Greetings again from Kristina Brendel on Karl Marx Street in Minsk, Belarus...

An update to all who have supported or expressed an interest in our New Thing teaching ministry in the former Soviet Union, or in our local Scottsdale Compass house church, which has adopted a children's shelter in Zhodino, Belarus...

 

Christmas comes but twice a year...

Well, if you celebrate American-style here in the USA and then go to Belarus, where it's celebrated Orthodox-style on January 7 — when, of course, you and I are busy celebrating Millard Fillmore's birthday.

 

First, we'll take a brisk walk down the main street of Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on Orthodox Christmas Eve...

 

It has a long official name, but most people just call it "The Prospect." It's the main drag down the center of Belarus's capital, Minsk. It's always a beautiful street, but with the addition of the lights, it becomes quite spectacular. By the way, these are not Christmas lights. They are New Year's lights. The big holiday here is New Year's Day (in Russian, Novy Gode). Christmas? It's kind of an afterthought, 6 days later — "merely" a religious holiday.

 

The big Orthodox cathedral in the center of Minsk, well within walking distance of our flat, is lit up with floodlights for Christmas. Services start in the evening on Christmas Eve and go all night, until dawn. People come and spend a few minutes and then leave. The main doors are closed until morning, so people go in and out the side doors, creating quite a logjam. I decided not to press into the crowd since I didn't feel it was appropriate to take pictures inside during a service. And so many Orthodox believers wanted to get in, they wouldn't need or want a tourist.

 

In the middle of Octyabyrskaya (October) Square there's a huge tree, and the whole square has been turned into a huge skating rink. This is the center of the city, and even on an ordinary day it can get crowded, with workers and shoppers going about their daily tasks. The sidewalk along the edge of the ice rink is lined with skate rental kiosks. All those people around the edges? They're changing into or out of their skates. We're talking lots of skaters.

 

Now we head out to the town of Zhodino, a little less than an hour outside Minsk, to the children's shelter that our church, The Compass, has "adopted." Hanging in the yard is something they've added since last I was here: a bird-feeder, too high to reach (even by an adult) — so bread crusts have to be thrown into it. But Belarusians typically "make do." Veronika, one of the residents, proved quite adept. We took the remainder of the bread crusts to a couple of horses nearby.

 

Of course, these horses are workin' dogs, so it was off to work, lugging a load of windows someplace else in town. These carts are not uncommon in the smaller cities and towns outside Minsk.

 

Our Compass volunteers who worked kak sabaki (like dogs) last summer will remember this yellow-and-green fence (when it was somewhat different weather). Jim and some of the others of us helped re-surface it, and Monique and Rebecca painted. Good thing they used frost-resistant paint. Overnight lows in Zhodino last week were in the single digits.

 

The children at "our" shelter in Zhodino are not orphans. They have been abused and abandoned (usually due to parents' alcoholism), and have plunged into the Belarusian equivalent of the state foster system. Children taken by the state live at the shelter for a maximum of 6 months; if the parents can’t be rehabbed in that time, the children are placed with relatives or Belarusian adoptive parents. This is Zhenya, 16 years old, the oldest of 7 boys. His youngest brother is only 4 months old. Three of the brothers are at the shelter, the others are home with Mom. Dad left them some months back. Their future is uncertain.

 

Time for a Russian lesson! What is katatsa? I think it means "slide," because we ended up on the ice rink of the school next door to the shelter. The kids slid and slipped and fell down and had a terrific time — simple pleasures, in spite of the fact that I still haven't totally warmed up. (I did not participate in this activity; I wisely stood aside and took pictures.)

 

Choo choo! Train coming! As we headed back to the shelter, our teacher Irina was not content just to walk; she made a game of it. Back to the shelter, safe and warm. (Yura got to be the caboose.)

 

Alina and Veronika took to me immediately (as did the boys, except Zhenya, who was much too cool). "My girls" took every opportunity for a hug — or for a photo together!

