Our dear friends,

 The winter seems to be over and that is very exciting! It feels like for the last couple of months of winter it was just cold and school and snow. March is always like that. Spring came late, and everybody was longing for warmth and flowers. So it’s good that we had all those holidays that kind of made things better. In February we celebrated Valentine’s Day, which is not really a Russian holiday, but we like it anyway, and Defenders’ Day, which is February 23rd.

 Originally it was a holiday for the military people and everyone who defends our country, but somehow it has turned into a men’s holiday. So we honor our boys and men and give them gifts and so on. In March we celebrated Pancake Day and Women’s Day. The Pancake Day is when we greet spring, make crepes, it’s also the Shrove Sunday and the last day before Lent. We played some games outside, burnt a puppet of winter, ate pancakes and had a great time. It’s a very fun holiday! The Women’s day was just a couple weeks after the Defender’s day, and people joked that the presents the girls get on this day are equivalent to those they gave to their men before. Some girls tried really hard on their gifts and got something nice in return.

 In March we spent three weeks at a camp. This was unusual – to go to a camp in the middle of the school term. We still had to take classes there, but it was very easy, because we had different teachers there and they were kind. We love going to that camp, but the bad thing was there were no other kids, just us. So it wasn’t as much fun as it usually is in the summer time. All of us got to go except for Alina (she’s too little) and Yulia Kolosova, she has to prepare for exams and can’t skip school.

 Right after we got back we had a very special visit from very special people: our good friends Kevin and Aletia along with some other great people came to visit us for a day. Too bad they couldn’t stay longer, we loved playing with them.

 We are looking forward to the camp we are going to have this summer. For many of us it’s going to be a first camp with Americans. We heard those are a lot of fun! And we are looking forward to making new friends! So… hope to see some of you soon! As for the rest – don’t forget to write!

Your kids from Ostrovskoye

	From the caregivers

 Dear friends,

 We are very excited about the upcoming camp! We haven’t really had one for some time, so this is great that we are going to do those again! We are already thinking about what it’s going to be like and planning some things for it. Other than that we haven’t had much going on. The kids were gone for awhile, so it was very quiet here. We have had some official visits and checkups at the orphanage but those were not anything special, just regular work moments. Everyone is really excited to have warm weather. Soon we will start the garden, and the children will have tests at school. We hope we will have enough time and strengths for everything! We hope to hear from and even see some of you very soon!

	From the discipler

 I should say that the one-day visit from you guys may have been crucial. There are many relatively new kids at the orphanage now, who hadn’t had a chance to meet an American before. So all this pen pal thing wasn’t quite clear to them, I think. Now that the new kids got to see “real Americans” as they say, and know for sure that you guys do come to visit and you’re fun to be around and they can make friends with you, it has lit a sparkle in their hearts! They want to write and get letters now! It’s not letters from abstract people anymore, these are now notes from people who may actually come, and who they can keep in touch with. Everyone is sooooo excited about a team coming in a couple of months! I know it will make a great impact on the kids. Making relationships which will be long term is very important for them. They’ve had so much transition in their lives that finding people who will follow their lives should mean a lot to them.

 As you can see, everything all of us can talk about now is this camp. But I want to also thank you for your letters. There’s been a lot more coming now, and they make the children so happy! You should see how much joy there is in their eyes, when they hear there’s a letter for them. I hope they keep coming and the kids do too!

 Have a great spring and can’t wait to meet some of you!

Nastya

	Prayer requests

• For the kids’ health
• Good school achievements for everyone
• For the staff to have strength and wisdom, as they work with the kids and take care of them

 Hello our dear friends! How are you doing? We miss you. It’s been a long time since we last heard from you. So, we’d love to know your news and how you and your families are doing. Anyway, we hope you are fine.

 Spring is finally here! That’s so great! We were waiting for it for so long! You might remember that we had a very cold and snowy winter. So, now we enjoy the sun and the warm weather. It’s so nice to be outside. But for school we’d hang out outside all day.

