Life and Service in Belarus
April 29, 2010
Dear Friends,
We greet you in the name of Jesus from the Belorussian land. Here is the update from our ministry. And there is a slide show with many more pictures at the end of this report.
Orphanages
We are very busy with the preparation for camps. This summer we will have two camps, one for Stankovo kids at the end of May—beginning of June and the other one is in July– for Slytsk kids.
You can see pictures of Stankovo kids, who will go to camp with us. Only 4 girls, and the rest is boys. It’s a Christian camp for 18 days.
Meanwhile we continue to do our regular programs such as crafts (He holds the whole world in His hand, was the last one.)
Some kids didn’t know who is He, so we explained and finished with the song in Russian that He holds everybody (we called every child by name) in His hands. It was great.
We also did a seminar for teenagers at Stankovo. The topic was “How do I spend my life? What is important for me in life?”
We had some teenagers, who are believers participate as well and at the end, they shared their testimonies over the tea with cookies.
Slytsk orphanage is in the last few months of its existence as the government has decided to use the building for something else and the kids will be spread all over the place. It’s very sad for everyone, but we do hope that our camp that will take place in July will be a blessing. The camp will be on the lake and will go for 7 days and we’ll have a team from Massachusetts.
Sponsorship program
We continue our sponsorship program to help poor, needy children and families to get basic needs met. Right now we are working on getting about 5 kids from our program to go to a Christian camp in Latvia, together with other kids from all over Belarus. It’s a third camp we are involved in this summer.
Raisa, 65 year-old grandmother who takes care of Vlad, 14 years old, (at left, with Steve Singley from the USA) whose parents are alive; the father is an alcoholic and was in prison for many years, and the mother has another family and another child, so she doesn’t care for Vlad anymore.
The family is in great need of what to eat daily and how to have their needs met, but with God’s help and with the help of a sponsor, they are able to go on.
Another family is Lilya, a single mom, with two boys: Lesha (Alex) and Vlad. The need is there and we have been helping them to get food, as well as go through difficult health issues for the boys. Also with our own efforts (just the girls) we made complete repairs of her flat, and you can see the results in the pictures as well.
It took us about three week of every day work there at the flat, but we wanted to encourage her as well, as she is single, we showed her that it’s still possible to go on, even after her husband left her and the kids, with no support.
Minsk Family Home
Our service continues. There are 5 girls: Masha, Alona, Katya, Alla and Tanya, as well as our counselor Alesya.
Three girls have started to attend a bible school at church.
We are planning a retreat for them at the end of May. Two girls will be applying to colleges this summer. Besides, they are very active in the orphanage ministry.
Personal news
Our family is doing well and we are going to have an addition to our family, a baby girl, at the end of July. Please pray for us.
Prayer needs
- Camps for Stankovo kids, Slytsk kids and two groups for a camp in Latvia. Pray for God’s protection, health, for His glory and changes in kids. Also for all the finances to come in and for God’s anointing on the counselors and volunteers.
- In May there will be graduation parties, that we’ll take part in. Pray for all the kids, who leave, especially for Slytsk since they do not know where and when they are going to be moved and for finances for us to do something special for those graduation children.
- For MFH and the retreat, for the girls to be accepted to colleges.
- For health and provision, God;s wisdom and strength for the Goncharenko’s family.
Thank you very much and all the blessings of Heavens and Earth be upon you,
In Christ, Olga and the team.
Related posts:
- Life-Giving Ministry in Belarus
- Belarus Slideshow — Sharing the Birth of Jesus
- God’s Love in Shelters, Orphanages and Hospitals
- And Chocolate Potatoes for Dessert
- Belarus — Families, Cooking and Conferences
Comments
One Response to “Life and Service in Belarus”
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Thank you so much to those who have taken the time to take these pictures and make them available to us on line. Olga we love you and thank you for your constant flow of love to so many. When I saw the picture of you working to repair someone’s flat I immediately remembered how you came to my small farm and washed chicken eggs for me when I was dealing with my husband’s cancer treatments. I look forward to camp in early July and meeting some of the kids in person.
Respectfully,
Diane Cheney from Massachusetts