LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

Yesterday, the tutors from the Smilovichi orphanage told us that the children are waiting for Tuesday and our arrival is like a holiday.  For them, our attention and communication, games and Bible lessons are very important.  For example, Tolik was born and raised on a farm, where he communicated mainly with animals, because his mother had mental abnormalities and she did not communicate with him and did not show proper care (filled only vital needs – food, clothing, sleep).  Once in the shelter, he did not know how to communicate and was under stress because of this, but we tried to show special patience and full acceptance to him, saying that he is very valuable to God, he is God’s child.  Finally, Tolya became calmer and more confident, he felt safe, began to read the children’s Bible and answer questions after the lessons.  It is great to see how the Lord restores the lives of the children and returns everything what was stolen from them.

For the entire month, we talked about God’s promises for everyone, about forgiveness, and how important it is to learn how to forgive and ask forgiveness.  We also talked about what sin is and about what our Heavenly Father think about sin and people who consciously chose to live in sin.  The children said that sometimes they do not want to sin, but they do not succeed (if their classmates are teased by abandoned or lonely people, then they want to take revenge and strike back).  We like that they very openly share their experiences with us and want to become better!

At the end of the month we came to the children together with the puppet show and, with the help of the production, told them about the feast of Easter, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  After the performance, we gave each of them presents, they were very happy, they jumped and laughed.  And Vika said that this gift has everything she dreamed of.

Hello, dear friends!
We are glad to tell you how a month of trips to the Smilovichsky orphanage passed! This month there were a lot of interesting meetings with the children. Now there are few of them, so each meeting we had a great opportunity to talk with them on different topics, and discuss examples on these topics that we can find in the pages of the Bible.
At the first meeting we were talking about how important it is to be a reliable person. In order to consider the benefits of reliability, we looked at the life of Joseph. While the children haven’t grown yet, we wanted to show them that the decisions they make can affect on their whole life.
In continuation of this thought, a week later, we were talking on the topic of devotion. The heroes for this theme were Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah. At this meeting, we discussed how we should communicate with our friends and family. After all, so often we want to get something, not considering our relations with loved ones, and we can offend them.
Since there were few children at our meetings, we were able not only to communicate a little closer, but also to play games in which we could compete on who would stand more on one leg, who would be able to keep the ball from pin-pong in the air longer , and other entertaining tasks.
We also had the opportunity to engage in creative work with the children. Doing something by yourself is always interesting. When we are engaged in creativity with the children, they can see how we communicate with each other and with them. And through our actions, words and decisions, children can see other relationships – the relationship between us and God. In addition, at these meetings we usually talk about what the children are worried about and answer their questions. Such communication is unusual, because the children can get new answers to their concerns.
At the last meeting we talked about our talents, opportunities, and how they can be applied to society. Using the example of building the Tabernacle, the children saw that even regular work can be useful. Continuing this topic, we learned that some of them would like to become builders or sellers, but there were also those who said that they have not yet decided who they wanted to become. Thanks to this, they were able to think about their future.
This month has come to an end, and we are very pleased that we can share our results with you. Thanks to all who follow our ministry and support it!

This month, the number of children in the Smilovichi orphanage has increased due to planned inspections of families and their living conditions. The new children accepted us with joy and open heart, and also actively participate in studying Bible lessons, even though for them this is completely new knowledge. None of them had ever been to the Church or read the Bible.

We talked about important qualities of a person, such as: kindness, hard work and honesty, as the basis of communication with children. Talking about kindness, each of us cited as an example our own good deeds, as well as cases in which we consciously displayed an evil attitude towards people, which was a great lesson in life. In addition to our stories, we selected the stories of people described in the Bible, for example, the story of the Good Samaritan, which describes how kindness manifests itself very clearly. After all, if a person calls himself good, then this is surely manifested in his actions, otherwise it’s just words that have no power. We also described the qualities of God Himself, and the children understood that He is kind, He is honest and of course hardworking. Vika said she would like to be like the Good and Loving God. Our team is very fond of not only teaching children, but also listening to them, answering questions, showing respect for their personal opinions.

