Kids always await a Birthday party and orphans are not an exclusion. What are they thinking being in an orphanage when their birthday is approaching? Maybe they think this way: «Does anyone really care about my birthday at all and will rejoice with me in this day?»

We have had an opportunity to celebrate four boys and two girls birthdays in orphanage. It was joyful day with games, jokes and the sweet table with a delicious cake. We always want them to know how special they are for God and His kids. And of cause they receive presents! Our daughter was giving them it.

During the Christmas season as we celebrate Jesus birthday all of us wish to do a special gift for Christ.

We are thankful for your prayers and support of our work among orphans. You already gave a special gift for Jesus. As He said: «I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me» (Mt. 25:40).

In Jesus Christ, Yan and Nadya.

Prayer request for Timur HERE

If God leads you to Support HEART FOR ORPHANS read HERE

Related posts:

1. Reality of Russian Orphans
2. Yulia’s gift
3. The Boldyrevs — Summer Camp Ministry in Russia

Mission cooperation is one effective way to serve God in His field. November 4-5, 2011 mission «Youth for Christ» organized a conference on the theme: «Skill to serve kids».

At this seminar were believers and volunteers from different Churches.

Our ministry «Heart for Orphans» was one of the presenters. Our session was «How to Use Crafts for Children’s and Youth Ministry». We taught Christians to use this skill as the possibility:

* to build relationships with kids

*  to discover kids talents

* to help kids improve self-esteem

* to illustrate Bible lesson

* to do Evangelism

We thank God for this opportunity to share our experience with other ministers who are serving children.

Please pray with us that God will send many ministers among orphans and kids from dysfunctional families.

If God leads you to support HEART FOR ORPHANS read HERE

Related posts:

1. Yan and Nadya: What We Do
2. Please Pray for Timur
3. Reality of Russian Orphans

Who are they – these Russian orphans for whom we have a heart?

Today in Russia there are between 2 -5 million homeless children, with 800 thousand orphans living in orphanages. A growing number of children are known as ’social’ orphans. They represent 90% of orphans.

Social Orphans

Social Orphans: children whose parents refuse to take care of them or whose parents who have been legally deprived of their parental rights. In Russia, this happens more than 30,000 thousand times each year. The main causes of social orphans in our country are unhealthy family environment, poverty, alcoholism, drugs addiction, and parents who are in prison.

Some parents abandon their children after birth, others leave them out on the street. There are cases where children were sold for a few bottles of vodka. The relationship of these parents to their children are often like a consumer (exploited child labor) or indifferent (without taking care or giving an education). Often these kids lack for their basic needs, and even more-so lack love and acceptance.

Often these children are abused, both physical and psychological violence is done against them, which causes them to run away from families and orphanages, and sometimes leads to suicide.

Graduate Orphans

Also, they must face the harsh reality of life outside the orphanage when they graduate. They do not get a full experience of healthy family life as they grow up; then they are often unable to build up their own full-fledged family.

Because they have no other place to live, many graduates must return to the families from which they were taken. Well over 50% of graduates join the criminal world, become prostitutes, drug addicts and alcoholics, just as their parents before them.

God calls Himself “Father to the fatherless” (Ps. 68:5) and He “watches over …the fatherless” (Ps. 146:9).

And God wants the Church of Jesus Christ to care for orphans, showing them His love. “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (Jas.1:27). What a great God we serve!

God gave a great privilege to our “Heart for Orphans” ministry, to do His work in St. Petersburg, Russia among orphans and graduates. We want to help them avoid a life of crime and hopelessness and want to help them know our loving God, His commandments and blessings in Jesus Christ.

We tell each child that he is special, unique, dear in the eyes of the Lord, that God loves him and He awaits him at Home.

Read more: What we do?

