This month the children waited for us, as usual, with impatience and joy. They were very happy to see us; they shared their 
worries with us and didn’t want us to leave. Everyone was eager to communicate with us as much as possible. 
There have become more children in the orphanage; a few of them appeared there not long ago. There are more boys at our meetings now.
As it was earlier, we discussed a lot of different biblical topics, played and talked. One day was especially remarkable. We divided into a few small groups and just talked with them, learned their life stories and prayed at the end. That day some of the children prayed for the first time. The children were so open that told us how they got at the orphanage. They were happy glad that they had, at least, someone with whom they could share their worries, thoughts and dreams. We knew more about the things they like and dislike and what they would like to have most of al
l. It was a wonderful day! Besides, we spoke about sin with the children. They wrote different sins they commit
but want to be free from them on paper hearts. The essence of the topic was to show the children that all people sin, but only God can free them from sin. It was nice to see that the children filled these hearts sincerely. Beside the illustration with the hearts, our team made a theatrical performance where the characters showed that it is simple and easy to sin but it is hard to cope with the sins without God. Thanks to God for this time and for the opportunities for the children to hear about God more and more! We also watched a kind Christian cartoon about the gift that told the children about the gift that Jesus gave to all the people. 
The make-up of the children changes quite often in this orphanage. Someone comes back home, someone is taken to a foster fa
mily. But it doesn’t matter because they soon begin to be open and trust us little by little. At the present time the children, who are there, like singing. So, during this month we learned three new songs. The guitar appeals to them much because there are mostly boys there. The boys from our team try to teach them a little how to play the guitar. And we are glad to support them in this with our prayers. And, of course, even if you just embrace them you feel their warmth and response towards us.
The second month of the winter has passed. It was very successful despite of the fact that we missed one trip to Vileyka because the majority of our team was ill. We managed to visit the orphanage three times and every visit was remarkable.
T
he fist trip happened during winter vacations and that’s why we could come to children earlier and spend more time with them. We showed one film about sports achievements and also played football with older boys and girls. 
Children love sports there and compete with different schools. Sport unites everybody and that’s why it was a good opportunity to become closer to children and also to dispel the myth that Christians just pray all the time, read the Bible, seat in churches and don’t have any sense of humour. Children thought so and told us about it and also joked that we are not real Christians.
I don’t know how this stereotype had been formed in them. The main thing is that they changed their views about it!
During the rest trips we were trying to change children’s opinions about God. During the lessons we told them that God is not an angry policeman, neither is he a Santa Claus who just presents gifts on Christmas
. He is not just a carpenter from Bethlehem, neither is he an evil old man who punish everybody for any sins. But he IS a loving, forgiving and caring God of the whole Universe who is not careless about the lives of the orphans. Besides that, one member of our team shared her testimony about her difficult childhood with drug and alcohol addicted parents. Only personal meeting with God helped her to change her and their lives, to get forgiveness for all the sins… After this testimony children got a kind of hope and many of them cried. I believe that God is changing their lives, too and that they will get better lives with our Christ. We pray for that, and you, please, join our prayers.
Christmas time is so special and it reminds us that God is not indifferent to the world and He cares about people. God cares about each individual and God showed his love through sending His only Son Jesus Christ to the Earth.
This month we went to the orphanage in Rudensk. There are 175 orphans and we believe each kid needs love, hope, and faith. Some of the kids even can’t understand their need to an extent because of their bad diagnoses. Not everybody can treat such badly ill kids in a good and tolerant way. 
What can we do about such a society which is not ready to accept and treat kids with disabilities or those who are different from them well? Can we change the society we live in. We believe we can but it can take time. Every year kids leave the orphanage and start their own life. We don’t always pay attention to how their life goes. They got used to the life in the orphanage with “the same kids like them”.
We dream about the society where kids can have a good life, they are treated well, nobody mocks at them or abuses them and where his society accepts such special kids as those who see this world in their own way. 
But still it’s just a dream yet. And we want kids be prepared for the life out of the orphanage.
The news about Jesus Christ born is good news for the kids with disabilities and also for their supervisors. A lot of them need faith and hope as they leave the orphanage, they don’t have anyone except for God and the team of Christians that serve them and made friends with them. 
I think our visits to the orphanage are very important as they help them understand their future life out of the orphanage better and build their own life on the right foundation – Christian values. Jesus Christ’s birth shows and proves God’s love and hope that the orphans need so much.
The orphans that were at the performance could see how God helps and how mighty He is to change the circumstances around us. There was the director of the orphanage and the staff at the performance. After the performance, 
the director of the orphanage expressed his gratitude to the team for the contribution to the orphans spiritual development. When we gave presents to the orphans we got to know that some of them have never heard about Christmas as their families didn’t celebrate it and didn’t tell them about God. It was such a blessing to see the orphans so happy, with their eyes shining from delight and hope that they can overcome everything with God. I have recently talked to the orphan who left the orphanage and eventually he is no longer with a bad diagnosis that he used to have back in the orphanage. I’ve noticed the hope in his eyes, the hope that only God can give.
I’m so glad our visits bring fruit and Christmas brings hope and faith to people’s hearts!
We had a camp in December and at the beginning of January. It was blessed time! I noticed that the more often you visit children the more 
you understand how you love them. You know them by name, and it is important because it helps closer communication, so, you begin to understand them. 
Time I spent with these children helps me to estimate my own life and changes me. First of all, they teach me to love.
Children are getting closer to my heart and I feel that I can’t be indifferent to their future. Especially I think of children who haven’t enough chances to sucseed in their life.
In the orphanage there is a group of children with “Down syndrome”. Working with them, I seriously thought of how I could make more for them. This thought doesn’t leave me. I want to try to take one of such child home for the weekend that they could live in family, feel what family means, feel that they are loved. 
There are six children in group, and anybody never took them home. Their only house is the orphanage. We visited children on Thursday in a week after camp, and I felt that I missed them so much! And how close they became to me!
Children were happy to see us again, we told them about “good Samaritan”, about what kind of people we could meet (good and not really). Children discussed it very active.
Once again we went to the orphanage with Christmas program and gifts.
I was nicely surprised to see that the children were more happy to see us than to recieve their gifts! Also it was obvious how important for them is the communication with us.
I notice changes in the children. It is shown by their behavior, they ask serious questions about God. Not just to talk about something but because it really interests them. They ask how to do the right things in life and how to react when temptations come. They ask if I were them what would I do. They tell about their temptations and about their victories.
Greetings to our dear friends, who keep praying for us! We praise and thank God for all of you and your support! 
We wanted to announce that this month, one of the girls, Nastya, left for the sanatorium to have some rest and two more guys joined in, their names are Egor and Ilya, 
the brothers who happened to be in the orphanage because their mother committed a suicide. It is really hard to know their story and it gets even harder when it comes to giving them support and joy, but we are genuinely trying to do that, 
and the most important thing is that we keep saying how great God that we believe in is. This month we talked about the God as the one who heals our illnesses, both physical and spiritual ones, whenever it is just hard, scary, painful, lonely and sad. We also talked about the sin as our main enemy which we need to fight with all our powers. 
The only way to make it is to run to our God-the conqueror of the sin and ask for His help every day. He is our support and strength; only with Him we can be happy. It is joyful to see that kids are happy to know about God and they get to know about Him more and more every time, they tell this to us themselves! Please pray that His mercy will keep them away from the evil one! May piece be with you, dear friends!
LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN 