December was no less intense for Smilovichi than the previous months. There were still many children, 
although there were some changes: in mid-December, a little girl named Zhenya was taken away, and two brothers, Tim and Dima, went to foster care. But despite the fact that some of the children have left, new children have appeared. For example, one of them is a 5-year-old boy named Roma. Unlike many other children who needed to get used to us at first, he actively interacted with us on the very first day of acquaintance, played with us, hugged and kissed us. In terms of discipline, compared to other children, it was not easy with him, because he wanted a lot of attention to himself, 
but at such moments you realize that he behaves this way not because of evil, but because of a lack of parental love. This month was special with an unusual program. At one of the meetings, we held a master class: children made toys for the Christmas tree out of salt dough. Surprisingly, all the children were involved in the process: both toddlers, who were happily decorating toys, and older children, including teenage boys. The children even managed to try making salt dough themselves, and they were very happy to learn something new.
And the last meeting in December was very special: a real celebration was arranged for the guys with an appropriate atmosphere and treats, where everyone could blow out the candles on the cake. And the main highlight of the evening was that each child was given a large gift box in honor of Christmas. The guys felt incredible emotions from what happened to them. It was obvious to the naked eye that everything that happened to them was something completely incredible for them. In addition to these kinds of meetings, we also continued to tell the guys the truths from the Bible. A separate lesson was devoted to the topic of Christmas, where we told the story of the birth of Jesus, who He was and why He was born.
The guys tried to listen and answered our questions. There were some parables this month: this time it was the parable of the rich and poor Lazarus. It was nice to see how some of the guys tried to reason and express their options about what this parable teaches. We tried to figure it out with them, involving them in this process, what it might mean to them. In the context of the parable we once again repeated the essence of the Gospel. It’s great that they remember, sometimes with our hints, the things that we told them before, and we, in turn, try to repeat the main points. We also try to provide interesting and understandable activities for younger kids. At that time, it was the miracles of Jesus. We want the kids to understand that Jesus is not someone far away for them, but that He loves them and that He is with them.
As before, our meetings are not complete without games and songs. They’ve been really enjoying the games lately. We started separating the older kids and the toddlers, which the older kids are very happy about. This allowed us to get even closer to them. In terms of songs, we also don’t stand still: in December, we sang new songs with the guys, which they really liked. And what is especially noteworthy is that teenage boys who had not previously participated in this, but were just sitting on chairs, began to actively sing. As you can see, December turned out to be very bright and very intense, thank God for this period of time and for the opportunities for service that He provides.
In November, we actively visited the Smilovichi orphanage, which houses thirteen children. I still can’t get used to the fact that the guys we saw just six months ago are back at the shelter. When we arrived and the guys came out to meet us, the joy was mixed with sadness. We were glad to see the children, but we were disappointed that they were here again. The guys eagerly told about how they were at home, how they took care of their pets, and also that some of the guys learned to swim. We noticed that they embellished some of the facts, as if they wanted to see that their parents were not so weak, although they did not always manage to overcome their addictions.
So, in November, we held some interesting topics for the guys. The first topic was “Don’t oversleep an important moment in your life.” The theme was born from the story of the ten virgins from the Gospel. We talked about the importance of preparing for important events, that it is important to prepare for matinees, to be ready, beautifully dressed, washed. After all, the Biblical story showed that there were 5 wise and 5 stupid girls. The wise prepared and were always ready, while the stupid, on the contrary, neglected to prepare and did not think what they needed. Communicating with the teachers, we realized that the guys had problems with the preparation, and thank God later we received feedback that the situation changed and everything became better. We must also prepare for the coming of God, this is one of the important points.
At the next meeting, we did crafts. Natasha showed an example of the fish that we made afterwards. I like this time, because at such moments the guys talk about what is happening at school or kindergarten. And so during the meeting, Dima and Tim told that they would soon be taken to a foster family. They are very happy that they will be able to leave the shelter and that they will have their own room and their own toys. When I asked if they wanted to go home, the guys said no, because it was bad at home. Also, each of the little children looked at us, called us to spend time with him. Everyone dreams of Mom and Dad. That’s why they sometimes try to climb on our hands or ask to be thrown into the air on our hands. And at such moments they laugh so contagiously.
The next topic was the parable of the talents. We talked about the importance of not burying your talents, but developing them. We said that God gave everyone something of his own. Alice said that she likes to sing and immediately Zhenya screams and I love to sing. It turns out that everyone in our shelter has different talents and the guys just vied with each other to shout out what they like and what they can do good.
When we arrived on the last Tuesday in November, we were talking about a wise builder who built his house on stone. This story explains the important of the choice of foundation – what we are building on. And we talked about how they can rely on God even when all the people around them don’t understand it. God is the only right foundation, and when we trust Him and when we ask, He comes to our aid. Dear friends, thank you very much for your prayers and your support for serving orphaned children in Belarus. Let’s pray that Dima, Tima and Darina are safely settled in a foster family. God bless you.
already gotten used to us and consider us “their own.”
