SGA-Sponsored Orphans Reborn Team
Kirov Region, Russia
Greetings in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ! By God’s grace—and with your faithful support and prayers, we are reaching orphan children in the Kirov region with the love of the Lord Jesus. We believe you will rejoice when you see the fruit of our regular visits through a few recent examples.
In one orphanage in a nearby village, we are ministering to children who have developmental problems. It took us some time to get through their wariness of people—they were “sizing us up.” But today, their keen eyes are focused on every lesson, and they eagerly await our arrival. Our hearts just rejoice!
In this orphanage school, there is a special boy named Egor. We noticed him right at the beginning of our visit. At first glance, he seemed painfully worse than the other children. His speech is unclear and vague. But in reality he is a very clever boy, with an excellent memory! His teachers said that he has read through his children’s Bible several times! When we have discussions with the boys on the lesson topic, his answers are like those you would expect from a long-time believer. It’s amazing! This time we gave him a full adult Bible as a gift.
The impact of Orphans Reborn is not restricted to just the children. There are always teachers or caregivers at our lessons, and you can watch how they catch every word, even themselves asking questions about life. When we leave, they repeat the lessons with the children about what we said. In that way, the truth is planted even more surely in them. The Bible is often quoted in this class, and the children in their daily lives remember our lessons. One day, as a teacher accompanied us to say goodbye, she cried—heartily thankful for the light that we are at their orphanage.
She told us that these kids had not seen anything good in their lives or family relations. No one would tell them the truth or bring gifts to them like us. Gifts are rare occurrences. Such a testimony touched us deeply, and encouraged our hearts to keep visiting the children, to see that our labor is not in vain, and that… the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword… (Hebrews 4:12).
At Easter, we showed the Jesus film, which the boys watched with open mouths and eyes! At one orphanage where we took the film, the room was so quiet that the teachers who passed by looked us in the room and could not believe that the children were so quiet! After the film, some boys came up to us to share their innermost feelings, and we prayed with them about their problems!
The Lord is doing His work in them, and in all of us! Thank you, dear brothers and sisters, for our work together with you on God’s harvest field, and for the financial and prayer support you have given us! May God richly bless your homes and families!