 But oh well, we have a few days more to study. The last school term was the shortest but it was the most important and difficult. It seems we had tests on every single subject. Now it’s almost over. And in a few days the summer break will start. For three long months there will be no school! We’ll enjoy the freedom. As usual some of us are going to see our families. The others are going to camp. We usually go to the same camp. So we already have friends from different places whom we meet every summer.

 Yesterday we had a Graduation Party for the ones who are leaving this year. It was both a sad and a happy moment. We wish our graduates to make wise choices about their future career and life. And we are going to miss them a lot. It’s great that most of the graduates don’t forget the orphanage and often visit their friends and teachers after they graduate.

 We also have a tradition at our orphanage. Future graduates make something with their hands, some craft to give to their friends, caregivers and teachers.

 Tomorrow final exams start for the graduates. We wish them good luck. Please pray that they do well and show all their skills and knowledge.

 In spring we didn’t only study, we had a few celebrations as well. We celebrated Easter in late April. Katya, our discipler, helped us make very beautiful Easter decorations and cards. In Russia we have similar Easter traditions as in America. We also colour eggs and have Easter cake. We don’t, however, have an Easter bunny. And that’s a pity. Katya told us about this tradition. And we think it’s amusing.

 We also celebrated Victory Day with a big concert at the orphanage. We were singing songs about brave soldiers, reciting poems etc.

 Well, that’s all our news so far. We are looking forward to the summer. And of course, we hope to hear from you soon.

 You are always welcome at our home.

 God bless you,

Nikolskoye kids

	Highlights of the orphanage life

• Easter celebration
• Victory Day concert
• Farewell party for the graduates
• Final exams of the graduates
• Summer vacations plans

	Discipler’s Update

 Hello dear friends!

 How are you doing? I hope you are fine.

 I’m fine. I continue my discipleship work at the orphanage. I’ve worked with these kids for quite a long time and I can say we’ve become really good friends. It’s a pity I only come once a month. So, I miss them a lot between my visits and so do they.

 We continue our lessons. The kids mostly like the crafts. We do lots of different stuff. And I think it’s great because through this, the kids show how creative they are. I love the fact that they always develop the ideas I bring and they try their best to make things beautiful. That’s because they usually give the crafts they make to their friends and caregivers as gifts. Besides, doing crafts together unites us and makes a comfortable atmosphere to start a discussion on this or that topic. You see, if I just come and make them listen to me, it doesn’t work. I have to do it implicitly.

 The kids hope that you are still their friends. Even though it’s been a very long time since we last heard from you, they keep asking if there are letters. Friendship and care is important for everyone, but especially for these kids who have been in a difficult life situation. That’s why they treasure all the care and attention given to them.

 So, we hope to hear from you.

 Take care,

Katya, the discipler

	Director’s corner

 Hello our friends!

 How are you? I hope you and your nearest and dearest are doing fine.

 Everything’s going fine here at the orphanage.

 We are finishing the school year. The kids are busy with homework and tests on most of the subjects. The teachers are busy checking them and assessing the kids’ knowledge.

 We continue to do lots of sports at the orphanage as usual. Our boys show good results in many different sports – badminton, athletics and football.

 We are happy for the kids that they are going to have a long summer break in a few days. They’ve worked a lot. Now it’s time for them to have a good rest. I’m also happy that some of our kids are going to see their families. It’s very important that they keep in touch with their relatives living here so as not to feel abandoned and lonely.

 The ones who are staying here for the summer are going to spend a couple of months in a summer camp. I believe the kids are looking forward to it as they have friends who come to the camp each year.

 We’d love to see you as guests at our orphanage one day.

 God bless you.

Ilya, the director

	Prayer requests

• Kids’ health
• Kids finish the school year successfully
• The graduates make wise choice about their career
• Discipler’s time with the kids
• Kids have a good rest during summer break

 Hello our friends,

 How are you? How was your spring? Ours was good. We had a lot of holidays this spring. We told you about our birthday party and Women’s Day that we celebrated in March.