For example, a girl named Varya joyfully hugs me every time the children greet us, and a girl named Alice said goodbye in a way that made it clear she is already looking forward to our next visit. The little ones eagerly come to us for hugs. During one of our visits, a girl named Kira, who is 5 years old, tightly hugged me as soon as we arrived and didn’t want to let go, not allowing me to greet or hug the other children. There are kids whose parents visit them periodically, and there are those who are hardly visited at all. At times, they have shared that what they want most is to return to their families. But during the time they are there, we try to make the most of it, helping them understand the Gospel more and more, as well as who God is, what He is like, and how this relates to their lives.
This month was dedicated to the parables of Jesus, including the parable of the wedding feast, the parable of the good shepherd, and the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee. We dedicated our first meeting in October to studying what the Bible is, why this book is so special, and why it is the most important for us among many other books. While discussing the topic, we strive to explain it as clearly as possible, also using visual aids. For instance, while studying the parable of the wedding feast, we acted out the parable with the older children as we told the story.
During the sessions, the children periodically ask questions related to God and faith. Prayer holds a special place in our visits, and we also set aside time for it, including showing the children that they can pray on their own without anyone’s help. The older children even tried praying out loud, and they did so quite willingly. Besides the educational part, we sing Christian songs with movements that they have already grown to love at each meeting, and we also play fun games with them to help establish a connection and create a friendly atmosphere. We hope to further build friendships with the kids and continue to help them come to know God.
About 12
to the shelter. Moreover, half of them are from 3 to 5 years old.
Bible is, and then followed the parables of Jesus.
You can’t tell the same to junior kids that easily. I think it’s hard to attract, but they also all run away and constantly offend each other, there are usually about 7 of them. But God gives wisdom and we try to sing songs with them with movements about God and Christ, play games along the way, exhorting them not to offend each other and try to obey the elders and take with us a special cloth with pictures and figures from the Bible to show and explain the essence of the lesson on it. From the little ones, everyone is different, someone like Dima and Zhenya and Darina Jr. sit quietly and are obedient and even remember, and when you come again, they sometimes remember what the main truth was last time. Some of the little ones are constantly playing pranks and not listening, for example Timofey, Sasha and Kira.
We hug the older ones too, but not so much and often, after all, they have already grown up and are no longer children, but they are more obedient and calm for lessons, although they often get distracted at first, but thank God they have already got used to us, made friends with us and listen to us. I was very filled with how we read the parable about the lost sheep in the Bible with them. After we read every line together and I explained everything to them in order what it all means and how it relates to us, they began to ask me a variety of questions: is my grandfather also resurrected? And those who are in heaven, will they see those who are in hell?
And when will there be a resurrection from the dead? And when will Christ come? And everything like that,unfortunately, I no longer remember all the questions exactly, but I remember how on their faces it was clear that they were thinking and reasoning and it was kind of serious, and I was so happy for them that they took the words of the Bible seriously and that they apparently believed that Christ was really true and He really You’ll be back soon. And also that He loves us and weneed to come to terms with him. We prayed then both before and after lessons, in principle, as always, we pray for our visit first in the car before going to the shelter, at the beginning before the games, at the beginning before the lesson and at the end after the lesson. I am grateful to God that there is such an opportunity to visit children and tell them about Christ.
still in the hospital, so we spent time with Darina and Timofey. On the one of our last meetings, we told them the biblical story of how Jesus healed a sick man who was lowered through a roof. The guys listened carefully and actively answered questions.
Unfortunately, it is very clear that their parents did not work with them much, although the children are very intelligent. They also have very little idea about God, but they listen with interest when we tell them about Him. Therefore, I would really like to continue to visit them so that they learn who is God, what He is like and how this relates to their lives. Last time we met, we drew with chalk crayons on the street, which helped us communicate with them 
even more. Children treat us completely differently than they did on the first day we met, they are much more disposed towards us. For example, Tima smiled very sweetly at us and actively hugged us when we said goodbye. Let’s hope that we will continue to be able to build relationships with the guys.
There were always children there, and our team actively visited them. This year there were children of different ages: from two years old to teenagers. There were children who were taken from their family and towards the end of the year they were returned back to their family, there was a teenager who was taken from a family-type orphanage and who had been in a colony before the orphanage, there was a girl who had been in the orphanage for a long time and who was taken to family-type orphanage. During this time we told them Bible stories, parables of Jesus, talked to them about the qualities of God, raised various practical topics and we wanted the guys to get to know 
Christ through all this. The children were not from Christian families and before meeting us they had a very weak idea of God, but they listened carefully to what we told them and remembered surprisingly well. It was very clear how the guys understood biblical truths better and better after each meeting. In addition, our meetings were accompanied by games, songs, and communication with the guys, which helped us to create a friendly atmosphere. The children had holidays for Christmas and Easter along with wonderful gifts. It was clear that the guys were friendly to the team and were looking forward to meeting us, and besides, they talked about it themselves more than once. Thank God that He gave these wonderful guys the opportunity to serve. It was truly a special time.
LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN 