understand so many things and that they participate in the discussion. We’ve finally reached a level where you only guide the topic and they come to the conclusion on their own. Then I asked what were the consequences of gossip? The answers included slander, quarrels among friends, loss of trust. Tell me, I asked them, what does God think of those people who gossip? And then we read the Bible and many were surprised that God’s Word speaks about this too. At the end when we prayed the children asked for God’s forgiveness and also asked God to give them the strength not to gossip anymore. Then the children asked each other for forgiveness. I was surprised that even teenagers did it, reaching each other and saying, “I’m sorry I said so many bad things about you”.  Thank God the children reconciled on their own. Also at the next meeting we talked about swearing. I asked if swearing destroys our lives or not? The kids were puzzled. They asked me: What do you mean, Dima? I said: Everything has consequences and so do our words. Our words either create or destroy. Our bad words affect a friendship and can completely destroy a relationship. One teenager told me: I talk in foul language because I want to show everyone my independence so I can be respected. For a lot of kids he’s really an authority in school, but I explained: It might help to gain false authority here, but when you graduate you might have a problem. We recalled some graduates who also wanted to stand out by using foul language, acting defiant, and some of them ended up in rebellion against everyone else they are now in a nursing home! We talked about how swearing and being disobedient destroys trust and how the person who rebels gets into a hole of trouble that he has dug himself. Kids who have been coming to us for a long time said: Let’s ask God to help us get rid of swear words, because we can’t do it ourselves and when we are offended or see injustice, swear words come out by themselves. We prayed and asked God to give us grace not to use swear words. Dear brothers and sisters, let’s pray for change in the lives of the children. May God help them on their way to know God!

Dear brothers and sisters, I am glad that you are with us and can see and understand what is happening in the ministry to orphans in Belarus! For many, this year was not easy, but in every day we can see the hand of God. Thank you for your prayers and also for your interest, which is awakened by the Spirit of God. Summing up this year, we can note that in every day the grace of God was with us! This month we have had 5 trips to the Rudensk boarding school.During our the first trip , we sooke about the importance of prayer in a everyone’s life, and when we discussed this topic, the kids were very impressed with how important prayer is for each of us. Petya, who constantly attends our classes, said that when he prays, God sends peace and he feels much better andfeels less stressful. When Petya speaks his feelings to God in prayer, He comforts and helps to forgive his offenders. Polina said that after the theme of prayer, fears began to disappear. She prayed and God sent her new friends who do not betray or hurt her. It can also be noticed that the kids started to ask more often to pray with us at the beginning of the meetings. We have noticed that the children ask in prayer for their teachers that they be healthy and more joyful. Another topic we had was talking about idols. Who do you want to follow as an example? And why? The kids talked about celebrities and despite the fact that they don’t go much outside the boarding school, the influence of information through the TV does its job! I like that actress because she is beautiful, and I like that actor because he is strong! I like that singer because I want to sing like him , he has a strong voice. Then we talked about the life of singers, actresses, talked about their lives and the moments that they went through. And many, despite the popularity, have their own problems in life. Then we moved on to the example of Jesus. We said that despite thousands of years He still has His influence on people’s lives. We gave various examples: how drug addicts became shepherds, and how homeless people became caring parents, were restored and returned to their families. It was important for the kids to hear. Many of their parents live with various addictions and before they had no idea that God could change lives in such way. No matter how difficult life situation we are in, God has the power and ability to restore us. It is important that any person can believe in God and ask Him for help. The kids then came up to us and talked about their parents and what happened to them, and we said that each of you can pray for your parents and God will help them. God has the power to change circumstances!