If God leads you to Support HEART FOR ORPHANS read HERE

Related posts:

1. The Russian President and I
2. Heart for Orphans ministry support
3. Yuri and Marina – Breaking the Cycle

Greetings dear friends,

Last month was very eventful for us. Let us begin with

MFH

The girls are doing well. Every week we get together for a Bible study (home group). Besides, we keep in contact with the former MFH girls. This time we had a baby shower for Tanya, who has been out of MFH for about over a year. Tanya is going to have a boy , whom she wants to name David. It was a surprise party for her and she was thrilled. Besides a having a great time together, she got most necessary things for baby such as a crib, a high chair, clothes, bedding for the baby, etc.

This coming month we will have a birthday girl in MFH home. Besides, the girls are preparing a Christmas theater program, that we will show at different orphanages.

Orphanages

We got to go to Stankovo 4 times in two weeks. It was the big even of 50th anniversary of the orphanage. First we were helping to prepare for that. We had a Master class of making fall crafts and gifts out of natural materials. Later on the gifts were given to the former graduates of the orphanage, who all came for the big event.

Second, we helped to get some food items, as after the even there were tables with food . And thirdly, we attended the big event. It was really great to see so many familiar faces of those teachers, who used to work at the orphanage. We had very good relationships with them, and the most exciting thing was to meet many graduates, who came back for that day. We talked and we remembered some of the things from the past.

As a gift for that event we gave the kids a big football table. I hope they will have a lot of fun with it.

And our last visit was during their fall break, as we played some games, had tea and talked. It’s so sad to see how young girls make wrong choices and start smoking at very early age. Please keep them in your prayers.

Now we are starting to prepare for Christmas and we need your help to get Christmas gifts and things for the Christmas fair.

Every month or so we bring diapers to the needy kids of Zhdanovichi orphanage. They are ages 3 to 6, but they look so much smaller, besides many of them have health problems, they do not talk, and they many allergies. We come to embrace them and give them a little bit of love. One boy Sergey had broken his arm and it didn’t heal for a long time, as the is allergic to milk and the orphanage can’t buy him calcium vitamins. It seems like a very easy thing to do to help Sergey, but it does need a person like you and me to come and help. Pray for Sergey’s healing. He has vitamins now as well.

Shelter birthday party

And almost not a month goes by without a Birthday party. One girl Olya and three boys were the birthday kids this month.

They were new to the shelter and it seemed that they didn’t really realize what had happened to them. Olya almost didn’t smile at all.

We are planning to visit them again and we would love to make a kitchen in the shelter.

Women’s day: Concert at the village

October,14th was Women’s day in Belarus. It’s a new holiday for us to celebrate, a few years old. But we held a concert in one of the villages, where we support some foster families. There were about 50 people and kids from the village.

The message was about a role of a mother and how to be a good Godly mother. There were also some songs, poems and gifts. Afterwards we had some pastries.

Thank you all dear friends for your prayers, your love and your support.

In Christ,

Olga

Related posts:

1. Holy Days in Belarus — New Year’s
2. Birthdays And Clowns
3. Life-Giving Ministry in Belarus

Simon Young and Sergei Tovstapyat have been leading ecological field trips for orphans and school children in the St. Petersburg area. Simon is from the UK and has been ministering in Russia for many years. Sergei is perhaps better known as the administrator of Camp Elama. Through teaching ecology, they build relationships with children and teachers and share the gospel as they study God’s creation.

From October 3rd to 13th they conducted theoretical and practical lessons with students from School #280, investigating issues related to environmental pollution and development. This program, in partnership with MIR, is presented under the auspices of the Mendeleev Chemical-Technological University in Moscow.

A very talented group of 12 students from the 6th and 7th grades participated.

The program consists of field trips to study and monitor nature in order to analyze problems of environmentally sustainable development of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region.

Simon and Sergei also spoke with the leadership of Chemistry and Biology Lyceum #281 about starting a high school program. They will also conduct sessions with the orphanage in Tolmachevo, two hours south of St. Petersburg. And they are planning an Eco Camp at Camp Elama in June of next year.

