Winter came to Belarus, roads to Vileyko didn’t become shorter but became more attractive. Our Friday trips continued. With great pleasure we were seeing our friends and they were seeing us back. December is the last month of the year. It is a 
special month in every person’s life and in each family. It’s time to rethink some stuff, to prepare for a New Year, to buy some presents and decorate Christmas tree.
December is a really special month for us because this month Jesus was born. This is what we were trying to convey to our kids. One of our traditions is standing together and hug 
each other The topics of the month were “The greatest personality/person, Christmas, Why Jesus came to the earth (Если вопрос то: Why did Jesus come to the earth?” Each topic is important but they all have got one point and the point is Jesus Christ. Jesus 
Christ the greatest person of all time was born and died in orders to give us salvation. The was an amusing incident while we were on a trip. When we told a story about Jesus and what gift he had given to all humanity we gave a huge box of chewing gums to Nick/Nikholay/Kolya as a present. He thought that it had been a part of show and he would need to return them but when He was told that it had 
been a present, he was really surprised and couldn’t believe that all those chewing gums were for him and he could have/eat the all. That evening Kolya understood that those sweets had been given to him as a present for free. We sang a lot. A favorite song of all the kids was “unique”. That song was about each of us, how all we were important and loved by Jesus. Our tradition is to hug someone standing next to you and sing songs together. The kids really like it. One of the brightest moment of December was relay race inspired by the theme of Christmas. It was fun and noisy. Everybody took and active part in it and got presents. Each trip is a special time for us. We pray for our kids and believe in changes in their hearts.
Our December visits to the Belynichi boarding school began with sports games, which were associated with winter sports, as well as with Christmas and New Year. All the games were fun and interesting. But I especially want to say that over the years of our visit to orphanage, there have been serious changes in children. This is especially noticeable during the relay races! If earlier, the guys competed in such a way that it could come to fights and swearing, today they are focused on competition and of course strive to be winners, but they also already know how to react to defeats normally. If earlier, the guys inside their own teams ridiculed and humiliated those who were physically or intellectually weaker in every possible way, now they are learning to be a united team and strive to help those who are weaker. We cannot say that they have reached perfection and it is clear that there is still a lot to work on, but comparing what was before and what is now, we can safely say that this is another victory of God in the lives of these kids!
At the next meeting we talked about the fact that God is a light that can give a person freedom from any darkness, from any sins that lead a person to serious destruction. The topic alarmed the guys when it came to the fact that sins lead a person to hell. But after Ilya has explained the guys a way out of darkness into light, the guys rejoiced that each of them had a chance and hope that Jesus Christ brought to people. This month we also talked to the guys about Christmas. We made a separate topic in which we talked with the kids about the meaning of this holiday, as well as the purpose of Jesus’ coming to earth. I really wanted the guys to get into the depth of Christmas, and next month, we really hope that we will have the opportunity to organize a Christmas program for the guys, as well as to give out the gifts.
are other children who are in a similar life situation and have similar experiences. At the moments of the arrival of new children we have ambivalent feelings. On the one hand, it is good that there is an opportunity to talk about God to new children, but on the other hand, it is upsetting that some more children are in a difficult situation and for certain reasons are experiencing separation from their parents.
Vladik, who is only 4 years old. Unlike Max
and Alesya, those children’s relatives often visit them and there is hope that the children will be able to return to their native family. Speaking about the guys themselves, Dima is a more open and cheerful boy who quickly became friends with our team. Polina also tries very hard to be sociable, but because of the stress and rejection that the girl has experienced, she often competes, envies other guys and shows aggression. And little Vladik most of all likes talking about the fact that he has a father and mother who will come for him soon. It’s feels like Vlad misses his parents especially much and seems to convince himself that he definitely has them and that he will be taken away from the orphanage soon. Our team is trying to support the children and direct their thoughts and dreams to God, because there is nothing impossible for Him!
In November, we told the children the life story of Moses, through whom God saved the Israeli people from Egyptian slavery. And the guys also learned the 10 commandments that God left to all people through Moses, which are still important and relevant for all mankind today. At the end of the month, we started introducing the guys to a new biblical hero – David. We talked about the fact that God, unlike people, primarily looks at the human heart, and also that God knows even the most hidden thoughts and secrets and sees the very depths of our hearts. To make the children remember the story better, we had a mini-play in which each of them took part. Someone was the prophet Samuel, whom God sent for a new king, someone was Jesei, among whose sons God chose a king, someone was the shepherd David, who once fought with a lion, and someone was responsible for the hearts that God pays so much attention to. We also told the children the story of David’s battle with the giant Goliath. We hope to continue further study of David’s life story with the children in December. At the very last meeting of November, we met two more new children. Two brothers – a 12 year-old Vlad, and a 2 year-old Roma. They are still a little closed and keep distance, but we really hope that we can make friends with them. Dear friends, thank you to everyone who supports us! This is very valuable! May God bless you!
In the middle of the month 
our team and church devoted time to Prayer Day for orphans. It is always a blessed time, because we can remind believers again about God’s special attitude to orphans and call them to pray more often for these children and serve them. But at the same time, we talked with the children about how God takes care of them and called them not only to expect that somebody will pray for them but that they will also learn to pray for themselves and each other. This month we finished discussing the series of topics from the program ‘You are special’. Thanks to this program, children learn 
to accept God’s view of a person, treat each other as God’s creation and see the individuality of other children as their worth but not as a weakness. At the closing meeting, we talked about the perfect and unconditional love for people that God showed through the cross of Calvary, where His beloved Son was crucified. The atmosphere of this meeting was filled with special peace and joy. At the end of the meeting, all the children who were present prayed the repentance prayer! What will be after that? We believe that after that, God will not leave these children, and we will try to be an example and the mentors who will help them get to know their Heavenly Father better and better.
Moreover, we had a sports relay race which the children love. We love these activities because we can learn more about the children’s characters. New children attend these events too, so we can invite them to our Bible lessons. This time we had the thematic relay race. As the snow had already fallen and it’s been quite frosty, the children are already looking forward to Christmas and New year celebrations, we decided to devote this activity to the topic of Christmas. And at the end, we had a great opportunity to talk with the children about the coming birthday of Jesus Christ who brought joy, peace, and hope to people!
During the very last meeting of this month, we separated boys and girls and had ‘Boys’ time’ and ‘Girls’ time’. At these meetings, Iliya talked with the older boys and Nastya talked with the girls about hygiene. It may seem that this topic is very casual and simple. Nevertheless, because of their orphanhood and experience of being rejected, they still have to learn to take care of themselves and their bodies, accept and love themselves. Moreover, this topic was not only about body hygiene, but also about the cleanness of thoughts and a heart, as this is also important in God’s eyes. At the end of the meeting everyone who came got different hygienic things as presents. We are very grateful to God that the ministry to orphans is still going on today, and there are so many kind and faithful friends who help with their resources and have been supporting our team in prayers for so many years! May everyone who is not indifferent to the lives of the orphans be blessed!
The month of November passed quickly. During that month we had a wonderful opportunity to attend the Vileika orphan boarding school. At this difficult time, which the whole world and our country are passing through, we see how grace is multiplying. Every meeting with children is special and our meeting topics are too. We are discussing what concerns young people the most now. This month we talked a lot about plans in life. Many guys don’t know how to make plans, they don’t even understand why do this. Because everything is scheduled for children in orphanages, every day they wake up at the same time, at the exact time they go to eat, study and etc. We see that in the future, if the guys are not taught how to make plans, they will have big problems! That’s why we talked to them about planning, about who and what influences our choices and how to avoid people who can ruin our lives. The older guys said that they and their friends are already deciding what they are going to do in the future. Then we discussed different situations and talked about what this or that choice could lead to. But taking care of the future we can forget that it is also necessary and important to build relationships with God. Cause we do not know how long we will live, and only God can give us confidence and hope! Then one teenager said: “I understand that we need to build relationships with God, but it’s not popular!”.
Then we talked about death and what happens after it — every person will meet God and it is important during our earthly life to make a decision to follow God. If we say we don’t believe in God then when we die and see God, what will happen then? The guys said that it would be scary! And then I said, “In order not to have fear we need hope, which only God can give.” At that moment the grins and jokes stopped and silence reigned in the hall. “Nobody tells us about it,” the guys said. Then I said that we are here so that you have as few mistakes in your life as possible. Evil companies, premature pregnancy, theft, deception – even all of this we can’t compare to the last day when God will reject all those who love evil. Therefore when planning life we should not forget about this.
When we visited children another time we told them that God is looking for a meeting with them. So our first topic for discussion was how to build our relationships with friends, teachers, relatives. The guys expressed many interesting points but there wasn’t any unified response. “We would love to be able to trust and feel safe with our loved ones and friends, but we are not because we have been betrayed so often that now we cannot have complete trust to anyone,” the guys shared. But as we gradually were unveiling the topic we came to the understanding that God can become our close friend who will never betray. We said to the guys that when anyone is praying and reveals his heart and problems to God he would notice that God has put all of these in order and it brings peace and comfort to the heart. Sometime during a prayer God reveals what is best to do or who you need to forgive. Prayer is a conversation between God and man. Therefore it is important not only to speak but also to listen, and when thoughts come into your mind memorize or write them down, so that later you can think whether these thoughts were from God or not. Prayer is a powerful weapon that helps to fight against depression as well as unforgiveness. Therefore we were talking about the importance of forgiveness of your offenders as well as parents, teachers, friends. We considered the steps how to do it. Also guys were taught how to pray. All the topics are simple and it is parents who instill them into our hearts in our childhood. We are glad that we can be part of a team that fills in the gaps of education in the lives of these guys!
LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN 