Finishing up Christmas in Russia!

Did you know that the Russian people celebrate Christmas on January 7th? So, if you enter a home in Russia right now, you might still see a Christmas tree still standing decorated and in lights.

Right after the Christmas celebration, our Novgorod Director, Marina, made sure the kids in the only unofficial orphanage in Novgorod really knew the meaning of Christmas. Once again there was singing, dancing, sharing the Nativity story and giving out presents!  This orphanage is divided into three sections: preschoolers, elementary and High School.  Each group of kids received their presents and had a celebration of their own!  The older teens have always been hard to work with because of set stereotypes about Christianity. Sitting down around some food helped to melt the ice and have a wonderful time of fellowship about a God that sent His Son to this earth over 2000 years ago.  To see these teens thirsting for the truth makes it even more important to continue the relationships that our summer teams built with each one at that orphanage.

We are excited to see what God has planned for this children’s home in Novgorod. Please keep the kids and staff in your prayers. And, please pray for our Novgorod Director, Marina, as she continues to minister to the kids and empowers the local Christians to take care of orphans. 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Read Full Post »

Christmas in Russia.

Once again the TB Children Center in Novgorod was busy this past December with getting ready to show their friends the story of Jesus’ birth!  So exciting to see the kids and teens acting out the Christmas Story!

The children were so eager to do the play “The Birth of Jesus” this year again that Marina, our Director in Novgorod, could not resist their excitement to do the performance even though on the first days it was hard to organize them. They behaved so badly that we were about to cancel the play. But to her surprise, on the next day of the rehearsal, she saw that almost all of them learned the words and and even prepared the costumes for the play. It touched her heart.

We are sure that the children who participated will remember the wonderful story of the Jesus’ birth. The kids were nervous a bit because we had many guests – the staff and some of the parents of the children who came to see the performance.  Some of the parents heard the story about Jesus’ birth for the first time! About a Savior from their children. Isn’t it amazing?

At the end all the children received their Christmas present!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Christmas project at the TB Center in Novgorod.  A special thank you to International Concern for Children Foundation, ICCF, who made it possible for the children to receive some basic necessaries in their presents!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Read Full Post »