LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

“November 13 is the World Day of Prayer for Orphans. If you care about the futures of orphans, you can make a difference! You may not only pray for orphans during the day, but also visit them in orphanages, run charity campaigns at you local church or organization. Besides that, during your church service you may devote sermons, songs, poems etc. to this issue.”

The beginning of this year was productive. My team and I prayed that God would open the doors for evangelization and that God would answer our prayers throughout the month. At the beginning of the year, we visited many villages where there were meetings with performances and gifts. Usually, many children from villages end up in boarding schools and orphanages. We decided to prevent that. The villages of Belarus look very poor, but it is there that children and parents are very open to the gospel. Hopelessness, unemployment, drunkenness: here are the frequent “companions” of the villagers. Usually, after arriving, we showed a performance showing that there is hope even in the darkest of times. It was said that Christ was born and the birth of Jesus brought peace into the world. There were brief testimonies of people how God helps in life. It is clear from what we saw that the people are not spoiled by such ideas, and the children enthusiastically looked at the heroes of the Christmas story.

After that, we talked about how God gave Jesus Christ to the world, and that he brought salvation to people. Which is the most valuable gift. But we also want to give a gift that will be a good reminder for the guys about this event. It was so nice to see how the guys received gifts! There were cheers from the guys. And some children couldn’t wait and decided to open the gifts to see what was in the box. Parents, as well as grandmothers who raise children, came and thanked us, saying: “We are so poor that we save on everything”. They thanked me for the mug that was in the gift, for toothpaste, brushes, socks, and for every toy. The children were going home, and, seeing off the guys, we heard them retell the meaning of the story and how they were glad to learn about the true meaning of Christmas.

Also this month we visited boarding schools. Rudensk became the first boarding school where we arrived. We have talked a lot about the life of Jesus Christ this month. And that’s why, when we showed the performance, we saw that many guys knew the right answers. I like to see how children not only remember Jesus Christ but also try to put their faith into practice. They pray and it’s nice to hear what they say to God in simplicity. For the children, the great evidence was that despite the wind and snow, we come to them. “You probably love us so much that you come even in bad weather”: the guys said.

Just recently, we recalled a story about a paralyzed man who was brought by four friends and Jesus healed him. In the beginning, the friends could not carry him through the doors, but only after disassembling the roof could they carry him, and seeing the faith of friends, God healed a friend. Difficulties teach us to be persistent in achieving our goals.

Also this month we were in Belynichi. A special place where we are always expected. There are many children with Down’s syndrome living there now. When we arrived, the children ran out in sneakers in the snow to meet us. “We’ve been waiting for you guys!” the kids were shouting and hugging us. Despite all the pathology of the children’s health, we see how God blesses their memory. They remember Bible stories very well, and going through the topics of the life of Jesus Christ, we see that children shout out answers. And it’s also interesting to watch the educators who come to meetings with the guys. We see that they are also changing, it can be seen from the reflections that they voice. Thank God for reaching their hearts. We were talking about the healing of two blind people. Such stories especially touch children in Belynichi, they know how to sympathize with the characters of the Bible, as they themselves need a miracle. It is very nice to see the joy of the guys when we say that Jesus healed two blind people or fed 5,000 people. This is joy and surprise, which is difficult to describe, you can look at it forever. That’s why we buy children’s Bibles so that children can read and look at bright pictures in their free time, telling stories that Jesus did.

“November 14 is the World Day of Prayer for Orphans. If you care about the futures of orphans, you can make a difference! You may not only pray for orphans during the day, but also visit them in orphanages, run charity campaigns at you local church or organization. Besides that, during your church service you may devote sermons, songs, poems etc. to this issue.”