 The highlight of April was Easter. We didn’t go to church, but the priest came to our orphanage and conducted a communion service. And our caregivers brought a lot of colored eggs for us and the cooks prepared a festive dinner and a tea party. Easter is one of our favorite holidays. How do you celebrate it?

 In May it was finally warm and sunny, so we spent a lot of time in the yard and had many outdoor activities. First, we had a contest for the best chalk drawing on our school yard. Then, we had several clean-ups in the yard, everybody took part in it! We picked up litter and swept our yard with brooms. Afterwards everyone got candy. Also, we took care of our two flowerbeds. Our caregivers planted some flowers there and we watered them. Now we play outdoors every day, we have a sandpit and some toys and footballs, and sometimes our PE teacher organizes races for us. It’s fun!

 Also in May we went to our local amusement park. They let us ride all the swings and slides, and all of us had a blast. Do you have amusement parks in America? Finally, in May we threw a graduation party for those of us who graduate from our kindergarten and are leaving for school in another orphanage. There are four graduates this year, and we performed a show for them, where we danced, recited poems, and sang songs about school. We will miss them!

 This summer we spent in the orphanage. And what about you? What did you do in summer? Please write to us.

 Love,

Nerekhta kids

	Discipler’s Update

 Dear friends,

 How have you been? Our little friends seemed to become more boisterous and lively when summer finally came. In this warm time of the year I have Bible studies with the kids as usual, but I also try to spend some with them during their walks in the yard. They love it when I play with them, and I think that’s a very bonding moment, and fun, too. I hope the children will have a good summer and those who are moving to school will do well there and make friends. I’ll miss them these three months!

 Love from,

Olya

	Director’s Notes

 Hello our friends,

 It’s Valentina writing to you. I have been a head of the preschool department of our orphanage for more then 20 years. I can say each year brings its own challenges in working with the kids. We do a lot of work with them in various spheres; we have a speech therapist, a musical worker, a PE teacher and caregivers who work with our children. We try to give them basic knowledge for school, facts about our environment and teach them to look after themselves. Sometimes it gets really hard, but overall this work is rewarding and I’m a bit sad because I’m retiring next month and although I really need a rest I’m sure I’ll miss my job some time.

 Thank you,

Valentina

	Prayer Requests

• Graduates who are moving to another orphanage in August
• Kids’ health
• Good vacations

 Hello our friends,

 How are you? Are you enjoying your summer? Is it hot? Here, May and June were pretty cold.

 May was both busy and relaxing for us. Busy because we had tests and exams and relaxing because there were several holidays in May and we had many days off school.

 In the beginning of May some of us went to athletics competition in Kostroma and our girls won the first prize! We love sports, do you? On the 9th of May we celebrated our state holiday – Victory Day. We made big posters on this theme and cards for veterans who came to our orphanage to see a concert that we prepared for them. We think they enjoyed it.

 Then, in the end of May we took lots of tests and 12 of our graduates took exams. Traditionally after studies and before examinations we had a ‘Last Bell’ celebration. Our graduates prepared a performance in which we also took part, and they passed the baton, so to say, to the eighth grade, who will graduate next year. After they were all done with their exams they went to the graduation party. They were all dressed up and looked great. We will miss them.

 Apart from studies we were also busy with gardening. This year we have a big garden where we grow garlic, onions, potatoes and we have several flowerbeds, too. And this garden is our responsibility, so we take care of it in turns. Now the weather is getting better, so we spend more time outdoors. Our PE teacher organized outside sports races for us. It was fun! It is finally getting warmer, so we are excited about swimming in our local river. Do you like to swim?

 Now most of us are in summer camps. How do you spend the summer? Write to us, please. We love getting letters from you.

Manturovo kids

	Discipler’s Update

 Hello my friends,

 It’s hard to believe, but the second year of my work with Manturovo children is already over. Time flies! During my April and May visits I had Bible lessons with the younger kids, heart-to-heart talks with the older kids and crafts with everybody. Manturovo children are very creative and crafts are definitely their favorite part. And they love to send their works to you. For some of them (especially for the younger kids) writing letters is too difficult but they are very good at all sorts of crafts, so they hope you like their drawings and applique works.

 Love,

From Olya

	Caregiver’s Corner

 Hello,

 This is Lyudmila writing to you. I’ve been a caregiver for the youngest kids here for many years. Working now is difficult because the financing is rather poor and you know how the little kids love toys and crafts. So our caregivers do their best to find some supplies for simple crafts. Apart from art, I pay a lot of attention to making our kids cultured people. I read to them a lot, we watch news on TV together, I teach them how to behave at the table and in public. Now they are very few kids at the orphanage because almost everyone went to summer camps or to their families, and I hope they will behave well.

From Lyudmila

	Prayer Requests

• Graduates, that they will study well in tech schools and make new friends there
• Kids’ time in summer camps
• The orphanage staff

 January through the end of our school year has been very busy and very educational for the children here at Luhktanovo Orphanage. Our Life Skills Program has been very effective and helpful in teaching the children about life after graduation, family dynamics, and marriage. We have had forty two learning sessions, split between two age groups. Twenty five children attended the educational sessions. The session topics were Family in My Life, He and She, Could It Be Love?, How to Start a Family, Family Roles, Family Budget, and Healthy Family. The children seemed to enjoy learning about families and marriage.

  In addition to our learning sessions at the orphanage, the children were taken to the Central Bank in Sudogda where they learned how to use an ATM machine. Also they visited the Employment Center (with the social worker) and central district clinic. Here, the students learned many valuable lessons about budgeting and finances, as well as health. During this trip, the students collected materials about how to use a savings account, debit cards, learned about a crisis center for women, and the ministry center for orphanage graduates. A handbook for the orphanage graduates by S. Lvova was purchased for each program participant. We also had a visit to the Social Services Department of Sudogda district administration in the middle of May.

Life Skills Instructor: Olga Platonova

Masha M.: “I like this program. I enjoyed going to the bank. They showed us how to use an ATM machine. It was very interesting. It will be very useful for me in my future”.

Masha K.: “I like the session on Family and also going to the bank. We are thankful to Olga for everything. She is very nice. I learned a lot from her. I would like to have a good family in the future. I will never fight with my husband”.

 Hello our dearest friends!

 What have you been up to? We hope you and your families are doing fine!
Has the spring come to your state yet? It’s quite warm here and very-very wet. The thing is there was so much snow this past winter. So, now that it starts melting there’s lots of water! But still it’s great that you can smell spring in the air, enjoy the sun and hear the birds singing!

 Of course, school is the last thing you want to do in spring))) But we have to study. In March we had a week or so break off school. That was very nice. The break this time was really short, just a few days, because we had a flu epidemic in town. So all the schools were closed for a few weeks! Happily, almost no one at our orphanage was infected with the flu.

 Speaking about more pleasant things, we finally celebrated the anniversary of our orphanage! You should have seen how long and thoroughly we were preparing. We are so happy it all went well.

 We also celebrated our usual spring holidays: Defenders’ of Motherland Day, Women’s Day. We had programs for these holidays, too. Also, before lent, we had Pancake Day! So, it’s traditional to have fun on this day and of course, to eat pancakes! Our cooks at the orphanage made yummy pancakes for us that day. It’s also a holiday when people welcome spring and burn down a puppet – symbol of winter. We did it in our back yard.

 We wish you could come and see our traditions we usually tell you about. We miss you a lot. We often remember your trip here in summer. And we are so glad you are coming to us this year. We’d love to hear from you more often, to learn your news.

 Love,

Kostroma #1 kids

	Highlights of the orphanage life

• Women’s Day
• Defenders’ of Motherland Day celebrations at the orphanage
• Pancake Day
• Spring break
• Orphanage anniversary

	Discipler’s Update

 Hello dear friends,

 This is Katya. How are you doing? I hope you are fine. I know you are planning your trip here for this summer. The kids and the staff miss you very much. The kids often remember how much fun they had in summer! We are all looking forward to hearing from you. The first thing I hear from kids when I come to them is about letters. Since we are so far away, a letter is the only thing that could tell the kids how much you care about them.