It’s great to see this program expanding. Here are Sergei and Simon (in back) with the students:

Related posts:

1. MIR — Camp Elama
2. Foster Families in the Leningrad region
3. Eco Camp Week: Bugs Can Tell You More.

We have an opportunity to help graduates from orphanages. Two of them are Marina and Yuri.  We worked with Marina in the orphanage and we met Yuri through Marina. They have a boy  Dima, three years old now. This family is trying to make a different way for  their son.

Yuri and his brothers were sent to the orphanage when their mother died.  His father moved to Ukraine with his other three kids.  Yuri graduated and stayed in St.Petersburg. He finished technical  school  and his profession is a welder. He worked for some time but now lost his job.

Marina was put into an orphanage when she was 8 years old. Her mother is drug      addicted and  disabled now. It seems that Marina did not experience her mother’s love and care ever.  As we remember Marina was a very tough teenager and sometimes ran away from the  orphanage.

This is all a consequence of  a difficult life outside a family where no one accepts and loves her. She also was discouraged by care givers in the orphanage. We witnessed a conversation between Marina and one of the care giver, who said “you will never succeed and you will have to bring your children to orphanage to be raised.”

Clothes and Toys for Marina's Family

Marina graduated from a different orphanage than Yuri. Then she met Yuri and they decided to be a  family. They live in one room with Marina’s mother because the government doesn’t  provide for her  apartment yet.

One day Marina asked us (she has our contacts) for help when she did not have  enough food  to feed her baby. So we brought them some food and found that they have basic needs to cover  for themselves and for their baby. We looked through our clothes, our  daughter Nastya gave her toys  and several families from our church gave baby clothes for  them. They were very thankful for  everything.

So step by step we are building our friendship with  Marina and Yuri. Both of them love their  son Dima and hope that he will never experience what they have. God has opened for us a door to share Christ’s love with them.

Watching Video about Athletes in Action

Please pray for this young family:

1)  that Yuri and Marina will come to know Christ’s love and find salvation in Him

2) for Yuri’s new job. It is a complicated situation: employer did not pay for Yuri’s work

3) for a home of their own so they can have their own private space as a family

4) for our relationships with Yuri and Marina to influence them to seek God

Sharing the Gospel with Yuri

We are grateful to all of you who pray and partner with us working in God’s field!

May God be with you,

Yan & Nadya                If God leads you to Support HEART FOR ORPHANS read HERE

Related posts:

1. Orphans Visit America
2. Update from MIR
3. New Year Celebration

Dear friends,

As fall is here in Belarus and we enjoy the pretty leaves and colors, the ministry goes back to its regular schedule after summer. We continue to visit orphanages, shelters, foster homes and spend time with orphan graduates.

This time we want to share about our clown party that we had in one of the orphanages. There were 160 children, most of them had some health issues. We had 5 clowns, who led games for kids and gave out small gifts and candies to the kids. It was held in a big assembly hall where all the kids could come.

We had a great audience that enjoyed our play and we really enjoyed those kids. We also made some new friends. Most kids wanted to talk to us and spend some time afterwards.

Last weekend it was Teacher’s day in Belarus. And we decided to get some gifts and congratulate all the 15 teachers at Stankovo shelter. We got all of them a bottle of shampoo and a box of chocolate. They were so thankful.

At the official part we enjoyed our time together with the teachers at the table having food and cakes. Then we also had time with the kids. We brought them some fruit, drinks, cookies and candies. While teachers were having their party the kids were snacking on their goodies. It was fun.

Also we were given 2 wheel chairs that were a great blessing to 2 women who were in great need for the chairs. Valentina, the first woman, got into a car accident 2.5 years ago. She can’t move her lower part of the body, she lives all by herself and she is praying for a computer, so that she can keep in contact with the outside world as well as work part time on the computer.