In addition to Bible lessons, we also had creative activities that children of different ages like very much. In addition to a good and pleasant time of communication with each other and our team, the children also reveal their talents. And we rejoice, getting to know the children closer and seeing how they rejoice in hand-made crafts!

Hello! I want to tell you about the Smilovichy orphanage. In this orphanage there are children who were withdrawn from families in which there is a threat to the lives for children. They stay there for a year, and then the guardianship bodies decide on the future place of residence for these children: if the parents change their living conditions and lifestyle, then the children are sent back to the family, and if the parents continue to drink or use drugs and lead an immoral lifestyle, children are given to custody or transferred to boarding school. We come to the children every Tuesday and serve everyone.

Half a year ago new children were placed in the orphanage (two sisters Vlada and Lera and little brother Dannik). We as usual began to talk with the children, then we played together, sang songs of praise, and also we talked about forgiveness. Taking a story from the Bible, where the Lord teaches us to forgive the injustice and pain that the closest people caused us. Lera said that it is difficult for her to forgive her parents, who constantly drink, her grandmother, who says she will take her, but she never takes. It is difficult to advise something at such moments, so I just offered to pray for this situation. During the prayer, the children cried, because they had heart pain. We said that we have the Bible – the word of God, where the Lord speaks to everyone about His love and gives instruction for the life of people. At the end of the lesson, Lera and her sister Vlada came up and asked for a children’s Bible. The following Tuesday, the girls ran up and told that they read 50 pages on the first day and then read the Bible to each other in the following days. Then Vlada offered to pray that God would help them to leave the orphanage for the family of believers. A month later, our believing friends, the Yasku family, took two girls, Vlada and Lera, as well as their little brother Dannik. God gave hope through reading the children’s Bible. Recently we came to this family and the girls could not believe that religious people would take them to the family, to a big beautiful house where they were loved and cared for!

A person receives faith from hearing and we are glad that the word of God brought faith, and the prayers to Heavenly Father brought the answer!

At the moment there is only one child in the Smilovichy orphanage. But despite this, we continue to visit him alone, since each of us is valuable to us.

We want to tell you the news about children from the orphanage in Smilovichi, which we visit every Tuesday. A happy event was the relocation of Andrey (he was 4 years old) and Alice (she was 3 years old) into a new family. According to educators, this family is very good and perfect for them. Thank God that children from the orphanage get into families, and not to boarding school!

Together with the remaining children, we talked about deception and how important honesty is in our lives. Each of them shared with their stories. They mainly concerned their parents, as well as the deception they have experienced. Lera and Vlada told how dad left for groceries and returned drunk in just three days and did not even apologize for his deception. After some time, this situation repeated itself and the neighbors have understood that the father abandoned the children turned to the civil service and the sisters were taken to the orphanage, but they have not yet seen their father. Discussing this topic, the children said they did not trust people, especially close and significant in their lives, but they would ask God for strength to forgive and begin to trust, and also to act honestly, regardless of the circumstances.

After the topic of deception, we talked about anger and what is the most important what causes such destructive behavior. Using the example of Cain and Abel we explained how one of the brothers, who, because of envy, became angry with the other brother and did not stop in his anger, committed a murder. Together with the children, we discussed various situations in life that lead to anger, and also showed how, turning to God, we can ask for forgiveness for this feeling and calm down. Some guys have become accustomed to solving conflicts through fights and screams, so for them this is a new way of behavior (appeal to God) that will change their lives for the better.

Last week, instead of a Bible lesson, we held a creative lesson, where we helped each child learn to create beautiful and necessary things with their own hands. After all, many of them do not even know how to hold brushes in their hands or paint with them, because their parents did not do it with them and did not invest in the development of their talents.