 We hope you got our letters and small gifts we made at our lessons.

 We continue our discipleship lessons and as usual discuss mostly character building issues. And we love doing crafts. We also made Easter gifts for everyone. You see, the kids love to make a few cards or gifts at a time to give to some of their family, to a favorite caregiver, to the American friends, and sometimes to keep to themselves.

 Excited to see you in summer.

 Take care,

Katya, the discipler

	Director’s Corner

 Hello dear friends! How are you doing? How are you families?

 We are looking forward to your coming to see us this summer. We appreciate your friendship and care and we’d love to hear from you more often. Our kids treasure the friendship they maintain with you through letters.

 Everything goes fine at the orphanage. The staff are doing everything to make the kids’ life comfortable, interesting and fulfilling. We celebrated another anniversary of our orphanage. Everyone loved the performance the kids made together with the cargivers.

 We thank God that we did really well during the flu epidemic this winter. There were very many people affected, but our kids didn’t fall ill. It’s a pity they didn’t go to school for some time, but then they had shorter spring vacations to catch up.

 This seems to be all our news.

 God bless you,

Olga, the director

	Prayer Requests

• The kids’ health
• The kids do well at school
• Future graduates prepare well for independent life
• The discipler’s time with the kids
• The orphanage staff

 Hello, Dear Friends!

 This is Lena Shabalina, Irina, Vika and our friends writing to you.

 We would like to say THANK YOU for your letters and your visit in April. We were excited to see you at last and spend a week with you. That was fun! You are cool! Thank you for your gifts and YOUR LOVE. You taught us a lot. We’ll remember these 6 days of happiness forever. Please come again.

 We had a wonderful concert on Victory Day. Some veterans visited our school and we sang and danced for them, we congratulated them, presented them with flowers and said THANK YOU.

 We are looking forward to the end of the school year. Soon we’ll be in summer camps. That is always fun! Now we go for a walk every evening. It is very warm here in Kirov. What are you doing now? How are your children? We are fine. Hope you are fine too.

 Love,

The girls from the 4th Family

	Discipler’s Update

 Dearest Friends,

 I feel honored to be a discipler in Kirov # 1 orphanage and share God’s love with these children. They are so precious! This was a special year for the orphanage thanks to your visit in April.

 The children enjoyed so much those 6 days spent with you. They loved everything: the slide show and singing songs with you, playing in the gym and playing ‘duck-duck-goose’, teaching you some crafts and a cooking class, doing the bracelets and doing the mural. The mural was a special gift for all the children and the staff. The children who helped to do it are still very excited. Now all the boys and girls in Kirov # 1 know exactly what ‘having fun’ means. Meeting the American friends helped the children to improve English. Now they even tell everyone Hello and Good bye in English. Your visit changed a lot in the life of the orphanage. It helped the children to develop emotionally and spiritually, to open and develop some talents, hidden abilities and communicative skills. Your visit helped everyone here in Kirov # 1 to feel like a big family. It is great to see how the kids are changing!! Now they feel much more enthusiastic about life and look forward to your next visit.

 The children are so grateful for your letters and they are looking forward to them. It is very important for these children to feel that you care for them. They were so happy to receive different gifts from their sponsors as well. They tried to show the gifts to everyone. And those who do not receive letters yet are eager to have pen-friends from North Carolina. For example, Dima L. from the 7th grade asked me to send you his note: “Guys, you are so cool! They say I am cool too:-)). Please write to me!” You can feel how meaningful you are for these children.

 I would like to share some spring news and summer plans with you as well. In April there was an annual contest called ‘The Most Creative Family of the Year / Jack-of-all-Trades Family”. The sports family became the winner. The fourth family (with their caregiver Vera) won the 3d prize and received a TV set. Before the Victory Day there was a competition in cleaning the territory around the orphanage. Now it looks good indeed. After the holidays they started to work in the garden near the orphanage. Soon they will plant the vegetables and the flowers. And some more good news: in April the girls from the orphanage soccer team became the top goal scorers in Volgograd.

 On May 30th the school year ended and most of the boys and girls are tried to improve their results in different subjects. On June 5th most of the children (with the exception of the graduates who have to take the exams) went to summer camps. There will also be some special trips for older children. So the summer will be busy as usual. But I am sure the children will miss you and will look forward to your summer letters.

 Thank you again for your tender hearts towards these children.
They are so blessed to have you in their lives.

 Blessings,

Irina (Kirov # 1 Discipler)

	Caregiver’s Corner

 Dear Friends!

 We were very happy to see you here in April. The children (and we too) were excited to teach you some crafts and to exchange our creativity experience. We hope you like our Dymkovo toys and wooden girls (Matryoska). Thank you for your love to the children, for kindness and sincerity. The children feel it and love you very much. When you left they were so upset and there were tears in their eyes. We all are looking forward to your next visit.

 It is hot outside. Everyone is looking forward to the summer holidays. On the 5th of June our children went to different summer camps (‘The Star camp’, ‘the Peace camp’ ‘the Squirrel’).

 The other day Irina, Sergei, Natasha (the children from our family) came back from their Novgorod trip. They are the participants of the search group ‘The Duty’. This year they found 11 unknown soldiers (who perished in the WWII) and buried the bodies. Then the group was in Moscow and they visited some museums there. On May 9 we watched the Moscow parade and were excited to see the American soldiers taking part in it. This is meaningful for all us.

 Thank you again for your visit and on-going help. The children love to receive letters from you. We all feel so privileged to have friends in the USA.

From Vera (Kirov # 1 Caregiver) with Best Wishes

	Director’s Notes

 Our Dear Friends,

 I would like to thank you again for your visit in April, your help and support. It was a special season for us. The children miss you so much and send you HELLO.

 Now the school year has come to an end and we have so many plans for the summer. Most of the children have gone to summer camps. The best pupils of this year will go to Water Park in Kazan for a couple of days. Many older children (including some of the graduates) will go rafting, some more will go rock climbing. Many children will go to our summer house in the village to work (care of the apple trees and so on) and have a rest there. We have to dig the ground around the house (and it is hard) as we have no tractor to plough it.

 We will soon start getting ready for the anniversary of our orphanage. We plan to rent a big hall that can hold all the children, the staff, the graduates, the veterans (former teachers and caregivers of the orphanage) and the guests. We have to prepare many presents for the best pupils and teachers and caregivers. So we will be busy as bees for the whole summer just as usual.

 Hope you’ll have a good summer too.

 Thanks again for all you do for the children.

Lubov (Kirov # 1 Director)

	Prayer Requests

• Please continue to pray for all the children and the orphanage staff to be healthy.
• Pray for our school leavers who are to start a new life.
• Pray for all the children to have a good rest during this summer and be back to school safe and sound.

Life Skills Instructor: Marina Mironova (social worker, Kameshkovo orphanage)

  This year has been full of learning for our students. Our educational sessions focused on many important life skills and knowledge, and we had 20 educational sessions since January 1. In our “My Family and I” sessions, we discussed how a family operates and lives together, as well as how a family is started and what being in a family entails. We then moved to our “Family Budget” sessions, where we discussed practical ways for handling money within a family. It is important for our kids when they graduate to understand and respect how money works within a family.

  Many students have not had any family experience, and they appreciate and enjoy learning about how a family operates and supports each person in the family, especially as they graduate and leave the orphanage for the next stage in their education and life. We had an assessment day in February, in which the children had to demonstrate their knowledge. They showed their skills and knowledge in topics such as constructive communication, rights and obligations, family and family values, family responsibilities, and family health.

  After finishing the sessions on Family, we then moved to individual oriented education. Such sessions as “I am the Author of My Life” and “I am Ready for My Independent Life” helped future graduates with personal issues. We discussed self esteem and self worth, as well as how to prepare for independent living. We want our graduates to know how independent life will look, how it will challenge them, and how they can overcome those challenges. We feel the students are learning a lot about themselves, and are enjoying seeing how families and independent life can be.

