What we do may not seem like much, but we do what we can. Part of what we do in the ministry involving orphans is in and around Khabarovsk city. This is in the far-east of Russia. When we go there, we join our friend, full-time missionary in Khabarovsk over the course of 18 years, Svyatoslav Mayboroda, in helping him with what he’s been doing there for many years.
The orphans ministry consists of visiting the orphanages not only in Khabarovsk city, but also in the region. We’ve been part of the winter crusade, but they also visit them in the summers as well. During the winter visits, we would put on a nativity play, sing a couple songs with them, and share some love and joy with little gifts for each child. You can see their smiles in the pictures. In the summers, visits include playing some sort of sports and doing crafts with the children.
The kids growing up in orphanages don’t have the same opportunity to succeed in life as do those who grow up in a family. When they graduate form an orphanage, they can go to college, and the government will provide them with a temporary residence in a hostel. If they drop out or don’t make it academically, they’ll be forced to live on the streets. We’re fortunate to know some of these young adult and try to help them where we can.
Another part of our ministry is working with kids in secluded villages. We come to a village, gather the kids and do a day camp program thats about a week long. If the village has a church building, which is usually just a small home purchased for our fellow Christians to gather in and they call it the House of Prayer, we would stay there during the time we spend in the village. If not, we would set up tents near the village and the kids would come to where we are. We do this during the summers, and the kids love it. We split the kids up into groups and we’d have an hour of Bible lessons, and then sports, sing together, do skits for the kids, and just have fellowship. In the evenings we’d usually have fellowship with teens, youth, and the young adults by a campfire.
Another part to our ministry is we want to remodel a House of Prayer, church building, in one of the villages. Doing this, we not only make the House of Prayer look good on the outside and feel good on the inside, but also it will be a witnessing statement to the villagers that will see us Christians that love and do care about their God and their brothers and sisters in Christ.
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:35(KJV)
There are multiple ways you can take part in our ministry.
-First off, you can pray for us. It really does help!
-Second, if God calls you to serve, you can join us on of our upcoming trips.
-And lastly, if you can’t make it to go with us, you can still contribute to the work that will be done for the glory of God