One of the problems that orphans have after leaving the orphanage is that they are not able to live independently. 70% of orphans cannot survive outside the walls of the orphanage. Therefore, we decided to take patronage over children of an orphanage in the village Petropavlovka, which is 155miles away from the city.
The director of the orphanage gave us permission to take care for the children in the city after they leave the orphanage, this was a breakthrough for us. But we could not even imagine how events would develop further. There is a family in our team that couldn’t have children for a long time. They started visiting the boarding school with us and they liked one girl very much. They thought, prayed and decided to adopt her. When they talked about it to the director, they learned that the girl has a younger sister and by law, they cannot be separated. So, Dmitry and Eugenia decided to adopt both girls. This is the best ministry we could have been doing.
Here is a brief testimony from Evgenia: “We are full of joy, that we want to scream! God gave us two girls. We still cannot believe it! I am so happy that my head is spinning, and my thoughts are everywhere!”
When you are reading this then two lovely little girls sleep in their own beds now. And in the morning, they run to their new parents, to hug and kiss them. These kids now have a future! Thank God! Thank you for your support!
Children’s home for mentally retarded children is the place where our team regularly travels. Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, oligophrenia and other diseases that put a “cross” on children’s future. Our visits, gifts, attention – is “a breath of fresh air” for them. This year, we baptized one of the graduates from this orphanage. The power of God was revealed in this boy. This means our ministry is not in vain! And diagnoses are not obstacles in the way to know God!
God opened our doors to two more children’s homes, which are located 200 km from the city. In one of them, there are 50 children, in another 20. Most of them are children who have parents. They either have no rights, or they simply have nothing to feed the children. While they are looking for work, the children are temporarily given to children’s homes… In the city, we have not heard of such problems, but in the villages, it becomes a routine. With your help, we were able to give not only a gift to every child but buy additional food to somehow diversify the ration. We were confronted with another problem – shortage of medicine. Children need to be treated, there are doctors, but no medications. We were able to buy a set of essential medicines.
Some of our families after visiting these orphanages were considering adopting children. May God grant these families strength, wisdom, and patience. Thank you for helping us ministering to children without a future!
I agree it is hard to rejoice when you are in pain, have no hope or it is difficult to live. When you have to wait for several months to get results from a specific puncture and it happens to be positive again. With your help, we were able to bring children in several hospitals a part of Christmas to their sickbed. This holiday is a shimmer of hope for them. God has come to us. He cares about us, it’s an occasion to celebrate. The smiles on the faces of children and parents were the best reward for this. We were able to share the Gospel and the story of the birth of our savior with around sixty children and sixty parents.
In our house of prayer, we had over 300 children gathered on Christmas. One-third of them were invited through social engagement. These are children that come from large and low-income families. Most were the first time in our church and even heard the first time about Christmas. Together with their parents, they learned what this holiday means. None of the children were left empty-handed but all received a gift.
Thank you for your participation in this Christmas ministry for our children.
During these holidays days the atmosphere filled with celebration, but we should not forget about those who are going through a hardship. These are orphans that will spend Christmas in the same room that they are living in for years now. Their tables will not be decorated and filled with delicious food. The day will be as usual for them and the food on the menu will be served. That’s why our visit with gifts for them is a very important time for them. Their friends visit them and congratulate everybody with a gift to everybody. And this is the time when they start to feel that somebody cares and thinks about them and makes them feel special. Their right conclusion is that since these people who are showing love and are helping are believers then their God is also loving and helping.
These children suffer from serious illnesses. The diagnosis hits the children like a lightning and from that moment on they and their parents are fighting for their lives. Painful treatments, like chemotherapies and long periods of stays in the hospital, leaves it impressions on them. And we as the church should be here with them. It is not in our power to heal them, but we have the opportunity to pray and for them, give them hope, sit and play with them. Just having fun with them and support the exhausted parents is in our power. And on Christmas, we certainly should be there. 190 orphans and 80 cancer sick children should be happy at least on Christmas days.
One gift costs around $8 and to provide a gift to each of them we need $2160. We would be happy if you could share the joy of Christmas with those children.
