LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

Dear friends, Merry Christmas of our Savior Jesus Christ!  We wish you to have faith and trust in God, peace in work, love in relationships!  I wish you to have joy and progress where it is needed! As the whole year has flown by, it was special!  Last year, we witnessed how new acquaintances appeared, and then it grew into a friendship.  New unfamiliar children became friends with whom we got to know God, with whom we prayed together, empathized and rejoiced.  They rejoiced when families recovered and children returned to their parents’ homes.  They rejoiced when they prayed and there was a family that simply took the children to their home and called someone a son or a daughter.  The eyes at such moments burn with hope, as well as gratitude and love. I am so glad that God allows you to witness changes!  Thank God! We have talked a lot about Jesus Christ this month.  We talked about the birth of Jesus and what surprises me in the 21st century is that children who live in the villages know a little about God.  When we talked about Jesus this month, Boris, the new boy said he hadn’t heard about Christ.  Just like Yana and 9 years old Nastya heard a little about God.  When we told about the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ, everyone then told what they could bring as a gift to Jesus.  Of course, the gifts of the wise men were different from what the children would like to give.  Yana, 4 years old, would give Jesus a candy.  Boris, 6 years old, would give a carrot (Boris loves carrots very much), and Nastya, 9 years old, would give a gift made by her own hands.  And they asked: “Dima, do you think Jesus will like it?”  Then I told the children that everything we do with a pure heart pleases God. During the next lesson, we talked about the miracles which Jesus has made.  We remembered how Jesus fed 5,000 people, how He healed the daughter of Jairus, how He healed a blind man.  The miracles of Jesus are what made the children very happy!  “Is it true, Dima?  Is it possible?  Wow !!! “.  When we hear about the miracles of Jesus Christ, it creates joy, and it also raises faith in God.  What miracle would you ask Jesus to make?  Yana asks her mother to take her from the orphanage.  Boris asks her mother, who is in the hospital, to recover as soon as possible, and Nastya, so that her mother stops drinking once and for all, would take her out of the orphanage and start believing in God.  Difficult desires, I thought.  But for God, nothing is impossible.  Impossible for man, possible for God!  “Let’s bring our desires to God, how can we do this?  That’s right, through prayer. ”  When we arrived the third time, we were making crafts for Jesus Christ.  Christmas crafts!  While we decorated our craft, the children told me that they never had a Christmas tree or Christmas itself.  When I asked: “Are you celebrating your birthday,” the children answered: “No!”  As it turned out, no one give gifts to the children.  Therefore, this is the first time when one of the elders sat with them and did something.  Nastya asks: “Do you think Jesus is always with us?”  And Boris answers: “Yes, Nastya, He’s Here!”  I am glad that we manage to sow the seeds of faith in a few months!  It’s nice to see hope in children and see how their faith grows!  When we arrived for the fourth time this month, we were celebrating the Nativity of Jesus.  The clown came with us.  Diana the girl Who were playing the clown grew up in such conditions, and she herself understands what it means to be an orphan.  That is why we are so glad that we could celebrate the birth of Jesus with her!  We sang for God, we spoke wishes, we remembered the birth of Jesus.  There was so much love and joy that even the teacher said: “This is the first time we see children laughing and rejoicing like that!”  Boris shouted: “This is the best day!”  We have never seen Boris so happy during his time at the orphanage.  They laughed so contagiously and was so joyful! Such emotions cannot be faked, the teacher said.  And then we gave out gifts.  They burst into tears with joy.  “I have a gift!  Thank you Jesus!  When gratitude is in the heart, it manifests itself on the faces.  Surprise gives way to exclamations and laughter!  “Look what I have in the gift!”  “This is my favorite day,” said the children.  And then they left gifts and ran up to us and they hugged us, thanked us for the gifts.  “We have never been given such gifts!” Friends, this year has come to an end.  Thank you for being with us, praying for children and for us!  Together we can be hands and feet, the voice of God on this earth.  Let’s pray for the seed of faith in childrens’ hearts!  Merry christmas and a happy new year!  Blessings!

Hello!  Thanks God, we can visit orphans from Smilovichi.  We are glad that in spite of the global situation, God is opening people’s hearts. We have visited the orphanage four times this month.  Thank God for this opportunity! This month we were able to know more about Nastya and Yana.  Nastya attended church on holidays when she was at home.  Ones she asked us “Do you love God too?”  We said that we love Him very much!  She said that her mother does not believe in God and when she was presented with a children’s Bible, she burned it.  Nastya says she was very upset that she was left without a Bible.  When we heard about this, we brought the girls children’s Bibles.  The next Tuesday Nastya was able to tell the Bible stories that she have read.  Now she prays for her mother to stop drinking, and every time before going to bed she asks God for protection.  “I think that God is very strong and He likes it when I smile,” Nastya tells us.  I like Nastya for her sincerity and the fact that at the age of 9 she is looking for God.  It’s so cool!  Also in the orphanage there is Yana, she is 4 years old.  We know that she came from a very poor family and it is clear that there was no one to deal with Yana.  This is manifested in many ways.  She often tries to steal something, and when we say: “take it, this is for you,” Yana’s template collapses.  “It turns out you don’t need to steal it all for me;  pencils, coloring books,  candies ”!  We love to hug Yana and it is clear that she is not used to do it.  She wants a hug, but because of the past, she keeps Katya and me at a distance.  Also, when we brought things, we thought whether they would fit or not, because Yana is very small, but when they began to measure, everything suited her.  She was happy!  Yana did not have a hat and gloves.  Everything she came wearing was things that were either much larger or smaller.  A teacher came up to us and said that we were the answer to Yana’s needs.  I’m so glad God took care of the girls through our ministry!  Also one evening, we left Minsk, but due to traffic jams, we arrived at the orphanage 20 minutes later than usual.  The teachers were told that the girls were very worried and asked where are we. Yana said, “Maybe the snow queen kidnapped them?”  And Nastya says that she asked God to spend this evening with us. We have talked about Joseph this month. We have talked about betrayal, talked about God’s care, about forgiveness and how difficult it is to forgive.  But I’m so glad that God gives the strength to forgive!  Nastya said that she forgives mom and wants dad to come back, and mom to stop drinking.  She said she would pray for it.  Yana said that she wanted to join the family and wants to be loved and not scolded or beaten anymore.  We also had one creative activity this month.  Creativity helps girls to relax, switch from anxious thoughts, and do what they like.  And during creativity we remembered Joseph and then thanked God for His closeness and help. Brothers and sisters, thank you for your prayers for ministering to orphans!  Let’s pray that God will keep children safe from disease!  Let’s pray that the gospel will spread and change the hearts of children and caregivers!