News

Nov`10 - January`11

Christmas

Christmas, of course, is one of the most favorite holidays for our every child. Probably, it is the second popular holiday after child’s own birthday. The children like Christmas and New Year not only because of presents and winter holidays but we believe that during Christmas services at the church and during special Christmas supper at home –God’s presence fills their hearts. They understand, that they are loved and taken a good care of and what is the most important the Lord loves them and He is always near. Children’s hearts that were hurt by this cruel world are healing.

Literature club

In December in the Good Shepherd Shelter we have had the literature party for elder girls. We have been discussing a work “Eugenie Onegin” written by Great Russian writer Alexander Pushkin”. Our main goal was not only to read a classical work, but also to see and understand what author wanted to tell in it. Together with the girls we decorated the classroom, turned on the classical music those times. We drank tea with hard bread ring (one of the most popular cookies those times), learned the biography of Pushkin, read several excerpts from the work, and watched the movie “Eugenie Onegin”. Then we discussed what we have heard and watched. We discussed the way the main characters lived, discussed the culture of those times, and also the hunting- is it good or bad? We read from Bible about fortune-telling, a short story and rules of duel and dancing. The conclusion is that Tatyana (the main character) lives like a Christian and she remained faithfulness to her husband.

It was very interesting to hear thoughts and opinions of our girls. They are so grown ups!!! We want to teach them to think, to find right conclusions and live according Christian principles.

Our Andryusha S.

Andryusha is a seven years old boy. He has been living in the Good Shepherd Shelter for two years. When he just came, he was very shy and unsure. Two women brought the boy to us; they found him asleep on steps of the school. He didn’t want to go home and he didn’t have any other place to go. When we took off his clothes, we saw bruises on his body, he was beaten a lot. Later on we find out that he has a mother, she has a place to live, the problem is that she is addicted to alcohol and often has people over.

Now, when Andrey communicates with other children, we can see that he is very aggressive; it is his way to protect himself. The only person Andrey remembers and talks about is his neighbor that fed him.

Andrey is a second grader now. He likes to study, does great with Math. He has made friends in the Good Shepherd Shelter. At school he has no friends, probably, because he has been sitting by himself for a long time. Sometimes he lies but not as often as it was before, he takes lessons from his deeds. He is more open now and the most important is that we can see a smile on his face more often!!!

Is Santa Claus real?

It is not a secret for adults that sooner or later every child asks him(her)self this question! And you can hear the whole bunch of different answers! If you try you can even remember your own thoughts to that question. There is one tradition in our home- every year we have our own Santa Claus. Our electrician has been perfectly playing his role for the fourth year already ), His name is Oleg, many children know who is hiding behind the white long beard, the smallest ones do not know for sure but they can guess. Anyways, every child is very excited to see Santa and recite him poems, tell him about his( her) behavior, promise to be better next year and of course to get present from him. This year God blessed us with a lot of Santas! We have had at least 5 of them, who came to offer their congratulations to the children! All the Santas looked different: some of them were tall and slim; others not so tall and not so slim, one of them even spoke English. We had great time together and we thank Lord that he gave these people desire to share their joy and warmth with the children.

The Nutcracker

14th of January we have had a musical performance that was dedicated to Birth of Christ.

The only participants in this musical were children; the smallest actress was just 4 years old. Her name is Ann. She recited Psalm 22 and she was the favorite daughter of the Mouse king in the play. The hall was decorated with white and pink colors and after the performance children had white and pink marshmallows. During the musical a lot of classical music was heard, as for example Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Schubert or other famous musicians. Before and after each rehearsal all the participants were praying and they knew that it is not just a performance but spreading His Word and sharing His love with all those who are around. In the very end of this event we sang “Silent night” and prayed: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name….

Now we are planning with kids to visit a state internat, in order to share with other children God’s love. We asked our children to choose one present from those they’ve got to give it to a child, who, more likely didn’t get any. Lord bless us to be giving as He is giving!!!!!!