LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

It is not a secret for anyone that the world needs changes! There is so little peace and hope and so much worrying about everything under the sun. The world needs real Authority. Our kids who live in Rudensk orphanage also need it. They look at adults and adopt their values. That’s why our task is to give them choice. They should choose between the life with God and the life without Him. We want to show them that society which is without God is overwhelmed by sins and lies. We want to show that people who don’t believe in God fail in their lives and feel disappointed and hurt and, finally, to show that there is a way out in God and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This month we continued to help orphans meet challenges which concern every teenager. Long-awaited spring eventually came to Belarus bringing with it a lot of positive emotions! It is not accident that many poets call it ‘the time of love’. Modern teenagers begin to date, fall in love and, sadly, often make mistakes believing that intimacy is the most important characteristic of love. And young orphans are especially prone to false feelings. This happens because girls lacked their fathers’ attention and boys didn’t see an example of caring and loving mothers. That’s why this month we raised the topic ‘Love and Affection’. First the teenagers felt shy a little but then they quite openly discussed this topic with us and some of them even shared their worries. We didn’t just want to keep them from making mistakes but also give them some advice how to build lasting relationships that will lead to a happy marriage.
Besides, we talked about such things as ‘Cunning and Slyness’ and ‘Hypocrisy’. We took these topics because kids, even the smallest, are able to be slier than grown-ups. We didn’t just want to show the kids that they, probably, have such sins but to underline the consequences they can lead to. We also decided to make our meetings in Rudensk orphanage more diverse by watching a cartoon, which revealed the theme devoted to different emotions that influence not only our life but also lives of people around us. We are eager to help orphans estimate their lives in the light of the Word God – the Bible.
If anyone who reads this article will want to change someone’s life, especially the life of an orphan, he or she simply needs to set a goal and try to fulfill it, because God Himself will lead them as He especially loves orphans and blesses those who care for them.

Another month of serving in Rudens boarding school has passed; it was saturated with various meetings. Each trip is like a small block, which would form a solid foundation for their future lives. That is why we responsibly choose topics for discussions. We like to explore topics that are most relevant for these guys at the moment.
We had several discussions on such topics this month, and then we had sports relays.
The first topic was about gossips. When we asked these guys if they had encountered rumors, a lot of them responded with a bitter smile. It appears, lots of guys are suffering from being gossiped and being talked behind their backs. Once we talked and showed how the Bible reacts to the ones that spread gossips, and we gave practical advices on how to deal with gossips at the end of class.
Other than topic discussions, we had sports relays. Everyone was given a set of interesting tasks, which helped us to determine their quick thinking, reaction and motor skills. We are interested in both physical and mental development of these guys. It was a useful and fun event.
We celebrated two holidays this month: Valentine’s Day and National Man’s day. That is why we spent remaining two meeting on talking with guys about love and what being a “real man” is. We also included God’s outlook on these topics. Since the majority of our audience are teenagers, the topic of love and personal relationships is their favorite. Since they don’t have parents, they have  no mentors who could teach them how to build and develop relationships. That is why we used examples on how God wants us to build such connections. Besides, any boy wants to become a real man, and any girls wants to finds such man. Unfortunately, Internet cannot express girls’ expressions when we said on the last meeting that today would be a topic about “real men”. Even though this topic was directed towards boys, girls have expressed a huge enthusiasm during discussions.
As a conclusion for this month, we can safely assume that their lives are changing for the better. Just like a big tree grows up from a small sprout, such meetings with God will completely change their fated for the better. Thank you everyone, who does not forget about our orphans and takes care of them!

Hello!
Visits to Rudensk in January started from a big theatrical performance about the Birth of Jesus Christ. The performance gathered all the children and teachers of the orphanage. Afterwards every child received a long-awaited Christmas present.
Besides that, we also held a guy’s party and a girl’s party this month. Together with boys we discussed how important it is to strive for something in life. We were thinking about the necessity of dreaming more, setting more goals in life and wanting to achieve them. We discussed that often we are wasting our time and that one should listen to the advice of the elders, and that it is also possible to achieve the best results only through hard work. Together with girls we were discussing abortion and its consequences. We read real life stories where women shared the experience they had to live through and how badly they regret doing the abortion.
During next meetings we discussed themes “lies” and “theft”. We showed to the children that after an easy benefit there comes a bitter forfeit. Temporary success gained from lies or theft returnes as a punishment not only form people but also from God. We tried to vary every meeting with singing, playing games, watching video clips. We also have a good tradition to congratulate the birthday person. Everyone says their wishes to the birthday person and after that we pray for him/her altogether.
More and more new children who had not appeared before come to visit our meetings. We try to create pleasant atmosphere during our discussions to make the meetings not only interesting but also useful. We see that the relationships between children become better. They quarrel less, respect and support each other more. We are very glad that God lets us continue going to the orphanages in spite of facing various difficulties both financial and spiritual. But the work continues, and we thank God and those who pray for us. Thank you for participating in this ministry!

