That They Might Set Their Hope in God … Reaching Orphans in Kurgan, Russia

That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God (Psalm 78:6,7).

Pastor Alexander Yurovskikh
Kurgan, Russia

In the summer, God blessed us to serve orphans and other children in four villages.

We prepared everything we needed for the camp sessions. We formed a team with eight people, and the children readily took part in the program. They invited their friends to come. Parents, their children, and other adults came to the club to observe, listening to what we said and watching what we did.

Even the staff of village clubs and the orphanages not only watched, but joined in the activities! They were surprised to see the zeal and love among Christians who were working with the kids without any payment, serving them freely. The children eagerly took part in all the games with great interest. They learned the Christian songs, listened to Bible stories with interest, and loved to attend the craft lessons. At the next Bible class, the children repeated the biblical stories they had learned word by word. We saw God’s blessings in all these events, and it was the answer to our prayers. The children did not want us to leave. They said they would be looking forward to meet with us again.

The Lord blessed us with nice weather during the children’s activities and we received it as God’s blessing. There were thunderstorms and heavy rains, but it did not hinder our meetings with children. We had blessings and also had some difficulties. We needed permission to enter three villages. As we had come from Kurgan, we needed to have permission for entrance, as the villages are on the border with Kazakhstan. It took me several days to obtain permission for the visit there.

One more challenge was that my wife, Nadia, had a gallbladder attack, and she was in the hospital ten days. Despite the challenges, we succeeded in holding all planned activities for the children in the villages. The Lord blessed our ministry in a special way. There were 152 children who heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ!