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The Lord had a dream. He created a child. Created the child to be loved. But people didn’t understand this dream—they abandoned the dream and threw it away.
 
But the Lord didn’t give up—He continued to dream and wrote a wonderful fate for this little person- how he would continue on, learn, get up after falls, and overcome himself and his difficulties. The Lord knew how this child’s heart would struggle. Every morning at daybreak He says, “your loved ones and relatives abandoned you, didn’t understand why you were born, but I am with you and I am the gracious Lord. Go forward- I believe in you, my beloved child.”

Christmas

Every child loves Christmas. And our children too! And not always just because of the gifts. Christmas is always a special time. People become more open—you might receive an unexpected smile or hear “Merry Christmas!” And our home also fills with this special warmth. We thank all our friends who came and wrote to us during Christmas time. Thanks that through you the Lord filled our home with warmth from heart to heart, care for the needs of one another, and love for those around us.

The children with their own effort prepared a Christmas celebration. They staged dancing, singing, and our youngest children recited poems. During this celebration the Russian “Grandfather Frost” visited. For several years now, the role has been played wonderfully by our janitor Oleg Yakovlev.
 
And later we were visited by the actual “Santa Claus” from Florida, USA, along with a group of Christians. He also brought the children gifts, and the children sang him several songs and recited some Christmas poems to him.
 
A group of young people from the Gospel Light church also visited, with their puppet troupe “Unstandard.” They performed a few Christmas plays. Then, the staff presented each child with a gift and wishes and thanks from the past year. We thanked the older children for all their support to the staff and help around the home and with the younger children. We wished for the children to have even more patience and assiduity in their studies and success in working on their characters. But the most important wish was that they would believe with their whole heart that the Lord loves each of them very much!

The Lord is nearby!

Since October 30th a flu pandemic has been declared in Ukraine. Many public places were closed and children didn’t go to school. The sanitation service announced a special need to wear medical masks. In our home there are 36 children and if one child becomes sick, the illness can be easily passed to the other children. We prayed to the Lord to protect our children from illness. Our nurse Elena P. and all the educators took much care to keep the children from catching cold, especially our youngest children. The children’s bodies are weak from their previous life conditions of poor nutrition and lack of medical care while living with their parents. Supplemental vitamins and tea with lemon and honey were given. We thank the Lord that He protected our home and children, bringing them safely through the wave of flu. The Lord cares about His children.

Two brothers—Danil and Vladik

Sometimes very young mothers come to us for help because they cannot care for their children and they ask us to take the children into our home. These mothers raise the children alone, without a father. A young woman came to us, 22 years old with two sons named Danil (8) and Vladik (5). The mother couldn’t provide for her children’s needs but understood that the children need to go to school and have someone to care for them. Danil entered at first grade level. He is behind in the school program, but our teacher is giving him supplemental studies. Vladik is very cheerful, friendly, and serious. He has very beautiful blue eyes! Their mother doesn’t forget about her sons. She often comes to visit and calls. And the children pray for their mother—that everything will be ok with her, that there won’t be anger and fighting at home, that dishes won’t be broken, that mama will come again to visit.

Who can fix everything?

Valerii Nikolaevich works at the Good Shepherd Shelter. By profession he is an electrician, but he can fix many things. And when more than 30 children live at our home, the ability to repair something is very relevant every day. Valerii Nikolaevich has worked at the Good Shepherd Shelter for 12 years, since 1998. He took part when the shelter had only begun its service and still continues to carry out his duties well. The children know him and love to observe how he works. Last year Valerii Nikolaevich endured a critical heart condition. We all prayed that the Lord would restore him to health because we have need of him as a good, experienced worker. And we thank God that now Valerii Nikolaevich continues to work with us.

Achievements and Plans

At the end of the year we gave the children a question about their achievements in the past year and plans for the coming year. Here are some of the answers we received:

Achievements		Plans
- I learned to play tennis - I learned to play tennis with my left hand - I broke my arm for the first time - I raked leaves in the fall - I helped with the little kids - I learned to walk on my hands - I did well in school - I started to read more books - I learned computer skills - I started to value what I have - I got first place in track and field - I learned how to sew - I taught my sister how to read - I learned how to think long and hard - I studied well in school		- I want to become a police officer - To become an excellent student - To play for Shakhtyer (a popular Ukrainian soccer team) - I want to study well at school - I want to be with my Mom - To learn how to ride a bicycle - To learn English - To be benevolent - To become a gymnast - To change my relations with people - I want to go to Crimea - To become stronger

Please pray together with us:

Our material needs: