LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

I would like to share with you the news about visiting Smilovichi orphanage with its lovely kids by our team. This month there have been 14 kids, because the government started to check homes where kids are neglected.
Our aim was to make friends with the new-comers and attract their attention to bible lessons. The new kids were quite open and friendly so they soon joined us in games and crafts. We were happy to notice that two of the new-comers had read the Bible and had known main bible stories and Christian values well.
This month we continued to speak about Jesus and His life on earth. We spoke about the manifestation of His unconditional love to people, His acceptance of each sinner who turned to Him with faith. We discussed how to pray and trust God, despite circumstances and pain! So we need to remember that the Lord is not far from us, He is faithful and will never leave us.
During that time the kids have become friendlier; they have quarreled and fought less. Even their governors take notice of it and praise the kids for that.
We could bring joy to the kids by word and deed. We bought washing and cleaning things. We also brought sweets and soft toys. Thanks God for the opportunity to come to this orphanage and share the good news with these kids!

The long anticipated snowy winter has finally come to our country.
Children and adults alike are filled with joy at the sight of the mounds of snow, the crisp winter air, and the great opportunity to ice skate, ski and sled. There have been days in which due to the large amounts of snow it was difficult to get to our kids. We had a little less travel to Smilovichi than usual. At the current moment in our shelter there are 9 children, a few of which we have known for a long time. However, there are several new children that we have only known for a short time. Our children are a variety of ages. Due to this we have to select lesson plans that are suitable for young children and teenagers. At one of our meetings we reviewed the Bible stories we had already been over with the children. It brought me great joy to see that the children remembered the Bible stories we had taught them. At the last meeting we taught the children about the miracles that Jesus performed while He was on the Earth. As an example of Jesus’ miracles we used the stories about Jesus walking on water, and the story of the blind man named Bartimaeus. We used the stories to teach the children that if we believe and trust God that He can do amazing miracles in our lives. However, if we loose heart and begin to doubt God we miss out on so much. Since there are younger children sitting in on the lessons we always try to have a coloring sheet that goes along with the theme of the lesson. We use the coloring sheets as a visual aid to the story.
This month we also had the opportunity to give each child a personal hygiene kit. We also gave them, a sweet treat at the end of each lesson. Therefore, we are especially grateful to those who help our ministry financially!

Our ministry at Smilovichi orphanage goes on, in spite of the new administration at the orphanage. Thanks God, He makes people’s hearts favorable to us! We are also grateful for those who support our ministry financially! This month we were able to help them bringing the things for washing and cleaning.
At the moment there came eight children more. The children got acquainted with new biblical stories such as ‘The parable about the lost sheep’ and ‘the prayer of a Pharisee and a tax collector in the temple’. The first story is a good example of God’s care for each person. The second one teaches that God accepts us as we are, if we admit our fault before Him and ask to forgive our sins. The children participated quite actively in the biblical lessons and answered the questions. For there are mostly small children at the orphanage now, we learnt new song songs with motions and prepared for celebrating Christmas. At one of the meetings we could demonstrate the kids a Christian cartoon and then we discussed its sense and morals, thus cultivating in them good values. Also, according to our good tradition we had crafts where both boys and girls took a very active part in this. Moreover, we noticed that due to crafts the children become more attentive and diligent.
We are very glad when some of the children want to pray. Alina prays to the Lord most often and her main wish is returning to her mother.
We finished up December in a cheerful way! We invited a puppet theatre and they told us a bright Christmas story. At the end the children got their long-expected gifts! Glory to God for this evening because it was a great pleasure for us to see their happy eyes!

All praise to God for each new day and for this new month we had! This month as usually we were able to visit the orphans in Smilovichy. The orphans are constantly changing there. But each time we come to visit them, we meet new orphans there who got there recently and they are open and they trust us from the very first day they met us. They tell us the story of how they got into the orphanage, how they study there, tell about their new friends they made in the orphanage and they also complain about those who treat them bad. Anyway, they try to be friendly to each other even though it can be difficult sometimes.
Every time we come to the orphanage our hearts are full of joy as we see these kids, their love to us and as we see how they wait to see us. This month we continued introducing orphans with some new Bible stories of the New Testament. Kids are already familiar with such Bible stories as “Jesus healing a woman who had suffered from her disease for 12 years”, “Jesus raising a dead Jairus’s daughter”,
“Jesus having fed 5000 people“, “the Good Samaritan”.
At the end of each lesson we asked questions and we were glad to see how enthusiastic the orphans were to answer them correctly, to do tasks, to play together with us. One of our lessons was dedicated to crafts. We called it “Each orphan has a talent”. And indeed, every kid is talented and a lesson in crafts gives a good chance to reveal these talents and develop them. Kids could decorate glasses for pencils and use them later for their school needs. Sasha, Alina, Diana were with us for the last time. Their parents were able to finish the repair works in the house, to pay debts for utilities and the social work supervisors allowed kids back home. So, Sasha and Alina were returned back to their family and Diana to her family. It was a good example and a reminder of God’s faithfulness to answer the prayers of orphans. At the end of our lessons kids said prayers together with us. The most common prayers were about asking for good health and coming back to their families. We praise God that He knows our needs and the three orphans have been brought back home. Let’s hope the seed that was sewed in their hearts will bear fruit one day.
Now there are 2 more orphans left in the orphanage – Artyom and Nikita. Nikita is very young, he doesn’t go to school yet. He needs some prayer support and it’s difficult for him to get used to the orphanage as he often gets ill. Artyom is very open, cheerful and obedient. He keeps on praying and asking God to come back home as soon as possible. He’s looking forward to court decision on his case to know if he could be returned back to the family.

The time is passing, the seasons are changing each other and we still keep on going to orphanages of our country. The orphanage in Smilovichy is “an island of hope” and it encourages us with the hope that everything will change soon for better.
There are great orphans there in Smilovichy and the kids start living a new life, in new conditions, making new relationships with newcomers. A new world or social place is being created in the orphanage now. Alyna and Sasha, a sister and a brother, unwillingly became witnesses to cruel reality of the world they live in. These kids long for coming back home where their mum is waiting for them. They are looking forward to and praying to see her in person and not only to talk with her by phone. Not all Belarusian families live happily. There are a lot of families in Belarus who live on the breadline and aren’t even capable of paying month utility bills. Unfortunately, kids in such families have to experience the consequences. Imagine, there’s no electricity in the house and the kids can’t do their homework or read books. That’s the reason they have to stay at the orphanage.
We play games, watch cartoons, and sing songs at our meetings. Moreover, we have Bible studies which tell the kids about Jesus Christ who lived on Earth once. A lot of kids are disappointed with constant troubles of their parents, that’ s why Bible studies help encourage them a bit and give hope. This month we introduced the story about how Jesus healed centurion’s servant and how He calmed the storm. Both stories show how great our God is and how many miracles He does for people and keeps on doing them even now if you have faith.
At one of the meetings we prayed together with kids about those orphans who got into hospital. In several days they recovered and came back to the orphanage. It was a great example for the orphans who prayed that God hears and answers prayers! All this shows that Bible stories about Jesus’s miracles and orphan’s prayers give hope and faith to the hearts! Praise the Lord for this time!
We are grateful to all who show interest to the ministry for orphans and pray for kids together with us!