In January: “Vileyka orphanage”

Posted: February 1, 2019 by Dobr9k in Vileyka
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Almost the whole month from mid December till the beginning of January children were enjoying warm Italy.

After their return we organised a trip to Minsk for them to see Christmas play The road to Bethlehem, where they could actually be a part of real immersive theater. The theatre where you are a participant or better say actor yourself. You can’t just stand indifferent when angry roman soldiers are yelling at you telling to move faster.

They are looking down at us and making sure that we are following Christmas route.

And here is Mary and Joseph, real and alive, just like from the children’s Bible.

Children saw Herod’s castle. This mean ruler hasn’t issued the decree yet, but mother’s sensitive heart is frozen in fear already.

Chidren were also met by robbers on the way. And surely what story of The Savior ‘s coming to the world can be without an angel, in white clothes, in the sky and with a loud voice.

Without doubt the atmosphere of Bethelhem fare should be mentioned as well. Here you can forget about everything in the world because of a special spirit that is present here. Lots of retailers, lots of stuff for selling, real treats, Jewish dancing. You forget about everything, you don’t even feel the frost. At the end of the way children heard the story from a preacher about the meaning of Jesus’ birth. And of course we had dinner made by Valery. During the dinner children shared about how scarry and the same time very interesting it was to be there. Teachers from the orphanage were pleased with the idea of this project, too. Happy and content, with lots of presents, kids went back to Vileyka.. To look forward to new meetings.

In January: ”Belinichy orphanage”

Posted: February 1, 2019 by Dobr9k in Belinichy
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I would like to speak about one boy. I think that it’s only my observation, that he is one of the most naughty boys. But a special thing that I’ve noticed in him is that he always listens and participates in discussions in the best way. It’s amazing that he remembers the main reflections of the previous lessons. That’s why I always remind myself that only God knows a human’s heart and the ones He chooses, and we should only be tools in God’s hands and share the Gospel with every kid reaching to their hearts.

One day John the Baptist was asked:

“What should we do?”, and he answered: “If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn’t have any. If you have food, share it with someone else”.

What can we share? Some people can share finances, some – their time or capabilities. But thought these things we can bring only opportunities in their lives, but they need the only unique place to warm themselves, to have the wounds on their hearts healed, to escape from rejection, betrayal and loneliness. We can give them love and tell them about the Great Love of God to all of His creation.

And where can we receive love, when we need to fondle and smother with kisses this thorny cold knob, who doesn’t know caress and tenderness, for whom it’s so hard to believe that love exists. Will you have enough strength, patience and wisdom to prove the true love in the face of impertinence and disobedience? So with God’s help we try to show love towards every kid and teach them the truth of God. During this month we were discussing the theme “Jesus chooses His disciples”. We discovered which traits the disciples possessed, what professions they had and who they were by character. We realized that each of us can be a disciple of Jesus, and one doesn’t need to be a master of theology for that. Another theme concerned the trust to God. We discussed the 6th Chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, where God says that he cares about the birds and wild flowers and all the more about the man, His best creation.

In January: “Rudensk orphanage”

Posted: January 31, 2019 by Dobr9k in Rudensk
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In January, I talked more with older children. This month is very joyful for the them, as they received Christmas presents. We went with Christmas staging to several orphanages brought them presents. It was important that the children, as well as the orphanage workers, could learn more about the coming of Christ to the earth through their performances and, through communication with them.
In Rudensk I was fortunate enough to conduct two Bible lessons. The first theme is “Jesus chooses His disciples”. In this lesson, I was able to communicate with the children and recall what miracles Christ did and what people surrounded Him. They talked about the fact that Christ chose ordinary people to be disciples – fishermen, tax collector, and a pilot. The emphasis was placed on the fact that Christ looks at people in a completely different way, whose society does not always accept. I was surprised by how much the children know a lot of things, but they can not always express it in words due to their peculiarities.
The second theme is “Sermon on the mountain, look at the birds.” I wanted to tell the children that there are many worries in life that distract from the main thing, but God still fills them up, may not always, because we want it. And they talked about the need to strive for the main thing – to seek the kingdom of God.
Children remember stories from personal life as well. I told a story about how I was going to my dream and what difficulties I had encountered, and how it all was resolved. At the end of our communication, we usually pray. And one girl herself offered to pray, and she thanked God for the family that takes her, for the changes in her life, and for our team, each by name.
The younger children this month talked about respect, responsibility, and also honesty. Many sincerely admitted that sometimes it is very difficult for them to show respect for each other, to be responsible and even more so, to be honest. But then we come to these children to try to teach them these qualities, showing a biblical view of them.
I am very pleased that there is hope in the lives of these children, and their lives are changing for the better!