Hello friends. In this letter I would like to share the news and tell you about the events that took place in the Belynichi school orphanage. The school year in Belarus is over. That was a special year when we could see the joy of seeing each other after the long quarantine as well as temporary separation. After this time of being apart we have noticed the transformation in our values. We used to have such a time when all the children were not allowed to attend our meetings but now after the quarantine, we feel the difference. We are so glad that around 60-70 children constantly attend our meetings. It brings us great joy. The first thoughts that I had were about the little children with Down syndrome whether they would be able to understand that we told them about God. After a while we realized that they understand everything. It is surprising that when we come and ask what we talked about last time they are eager to raise their hands and share in their language what theyremember. In May we talked with the children about betrayal and pain that they got after being left. We mentioned that it was impossible not to think about it. We have to deal with any betrayal and eventually overcome it because the pain that overflows us can destroy our present life. There is only one way out. It is forgiveness that can bring us freedom from betrayal.  This month we have discussed dissatisfaction and anger. We could see that the children grow in such a destructive atmosphere. As a result, they have hatred toward themselves, they’re dissatisfied with their appearance, their destiny, friends, teachers, food. Therefore, when they can’t change something, they get angry, beat each other and say the words that hurt a lot. We want to transfer the culture of forgiveness and love which only God can give. God changes their hearts so the children become more reserved. More than 10 teenagers are graduating this year. They come to our meetings. We see that they are worried, many of them cry because the school was their home but now, they feel uncertain. Vadim says that if he was allowed to stay at the orphanage he would stay there. Vadim is going to the old people’s home. Igor came up to us very upset. We asked him what happened. He said he was going to the nursing home. He says ‘Dima I was dreaming to leave this place but now I am really afraid’. Igor’s mother left him. She promised him to take him back for so many times but he ended up at the orphanage. Only 6 teenagers are going to colleges to get the education and become wall painters, gardeners or tailors. Thinking about orphans we see that they need a relevant person in their lives and I am glad that we can be such people who set an example for them. We are happy to pray together with them and talk about God. We see that they grow in their faith. We are praising God that we are in the place where he wants us to be.

Friends, let’s pray for the children who stay in the orphanage that they will grow in faith and love. Please pray for the graduates that they will settle in life and find a church which will become their family. Thank you for your prayers, friends!

Dear friends, we are glad to welcome you to our website! January 2021 has begun! We are so glad that God continues to pour out His mercy, and we have the opportunity to spread His Kingdom on the Belarusian land. Together with the team, we prayed for open doors to boarding schools at Christmas time during the pandemic. We also prayed to collect gift sets for orphans. God hears and answers! We had the opportunity to collect more than 7,000 thousand gift sets. We are so happy that children will receive not just gift sets consisting of only sweets, but gifts that will contain everything they need. With the whole team we visited 20 orphanages and boarding schools in Belarus. Every orphanage has special children! When we visited the Molodechno, Shklov boarding school, there were children who had lost their sight and it is very important for them that toys make sounds. It was nice to see how the children touched the gifts with their hands and were happy that they now have their own toy with sound and new hygiene items with a pleasant smell! When they touched the shower gel or shampoo, soap, they tried to smell them, and then said: — How great everything smells! My dreams have come true this is the best gift ever. Anastasia always dreamed of a warm and soft bathrobe and wearing it feel in the arms of mom and it was in her gift that we put the bathrobe. Also we were in Rudensky and Belynichskiy boarding schools. Children with mental and physical disabilities live there. These children were especially happy that we came to them after a long time. We know many children and were able to see them grow up. Anton told me that Santa Claus did not come this year and did not bring gifts! It’s all Covid’s fault! I got a chance to reveal to him the truth about the Heavenly Father and the real essence of the Christmas holiday. Many children in a gift box found exactly what they had wanted for a long time and had prayed for! Children shouted: «I got a flashlight», «and I got colored pencils», « and I got a beautiful doll», «and I have a hat and gloves and I’m so happy about it, because now I will not be cold and ill». We went in Vileika boarding school where the children live with speech disorder. When they met us, each of them wanted to show their attention, so they grabbed our hands to talk face to face. Over the past 4 months, we have not seen them, and here is such an opportunity to communicate, because so many new things happened. When the Christmas production began, we noticed how our visits every Friday helped to form the children’s basic knowledge about God and His Son Jesus Christ. Even the teachers were surprised by the children’s answers. Everyone wanted to participate and prove themselves! When the gifts were distributed, we saw that the children were blooming, taken from gift boxes toothpastes, brushes, soap and toys in the corridor of the boarding school. Before our departure, the teachers said that they hadn’t seen children so happy for long time. Each of us is happy to be able to give a gift to every orphan child, andprimarily to tell them the good news about the Savior and God, who is Love! Thank you to everyone who prays for us, we really appreciate it! Let us pray that the seeds of faith sown will bear fruit.