When a child is feeling lonely, sad or angry, it is sometimes difficult for them to handle their emotions in a way that is pleasing to others. Orphan children throughout Belarus (and other former Soviet countries) carry the heavy burdens of living without their parents.

Although the orphanages have a bed to sleep in and daily food to nourish their bodies, it never feels like home to them. Even when the circumstances are better in the orphanage, the child still longs for the conditions of home—even if they are unsatisfactory.

Through the faithfulness, love and care of SGA-supported Orphans Reborn ministries, “home” becomes a place in these children’s hearts. The faithful visits to the children, sharing the love of God through the Good News of the Gospel, and becoming trusted companions to them, leads the children to feel the warmth of what a home should look like. Relationships are developed, behavior changes, and God’s love is seen throughout.

Please continue to pray for these orphan children, and that their childhood will be full of the love and comfort that the family of God is so ready to give. Pray that many will open their hearts to not only this home of the heart, but also to salvation through their Savior, Jesus Christ.  

Recently, two leaders serving in the SGA-supported Orphans Reborn ministry in Belarus shared powerful reports of how God is working in the lives of children they visit.

From Alexander:

At our meeting, I noticed a girl named Sasha who is 13 years old. Her mother had lost parental rights due to alcoholism. Looking into Sasha’s sad eyes, I asked her what had happened. She quietly whispered, “I’m here alone.” I began talking to her and asking about her life, and suddenly I saw her smile blossom before my eyes from the conversation. 

She has a mother and two older adult sisters. They come to visit her rarely, but her mother abuses alcohol, which is why Sasha is in the orphanage. She really wants and waits for her mother to come and bring her back to their home. Although the conditions here are good—better than at her home—with a warm bed, cleanliness, and delicious food, she still says it’s a prison. 

I invited Sasha to join our conversations with the children, to participate in the discussion. She agreed. While talking with the children, I asked them what happiness is. Both the younger and older children answered: having a family, having mom and dad nearby, living in your own home. I felt ashamed for their fathers and mothers. It shouldn’t be this way, but, unfortunately, sin is to blame for everything. With the children, I pray for their parents. 

You should hear their prayers—when a small child asks God for Mom to stop drinking and take them away, for Dad to get out of prison and take them home. Tears flow from my eyes, and even though I’m a grown man, it hurts to hear such prayers. Please pray for the children, that we may have the power of God to speak and impart to them the truths of God, so that they will accept and submit to Him. Pray for the parents, for their repentance, that they will abandon their sinful ways and return their children.

From Vladimir:

Praise the Lord, the difficulties in visiting the boarding school are disappearing. For several months in a row, I was forbidden to work with the children or conduct Bible lessons. Recently, there was an incident at the boarding school. Four teenagers beat up a young male teacher. The discipline of the children I worked with has become much worse. This incident showed the authorities the difference between the children’s behavior during our Bible fellowship and after its absence. The teachers openly said that Christian work with children, Bible lessons, and our fellowship help children change for the better. 

Kolya is a striking example of this. I previously wrote to you about three brothers, Kolya, Petya, and Zhenya. They are orphans from the same boarding school, although they have aged out of the orphanage and are now graduates. But earlier, when Kolya was in a boarding school and didn’t know about God, the teachers and administration spoke of him with horror. He would find a piece of plywood and throw it at the teachers. The director repainted his car three times. Kolya would scratch it with a nail, a stone, or small gravel. He was tall, unruly, and embittered, a man who belonged either in a psychiatric hospital or prison, as the boarding school administration described him. Friends, Kolya heard about Christ, heard the Word of God, and his life changed. After a while, people couldn’t believe their eyes that anything good could come of him. God’s mercy! Thank God, that through these difficulties, God opened the eyes of those in charge, and I will be able to resume visiting children and working with them.