In January: “Smilovichi orphanage”

Posted: January 31, 2019 by Dobr9k in Smilovichi
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Hello! I want to tell you about the Smilovichy orphanage. In this orphanage there are children who were withdrawn from families in which there is a threat to the lives for children. They stay there for a year, and then the guardianship bodies decide on the future place of residence for these children: if the parents change their living conditions and lifestyle, then the children are sent back to the family, and if the parents continue to drink or use drugs and lead an immoral lifestyle, children are given to custody or transferred to boarding school. We come to the children every Tuesday and serve everyone.

Half a year ago new children were placed in the orphanage (two sisters Vlada and Lera and little brother Dannik). We as usual began to talk with the children, then we played together, sang songs of praise, and also we talked about forgiveness. Taking a story from the Bible, where the Lord teaches us to forgive the injustice and pain that the closest people caused us. Lera said that it is difficult for her to forgive her parents, who constantly drink, her grandmother, who says she will take her, but she never takes. It is difficult to advise something at such moments, so I just offered to pray for this situation. During the prayer, the children cried, because they had heart pain. We said that we have the Bible – the word of God, where the Lord speaks to everyone about His love and gives instruction for the life of people. At the end of the lesson, Lera and her sister Vlada came up and asked for a children’s Bible. The following Tuesday, the girls ran up and told that they read 50 pages on the first day and then read the Bible to each other in the following days. Then Vlada offered to pray that God would help them to leave the orphanage for the family of believers. A month later, our believing friends, the Yasku family, took two girls, Vlada and Lera, as well as their little brother Dannik. God gave hope through reading the children’s Bible. Recently we came to this family and the girls could not believe that religious people would take them to the family, to a big beautiful house where they were loved and cared for!

A person receives faith from hearing and we are glad that the word of God brought faith, and the prayers to Heavenly Father brought the answer!

At the moment there is only one child in the Smilovichy orphanage. But despite this, we continue to visit him alone, since each of us is valuable to us.

 

 

In December: “Rudensk orphanage”

Posted: December 31, 2018 by Dobr9k in Rudensk
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In December, I had the opportunity to talk with the older children, conduct Bible lessons with them and, as far as possible, answer their questions and pray for their needs. As for the topics of our meetings, we continued to acquaint the children with the life of Jesus Christ, telling them about His miracles. It’s amazing how God opens children’s hearts to accepting the truths they heard throughout the month! At the end of each meeting, the children approached me with different questions, both on the subject of the meeting, and with additional questions. For example, Artyom asked if we, living in the modern world, can see angels. Some of the children wondered if God could do such miracles in our lives too clearly. Another guy asked for advice on how to get rid of obscene language, and also shared how sincerely he wants to do the right thing, but he doesn’t always succeed.
The guys were especially impressed by two biblical stories: “The story of healing the paralyzed” and “The story of how Jesus fed more than five thousand people.” Children are particularly concerned with personal examples and testimonies from the life of someone who teaches them a Bible lesson. This month, Elijah told his testimony about how God met the needs of his family during the most difficult times. A simple personal example was remembered by the children as the brightest!
I am also very grateful to God that the children develop a prayer life. Many of them share the fact that they constantly pray and read the Bible. Some of them talk about how it is difficult for them to pray, because they are mocked and even humiliated by other guys who live with them. According to our good tradition, every week we pray for birthdays. Now the children are no longer waiting until we ask who has birthday this week, but they themselves begin to come up and ask for prayer for them. Perhaps I will give two more examples that inspired me! Girl Polina, twice asked us to pray for her healing, for God to restore her vision, which is rapidly falling. I felt how important it was for her and how her heart was just beginning to open up to God. We also have Martha, who in the last week of December bade us farewell, because she leaves school forever and goes to live in a disabled home. She finished school this summer, and all this time she waited for the room for her. She feels a lot of fears and feelings now, many tears. But just like Polina, she tries, as far as she can and understands, to look for a way out in God. We, of course, prayed for her. We hope now that the seed sown in her heart will give fruit at the right time!
Of course, the highlight of this month was the Nativity of Christ! In January, we plan to organize for all the guys from the Rudensky orphanage, a large Christmas production with the distribution of gifts. But before this event occurs, we first wanted to talk about the deepest sense of Christmas and the goal of the birth of the Savior to our world. That is why one of the meetings of this month we dedicated to Christmas. The children themselves, together with our team, sang songs about the birth of Jesus, participated in discussions and played various games dedicated to this topic.

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