Portion for Orphans Newsletter

October 23, 2005

Update from Yaroslavl, Russia

“A new command I give you: Love one Another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35.
This has been our goal and our prayer: to love others, specifically orphans, to do little things with lots of love for them, and to do it all in the name of Christ. We are thankful to God for His hand being upon us, and to you all… for praying with us, for encouraging us and for setting aside a portion for the children that we have been visiting.

As we seek to obtain and increase greater awareness of orphans around the globe, we are striving to meet and treat them as individuals, rather than as a mass of children who are in need. Little by little, we are learning about children who have been orphaned, and about how we can help them. We hope not to favor any child over another, but we’d like you to meet a few of the individual children whose pictures are below.

Christina: Since the very first day, Christina made quite an impression upon Josh and I both, as I imagine she would on anyone who walked through the gates of Internat #9. She has a beautiful smile and a very unique character. She is always busy doing something and is friends with everyone, yet she always makes time to say hi and greet us. One day she even came to visit the younger children while we were spending time with them. She's about 12 years old. When I visited her family group, she showed me all around the place, told me about and showed me a book that she has been reading about Yaroslavl, and sang some songs that someone comes and uses to teach her group about God and the Bible. :)

Christina and Galina (the event organizer)

The Little Guy: Not many words are needed to go with this little guys' picture. It seems to speak for itself. He is precious, quiet and gentle, very observant of everything. He's one of the youngest children here, 3 or 4 years old. While we were outside the other day, he locked eyes with me for a long time, regardless of everything else that was going on. I wondered what he was thinking, and if he could tell what I was thinking... about putting him in my back pack and taking him home with me. I bet he loves the little stuffed animal that you all sent for him. :)

The Little Guy

Your Portion: Here are some of the ways in which we have used the portions that so many of you have set aside for these children. Before we left for Russia, we purchased many items to donate to the orphanage. These included school and classroom supplies, some sewing materials, and many crafts to do with the children. We also brought stuffed animals for every child here under the age of 12. In the past week we were able to place a different stuffed animal on the bed of each of the children. Before that, they had nothing of their own, only a uniform pillow and blanket. A stuffed animal is a small thing, but to a 3 or 4 year old child, a unique stuffed animal is a great comfort and a great best friend. We've also purchased and donated journals, pens, puzzles, 'new' undergarments and a few other things that we feel would be encouraging to a child... things that a mother would normally give to her own children, things that they lack if she's not around. We also brought a number of activities and games to do with them. In the coming week, we will spend time purchasing and donating items such as, more supplies for the sewing class, Bible story books, some personal items for the children, and probably a few instruments for the music class as that is what has been requested by the director Irina Nicolaevna. We would like to ask for your prayers over this aspect of our trip... that making donations would be a great joy, and that God would grant us all that we need in order to spend the funds in the best way.

The Children's Room with the donated stuffed animals
 

The Sewing Room

This will be our last week in Yaroslavl, and it will be the conclusion of our time visiting with the children at Internat #9. It is difficult to know what to say... it will be hard to leave. I would like to continue working with the children here and the door is definitely open. Friday, we spent the evening in the orphanage with a missionary couple who visits the children a few times a week. They help in various ways such as repairing the facilities and leading a Bible study for the kids. We were glad to see many of our new little friends there smiling and singing, and for them to see us there doing the same. They took us to church with them Sunday and that was great, a definite answer to prayer! :)

Thank you for lifting us up in prayer. Please continue to pray that we would be set on Christ and strong in Him, that His light and love would always reflect off of our lives with all those we encounter, and that God would continue to go before us and provide for us. He has been incredibly faithful to our every request thus far and our hope and faith are in Him. :)