“My foster son Artyom S. has been attending the Life Skills sessions since the beginning of the school year. Artyom is a 9th grade student. He has learned a lot at these sessions. He knows how to communicate well, where he can go if he needs help after he graduates from the orphanage. The children also studied their family tree, talked about families and the roles of husband and wives. The knowledge the children received was checked at the special lessons. Artyom practices everything he learned: at school, in his foster family, in his every day life”.

L.Leontyeva - Foster mother

 Good morning, day, afternoon and evening to everyone. We had a pretty good spring this year. As always, spring was busy because we participated in many extra-curricular activities, such as a motivational club called Five Steps Towards Success, a Flu Prevention educational class, culinary classes, as well as a game called “Love at First Sight” on February 14 and capture the flag on February 23. We also celebrated Fatherland Defenders Day, on which we ate some traditional army food.

 At the very end of February we also took the graduates out and had a discussion there about what independent life is like.

 March started off nicely with the celebration of the International Women’s day. It is a long-standing tradition in Russia to congratulate women and girls on this day and give them flowers, chocolates, jewelry or even something hand-made, as long as it is from the bottom of your heart.

 As for Easter, you might remember that our dates do not correspond sometimes, but this year it was the same day, April 24. We are hoping that you received our little gifts by now. We all made you little Easter bunnies to remember us by on this day. Please let us know how you spent it; we are truly curious about your family traditions and celebrations.

 Dasha and Dema have been coming together to have classes with us this year. They have provided us with opportunities to grow spiritually and acquire new skills, such as typing and drawing on the computer, cooking, and much more. It is a shame we are not going to be able to enjoy the company of your team anymore.

 We have made great friends—friends for life—among the people from the team, and we hope to see you all one day again after we graduate. Thank you all for being with us physically and mentally for so many years; it has meant and will always mean everything to us.

 Please, stay in touch.

	Staff corner

 Dear sponsors, we hope this finds you all well.

 Winter and early spring was quiet and snowy in Chensty, but the warmth of the sun has given birth to some late spring commotion. This year we have a lot of graduates compared to last year. The graduates are a little nervous about leaving, but Natasha K. is prepared and ready to go. The girls who are willing to graduate after 9th grade (you might remember that it is optional and depending on your grades you can stay all the way through 11th grade) are still too young to live independently, but it is their choice if they prefer to leave and start a life on their own. We have been trying our best to prepare them for the life outside with numerous discussions, meetings and practical classes.

 It is extremely sad that your team is not going to say goodbye to the graduates of this year, but we hope that you stay in touch and correspond often even after they leave us. Let us all pray for their health and happiness at this true milestone of an orphan’s life.

	Discipler’s corner

 Good day, Virginia and all those who have moved but whose heart is still at Franktown Methodist Church. The children at Chentsy are happy and healthy and ask about you every time, especially about your letters. I know that you have hit a rough patch with the trip’s funding, but you can easily stay in touch with the children even after they graduate, writing letters and getting in contact with them if it does work out with the trip one day.

 This year has been quite fortunate in terms of our classes with children. Dema and I have tried our best to satisfy every possible need and interest, to get to know the kids from as many angles as we could.

 We have mastered some computer software, of which you should have proof, some new recipes and cooking ideas, we have sewn, made bead bracelets, watched and discussed cartoons and talked seriously about existential issues. I am pleasantly surprised at how much the children have grown, and not only physically, over these two years and am proud to have been a part of their upbringing.

	Prayer requests

• Successful completion of the academic year for everyone.
• Strength to the graduates in confronting independent life.

 My dear friends,

 This spring has been busy for the orphans in many ways. Many Russian holidays fell on this period, such as Women’s Day, Victory Day and a big religious holiday Easter. The kids had to work hard at school to get prepared for the exams. All the orphans, beginning with the 5th grade, had to take exams in the end of the academic year, for 9th- and 11th-graders they were final exams. Snow melted and thus, left much work both for adults and for the kids. They cleaned the ground from the previous-year foliage together.