When we arrived on Christmas Eve, we talked about the Savior Jesus Christ. We have retokd His birth story. It was wonderful that there were new kids who hadn’t known about the birth of Jesus before. We told how Mary knew that she would soon become pregnant and how she should name the Son of God Jesus. How Joseph became the adoptive father of Jesus Christ. We told them about first people who came to bow to Jesus and why there was not enough room for the family of Mary and Joseph. We explained why a baby was born in a barn and why the wise men were guided by a star when they went to bow to Him. The children were very impressed by the Angel, who constantly said: “Do not be afraid,” and also the wisdom of God that everyone, not only rich, but also poor, could come to baby Jesus. So now God calls all people to Himself: rich and poor, and He is glad to everyone. Belarus celebrates two Christmases of Jesus Christ on December 25 and January 7. We celebrated in Rudensk on January 25th. We invited everyone who wanted to come to the celebration, where they sang, played and we had a quiz: Who knows better about the birth of Jesus. There was a lot of laughter and joy, it was clear that the children felt safe and their hearts were opened to God. We tried to create a family atmosphere and when we invited the kidss to the festive table, everyone was happy. Each child took turns praying, saying their heart’s  desire to Jesus Christ. We prepared gifts and handed them out to the children, the gifts were personalized and we knew the children and how nice it was to see when the gift was what the child needed so much. Thank God that it was possible to purchase everything necessary for the children. Dear friend, I thank God that together with you we can serve children in Belarus. We sincerely thank God for the strength and wisdom that He gives us, as well as for all the graces both in the lives of children and ours. Thank you for your prayers and for praying for these children. Merry Christmas to all of you in Jesus Christ!

Fall came to its end, and so did one more month, during which we served the orphans of our country. In the middle of the month our team and church devoted time to Prayer Day for orphans. It is always a blessed time, because we can remind believers again about God’s special attitude to orphans and call them to pray more often for these children and serve them. But at the same time, we talked with the children about how God takes care of them and called them not only to expect that somebody will pray for them but that they will also learn to pray for themselves and each other.   This month we finished discussing the series of topics from the program ‘You are special’. Thanks to this program, children learn to accept God’s view of a person, treat each other as God’s creation and see the individuality of other children as their worth but not as a weakness. At the closing meeting, we talked about the perfect and unconditional love for people that God showed through the cross of Calvary, where His beloved Son was crucified. The atmosphere of this meeting was filled with special peace and joy. At the end of the meeting, all the children who were present prayed the repentance prayer! What will be after that? We believe that after that, God will not leave these children, and we will try to be an example and the mentors who will help them get to know their Heavenly Father better and better.

Moreover, we had a sports relay race which the children love. We love these activities because we can learn more about the children’s characters. New children attend these events too, so we can invite them to our Bible lessons. This time we had the thematic relay race. As the snow had already fallen and it’s been quite frosty, the children are already looking forward to Christmas and New year celebrations, we decided to devote this activity to the topic of Christmas. And at the end, we had a great opportunity to talk with the children about the coming birthday of Jesus Christ who brought joy, peace, and hope to people!

During the very last meeting of this month, we separated boys and girls and had ‘Boys’ time’ and ‘Girls’ time’. At these meetings, Iliya talked with the older boys and Nastya talked with the girls about hygiene. It may seem that this topic is very casual and simple. Nevertheless, because of their orphanhood and experience of being rejected, they still have to learn to take care of themselves and their bodies, accept and love themselves. Moreover, this topic was not only about body hygiene, but also about the cleanness of thoughts and a heart, as this is also important in God’s eyes. At the end of the meeting everyone who came got different hygienic things as presents. We are very grateful to God that the ministry to orphans is still going on today, and there are so many kind and faithful friends who help with their resources and have been supporting our team in prayers for so many years! May everyone who is not indifferent to the lives of the orphans be blessed!

October was warm and sunny both in terms of the weather and meetings with the children. Every time we come to Rudensk, we are greeted with smiles by a crowd of children who are ready to spend time with us. Every month we take a topic that is relevant for the children. Those topics might be painful for some of them, but some of them didn’t even think about it before. God’s сare was the key topic of last month, the purpose of which was to show each of the children the special role of God in our lives. Care is something those children lack.

Using the examples of biblical characters, we revealed God’s love for each of them. We talked about how valuable each of us is for God; how God cares and keeps us safe; we talked about the fact that the One who created everyone doesn’t make any mistakes; about the fact that nothing happens in our life without His will, and God has a plan for each of us personally. The topics of last month were “God’s Care”, “God looks into the heart”, “Plan for you personally”, and “Always near”. We played a lot of games with the children, learned and sang new wonderful songs on the topics we’d covered. For me personally, each of the topics we’d covered was really special and important. I believe that we were able to share this understanding with the children. I hope that not a single word spoken through us would turn out to be in vain. I pray that within this time the Lord will find each of the children for His Kingdom.