The boys were doing their outdoor chores yesterday when we arrived at the "Nikolaev School of General Education and Social Rehabilitation" - what we call the Boys Home. Each boy is assigned an area of responsibility to make sure it is neat and tidy.
Several of these boys were not with us during the summer, and it is wonderful to have them back with us. They were all well prepared for the lesson and eager to read Bible verses. The ones who have some family member willing to give them a place to stay are allowed to live off the campus during the vacation times. This does create a little envy from the boys who live there permanently, but they also have the place to themselves. One of the people who follow these reports asked me if we work with different groups of boys. We are always willing and eager to do that. During the summer, we were working with two different groups of boys who are all true orphans. That was a temporary situation. Now that school has restarted, we are working once again with the same group that we had all last year. We will ask the leadership of the school next week if we can have another group to work with on a permanent basis. In any event, we are very blessed to have this opportunity to plant the seeds of faith in the hearts of these young men. The boys we work with range in age from twelve to seventeen.
Normally this year we will have twelve boys in this group. The nine boys that were present yesterday were very excited about the gift of socks and underwear that we received from my brother Tim last week. They had never seen such nice underwear and wanted to wear them as shorts until Margarita intervened. We left a package for the other three. We also have the same gift for the boys in the other group that was with us in the summer. The two boys that recently had to move out due to their age are already living in dormitories at their respective technical schools. We will find them and take their gifts to them. Furthermore, the good brothers and sisters at the Dalraida Church of Christ just went over the top when they heard about the need for clothing among the boys. They raised a sum of $1,390 that we will have available to use in buying good clothing for the boys. It was suggested by a dear brother at Dalraida that perhaps they would allow the boys to go on a shopping trip with us and Galina could help guide the boys in choosing some clothing for themselves. We wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment of that suggestion. However, the administration of the school will not allow that at this time. Perhaps we can take them two at a time. We will investigate that possibility. In any event, we have the sizes of the boys and know their likes and dislikes, so we can find a day to go shopping.
We were on our way out the entrance that we don't normally use, and the boys wanted a photo.
This young man and his brother are some of the true orphan boys. They both excel in anything connected with the metal and woodworking shop classes. This includes drawing the plans for the project. As we were leaving, they were joking that they could just go on to America with us. I'm not so sure they were completely joking.
We have a 'goat hill" on the grounds that surround the Boys Home. The goats were butting heads and vying for top position as they sometimes do on the various capital hills around the world. Thank you for the many prayers of faith and kind words of encouragement. We are looking forward to another day of worship here in Nikolaev. We are hoping that our advertisements that will begin to appear on the advertising boards this week will draw some new students for our English classes using the Bible and the WEI lessons. Learn to do good. Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless. (Isaiah 1:17)научитесь делать добро, ищите правды, спасайте угнетенного, защищайте сироту, вступайтесь за вдову. (Исаия 1:17 Russian)
Навчіться чинити добро, правосуддя жадайте, карайте грабіжника, дайте суд сироті, за вдову заступайтесь! (Исая 1:17 Ukrainian)
Aprended á hacer bien: buscad juicio, restituid al agraviado, oid en derecho al huérfano, amparad á la viuda. (Isaías 1:17 RVA Spanish)
Most Excellent God, our Dear Heavenly Father ~ Thank you for the sunshine of your love that greets us on this new Lord’s Day. Bless believers around the world who are meeting together today in harmonious communion. Arouse within the church that belongs to Christ, a renewed sense of being people who demand justice for the oppressed and are eager to do good deeds that glorify our Lord. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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