 In the middle of May a garden season started and the kids took active part in working the land and planting vegetables and flowers. Now all the kids (except for the 9th- and 11th-graders who are preparing for the finals) are plunging into summer holidays, they are enjoying bright sun and warm weather, and absence of the homework.

	Discipleship lessons

 During spring I visited Velikoretskoye orphanage three times a month on Saturdays. I conducted classes in the afternoon when the kids were free of school and geared up for the weekend. The lessons were related to the Russian holidays. On the 8th of March the boys made beautiful cards and paper flowers and then presented the girls with them paying a compliment to each girl. Before the Easter we wrote wishes on the cards addressed to the American pen friends. I also told the children about Easter traditions. They knew how Easter is celebrated nowadays in Russia, I told them how it was celebrated many years ago. Before the Victory Day we remembered together the main facts about the Great Patriotic War and shared the knowledge about people who served on the home front and about the life in occupied cities. I made a presentation with photos from the War-time and early Post-War period. The kids astonished me with the rich knowledge in War-topics. It seems that they gave me more facts that I did for them.

 We also had discussions on topics of “Healthy Way of Living”, “Forgiveness” and “My Way in Life”. “Healthy Way of Living” is always an actual topic for the kids. I gave the children vivid examples of statistics showing the deplorable results of smoking and drinking in Russia; we discussed other possible ways of learning the life and getting exciting emotions and fresh impressions. “Forgiveness” is a hard theme for these kids, because most of them are deeply offended by their parents. Older children took part in the talk. They showed great interest for the problem. The discussion made the kids think about the importance of ability to forgive people.

 One of the most serious problems the kids are facing is their way of living after the orphanage. The kids get out of control and often they are unable to be responsible for their actions. During the discussion “My Way in Life” I tried to explain them how to gain a foothold in life, to become a decent person and how to maintain the balance in the soul.

 In the end of every class we played games – both board games and active games. The first were more often, as the second produced too much noise and mess. One more very important and exciting aspect of our classes is writing letters of course. We wrote them in the beginning of the class, because the kids couldn’t wait till the end, or they brought me written letters by the beginning of the class. Letters are the main point that influences their mood on Saturday. If I bring a letter for the kid, he becomes happy at the same second; if there are no letters for a long time, children become sad.

	Special Updates

 The kids were excited about all the events happened in spring and were glad to share their impressions.

Vika N. is writing:
“On 8th March the director gave flowers, hairpins, combs, and a box of candies to the girls. By the way, the candies tasted very good. Yummy!”

Denis D remembers Easter:
“Our cooks gave us eggs and we decorated them ourselves. It is our Russian tradition. During the dinner we checked whose egg was the hardest. We hit each other’s eggs with the pointed side. We congratulated and told pleasant words to each other. Some of the kids went to church. There was a nice service there. For dinner they gave us an Easter pie that was very good. We also gave each other and to our caregivers Easter cards that we made the day before.”

Oleg K. shares his impressions about Victory Day
“On the Victory Day we had a solemn meeting, devoted to the heroes who died defending our Motherland during the Great Patriotic War. We put flowers to the memorial that is near to our church to honor the soldiers that lost their lives saving the Motherland. There was a minute of silence in memory of all the Great Patriotic War victims. All the inhabitants of Velikoretskoye were present at the meeting.”

Dasha F. describes the beginning of the garden period
“We had much work in the garden recently. We cultivated flower-beds and vegetable-beds. A big new hothouse was built and we worked in it too. On one Saturday we even didn’t attend the classes, we spend half of the day working in the garden. It was fun because the weather was fine and we not only worked but also splashed each other with water. In the end we were rather tired but joyful.”

 Most of the children passed exams already and did it successfully. The classes are over. Kids help in the school building. They clean it and bring everything in order. The flowers planted by the kids before the new school will bloom soon.

	Prayer Requests

Please, pray for the orphanage:

• for the children to be healthy and strong;
• for the well-being of the graduates;
• for the new girl who has come to the orphanage, for her quick adjustment to her new surroundings;
• for the kids to study well;
• for the director and the staff.