Thursday, January 8, 2009

Christmas Season has arrived in Russia...

The children from the shelter and orphanages have been calling Olga and I asking if we are in town and if we are coming to celebrate Jesus' Birthday with them in Suda, Krivets, Kaduy, and Cherepovets! And yes, we are back in town and getting ready to travel and celebrate Jesus with our precious children! Every call was so very special to us! Orphanage directors shared with us what the kids need for the winter. The way they did it was so special. They were very humble,giving a lot of respect to us as Christians. The directors let us know that the children are in need of warm sweaters and hats and we are going to buy nice quality, colorful sweaters and hats for each and every boy and girl in all the orphanages and a Christian shelter. Of course, we would like to buy "sweets and fruit" gifts also. We praise the Lord for He opened many doors for us to come in and share our lives and the blessing with the precious kids! Olga and I would like to say BIG BIG Thank-You to each and every donor who blessed the ministry with the gifts we can use to meet the needs of the poor.
This last week we have had a great time visiting children and sharing the Gospel. We prepared a wonderful skit where Father Frost, the Russian Santa, played by Andrew, was angry and depressed, complaining because he worked so hard to give little people gifts but never received any thanks or gifts for himself. He was burnt out by the material demands of Christmas no longer finding joy in the season. Then, while he is venting all his feelings to the orphans, the Christmas-tree, played by Alesia who use to be a troubled street kid who is now on fire for Jesus, had to speak up, much like Moses’ burning bush. She offers to explain the real Christmas story. The tree introduces the star that shown in the ski when Jesus was born, played by Irine, Abner’s wife, . It starts the nativity story and then a witch interrupts the story and tries to persuade Father Frost to reject the good news. Then shepherds, played by Abner, Max, and little Paul, come telling what they witnessed on the night Jesus was born, and wise men come telling what they witnessed when they gave their gifts to Jesus. Again the witch, played by Sveta tries to distract Father Frost, offering all the temptations she can think of but Father Frost rejects her and repents, receiving Jesus into his heart. After this he is filled with joy. Then Igor and Olga played an energetic kid’s song in Russian expressing the joy that we find in Jesus and we got everyone dancing. Then we started a snowball fight with the kids using paper balls. The children had a great time, and loved the skit. Some were watching with their jaws open like it was their favorite TV show. After the song my friend Nate, from the U.S, explained the skit, and offered the kids a chance to accept Jesus. It was my pleasure to translate the message of Salvation! Several raised their hands, and we led them in the sinner’s prayer. It is a great joy to see kids accept Jesus! I truly believe that the best gift we can give Jesus on his Birthday is a lost soul who accepts Jesus! Hallelujah! We ask that you would join us as we pray that the roots of faith would grow deep into their hearts and that the Lord would grow the seeds we planted. We can do all we can but ultimately their hearts are in the hands of God. And this is your harvest, our dearest friends, your beautiful fruit you had brought into the Kingdom! Thank you again for your prayerful and financial support! Olga and I do appreciate you a lot!

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