The other women Vera hasn’t been outside for a long time (she lives in a tall apartment building). Now with the wheelchair, she can go out. She was so happy. Please continue to pray for those ladies.

MFH News

October 1st was Katya’s wedding. Katya was in MFH for 2 years. She was a good girl, who learnt a lot during that time. We are happy for Katya.

The ceremony was very small, it took places at a court house near Minsk. Katya was a pretty bride that day. We continue to pray for her as she enters her own adult life. May the Lord be with her and keep her safe, helping her to remain in the teachings she received, and we trust that her life will be successful.

Thank you all dear friends for your prayers, support and for my birthday wishes,

Love,

Olga Goncharenko

Related posts:

1. Bible Studies and Birthdays in Belarus
2. God’s Love in Shelters, Orphanages and Hospitals
3. Life-Giving Ministry in Belarus

Weekly Orphan Outreach:

Our passion is to reach orphan teens, making  relationships, building  trust  and sharing our lives with them. We spread the gospel and  study the bible with many of them in creative ways.

We have been  praying to expand this work through Russian churches, building teams of volunteers to help orphan kids to know our loving God, His commandments and  blessings in  Jesus Christ. I  (Yan) also use my barber  skills  and eight years of studies in soccer school in the orphanages so that helps me to find new ways to get teens to open up.

Special events and birthdays:

We prepare birthday celebrations for each of the orphans we work with. We  try to create events that bring more  personal fellowship to the individual.

What would stay in  orphan’ hearts?  Perhaps the fact that they are loved and  someone rejoices with them on this special day.

New Start for Orphan Graduates:

We continue our fellowship with kids after they graduate  from  orphanages. They like to come to visit us.

We have several young mothers as well that we came  alongside to mentor and  encourage, teaching them life skills. Ministering as a couple we  have a great opportunity to  show them how to live their lives differently then they have experienced in their dysfunctional families.

We share with them what God has done for us and how He has been changing our lives and relationships.

Related posts:

1. Welcome to Yan and Nadya Boldyrev
2. The Boldyrevs — Summer Camp Ministry in Russia
3. MIR: Partnerships and Growth

GOD is LOVE

Worship time, So good to praise Him!

Story time and songs

Craft time

Smores and Fun time

Teens Fellowship

Related posts:

1. The Boldyrevs — Summer Camp Ministry in Russia
2. News from Belarus — Summer Camps 2009
3. Montenegro: camps, cars and other news

(Ps. 119:130)

This summer has been filled with many joyful events. We participated in ministering to orphans in summer camps with several US teams doing vacation bible study with kids and also visited kids who stay in orphanages for some cause.

The Lord has brought together many Christians from different churches from Russia, USA, UK, Estonia and missions.

Because of God, your prayers and support, His ministry has been fulfilled as we served as one Body of Christ. Here are a few illustrations:

We worked with a team from the USA that has been coming to do summer camps for orphans for the past three years. Over the years team built a good relationship with director and staff of the camp. In this camp were children from normal families and orphans.

We were praying for God to open the door to us to distribute Bibles in this camp. The team leader asked camp authorities to have permission for us to do that and the answer was “yes”.

So I was able to get Russian bibles for free and 200 kids and 20 caregivers got the Bibles. Praise to the Lord!!!

Our last camp we did for foster care kids in Estonia with team from UK. God gathered talented team members and used all of us to bring truth and light of God. Kids had fun time through creative skits, sports, crafts, music and worship time. It’s helped us to build relationships with them and sowed the seeds of God’s grace and His Word to many children’s hearts.

God is so good!!! Please remember all of them in your prayers that His Word does change their lives.

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. (2 Ti 4:22)  To see more picture click here

With love, Yan & Nadya

If God leads you to Support HEART FOR ORPHANS read HERE

Related posts:

1. More Camp News
2. Ministry in Russia
3. Alina: Foster Care in Russia