The last month of the year is coming to the end. It is ending on a joyful note because together with children we are rejoicing to the coming Christmas and New Year! Each our meeting was dedicated to the different subjects but at the same time from the beginning of the month together with children we sang Christmas songs, played games with a motif of Christmas and continually reminded kids about Christmas.
At the beginning of the next month we are planning to organize Christmas play at the Rudensk orphanage after which children are going to receive their long awaited gifts. But now I would like to tell about our trips that we had in December.
We started December from “stag-parties” and “hen-parties” – the most favorite form of our meetings with the children of Rudensk orphanage. At the stag-party boys from our team talked with boys-teenagers on the very complex but at the same time very current for teenagers subject – “Pornography”. The team has been deciding for a long time if we should have a meeting on this subject but after long prayers God has blessed us: teenagers happened to be quite open to discussion and the meeting was quite serious. We were able to explain to boys how strongly the pornography clogs mind and heart of a man and to what consequences it leads. But most importantly we were able to show how abominable it is in the eyes of God!
At the same time the girls on their “hen-party” decided to do cookery! At the beginning of the meeting girls from our team explain about hygiene rules that they have to uphold during cooking. After that the girls were divided into several teams and each team was making a fruit salad. At the time of cooking we realize that some girls do not understand what it means to “cut banana in halves” or “divide orange into lobules”. In these cases we patiently showed and explained how to do it right because we understand that at some point these girls will go into adult life and this kind of knowledge would definitely be very useful to them! After the cooking the girls prayed and thank God for the abundance on the table. And after prayer they could eat fruit salads that they have prepared by themselves.
The next meetings were dedicated to the subjects “Anger” and “Greed”. To unwrap the subject of “Anger”, Zhenya pointed out three main moments: 1 – who is getting angry (a fool), 2 – to what it leads (quarrel) and 3 – what to do with anger (forgive, because God forgives us). The subject of “Greed” explained Dima. He tried to show to kids that God calls people not to be greedy but quite the opposite – to be generous, to care for the neighbours and to be satisfied with what we have.
During another our trip we conducted sport relays. It was a good opportunity to have fun and to strengthen children’ and our health, while at the same time to show children the importance of unity inside of a team and to learn to accept not just victories but losses too.

Coming of new children and teenagers to the Bible lessons has become the most joyful event at Rudensk school! Earlier they used to come to get presents, to watch a performance, to play games but they didn’t take any interest in the things we teach. This month they were with us each Wednesday. We are grateful to God for that!
According to the opinion of the youth, we understood that they enjoy gathering in groups, when girls are separated from boys. That’s why we try to arrange such meetings once a month. We continued to discuss the topic ‘Cohabitation’ with the girls, which was raised last month. This topic is very acute in our country. Nastya dispelled all the wrong views of this problem providing the examples from the Bible and statistical data. The atmosphere was warm during the lesson and everyone could open the heart and share their troubling thoughts. Generally, they are afraid of being alone, afraid of loneliness. That’s the main reason for them to look for a person to live with soon after they leave the orphanage. I believe that we managed to tell them about the love of God and remind them that He is always near and they aren’t alone.
Evgeny raised an actual topic, too, he spoke about laziness. Not being obtrusive, with the help of a slide-presentation and leading questions he was able to explain the children of different age groups what laziness is and how to get rid of it. Many chilpren admitted that they are often lazy and don’t want to work because of various reasons.
This month Dima took the topic ‘Humor’. Taking the biblical example he showed the children that it is normal to have fun and joke, but there shouldn’t be those who are offended and humiliated and surely there shouldn’t be the moments that upset God.
We watched the cartoon devoted to the topics ‘faithfulness to God’ and ‘faithfulness in friendship’ at two other meetings.
During this month we tried to find time and meet with graduates of Rudensk orphanage. We invited Nastya on a weekend. Her village is nearly one hundred kilometers from Minsk. She has strong faith and attends the church in Stolbcy. We try to help her to live outside school walls, be friends to her, and continue to tell her the truth. Nastya is an encouragement for us! We are pleased to see how her life has been changing in a better way!