 

From the time I arrived, it was clear that the “legend of the Americans” had passed down... I was greeted like an old friend. They wanted to show me around, their rooms and their “treasures.” They asked me questions like "How do you live in America?" I answered with details about the weather, not politics! The second day was a special treat. They were sooo excited that I would be back in the morning, and we had the whole day to play. It was their idea to show me the horses, and it was like they just wanted to take me everywhere, show me their whole world. It was great to be able to say “yes” and not feel rushed by official pressures — which is our usual dilemma.

 

I told the girls I'd be back in the summer and Liudmila Mikhailevna (the shelter director) would know when. But Liudmila Mikhailevna told me that she doesn't personally keep in touch with the kids after they leave the shelter; it is just too difficult emotionally. Still, she does run into them on the street from time to time and it is usually a very happy event. Kids ask to come back sometimes and it breaks her heart to have to say “no.” Wonder how much longer she'll be able to stay in this job....

 

Little Edgar, whom our volunteers will remember from last summer (the other "returnee," with little Denis) had stopped by the shelter last week to say hi. Sorry I missed him.

 

I always tell people planning to visit Belarus with us to bring photos of themselves to give as gifts; everybody loves them. This photo is a demonstration of this fact! (Those are copies of this year's Brendel family Christmas photos they're holding.) The kids actually wanted to put the photos in front of their faces until Irina convinced them to lower them ... and give us the gift of being able to see both their faces and their new treasures.

 

It's a New Year tradition in Belarus: Grandfather Frost comes to the party with his sack of gifts, and the children must each perform a song or a poem or something in order to earn a gift. (Not exactly the grace message that Doug has been preaching for years, but hey, it's their show.) So when we arrived with a sack of gifts, of course the performances began. Group numbers are easiest for the shy kids.

 

We always bring gifts — this time it was stuffed toys and Samaritan’s Purse boxes, an array of gifts truly extravagant by the standards of anything else they had received throughout this holiday season. The children were just delighted. We also bring projects for the kids at the Zhodino shelter to work on. This time I included "scratch kits" — you start with a black rectangle, scratch wherever you want to draw a line or shape, and let yourself be surprised by the variety of colors that have are magically revealed from beneath the black surface. It is an extremely simple project, but the kids just love it. The room was astonishingly quiet for almost 30 minutes as they created little masterpieces. Zhenya (at right) is working on a portrait of a tiger.

 

Meet "the boss of the boss!" I had the honor of spending the night in the flat of the shelter director, our good friend Liudmila Mikhailevna. I found out that the traditional Christmas dinner here is blini (blintzes) with homemade fruit "jams." Heaven! But the most important thing is to pay proper respect to the family cat. A truly evil animal, beloved by Liudmila and her husband and daughter.

 

Liudmila Mikhailevna is usually a jolly person, but she seemed a little “down” about the prospects for the future of the current children in residence. I couldn’t help but think, Another batch of kids that maybe I'll see again someday, but probably not.

 

I really fell for these kids. God, help them.

 

I’m back in our flat on Karl Marx Street in Minsk now. The heated floor — an innovation we splurged on when we outfitted the place — isn't working in the living/dining room or kitchen, so I’m putting my hands on the radiator from time to time to keep them warm enough to type! Hope to get the heating fixed soon.

 

More pix to come. Thanks for making the journey with us!

 

Much love,

Kristina Brendel

 

To support Doug's New Thing teaching ministry in the former Soviet Union online — http://www.NewThing.net - click on the donate button (the first $750 given each month goes directly to Belarus)

To support The Compass and its compassionate Belarus outreach online — http://www.CompassDVDs.com — click on the donate button (half of everything given up to $750 a month goes directly to Belarus)

To send a check by snail mail — make it out either to Compass or New Thing, and snail mail it to Kristina Brendel's attention at 15261 North 92nd Place, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

To be deleted from the New Thing distribution list, http://www.NewThing.net and choose "Contact" and type "unsubscribe"

To be deleted from the local Scottsdale Compass distribution list, choose "reply" and type "unsubscribe"

 

Thanks again!