Ministry in the Smallest of Places – Victoriya’s Story

In 2022 graduated Moscow Theological Seminary, bachelor of Theology. I serve orphans, children from large families, children and adults with disabilities, as well as a in a nursing home.

My ministry to children began immediately after my baptism in 2005. I lived in Minsk at that time and we had a labour team with whom we visited various places of social institutions where we could work hard. We did repairs, painted walls and applied drawings, made landscapes and much more. So we went to children’s centers for disabled children in other cities in Belarus. We helped physically during the day, and in the evening we talked with children, sang songs and told them about Jesus Christ. It was a time of good deeds and it has always been to my liking.

In 2009, I moved to Moscow and I also wanted to have communication with children who have no parents or are disabled or have cancer. When I see them, I want to tell them so much that the Heavenly Father loves them, that they are not alone in their suffering.

My team and I started the service of the puppet theater, with which we began to visit orphanages. We showed a performance that was based on a story from the Bible or on parables, talked about God’s love for every person, drew a parallel to today how we can apply it in our lives, talked about Christian holidays such as the Nativity of Jesus Christ and Easter, what they mean to us today. After the performance, we were allowed to spend time with the children. We drank tea with the kids and talked and tried to exchange contacts so that they always knew that they had support in our person. This is how we still communicate with some people. Sometimes we can invite them to our Christian camps or meetings, sometimes they invite us to their events so that we can be there and support them at contests or competitions. Some of them have already grown up and go to church on their own, and we still maintain relationships and meetings with some of them.

At work, I also have the opportunity to communicate with clients and talk about Jesus Christ. Some come to me and ask me to tell stories from the Bible. This is a very valuable time, the Lord entrusts these people to me and I really want to use this time as efficiently as possible, with full dedication, I saw that people have no knowledge about Christ, no faith, but they have many questions. This prompted me to get knowledge in the Moscow Theological Seminary. I needed a better foundation for my evangelism to children and adults.

So in 2017, I started studying at the seminary, working at the same time and going to orphanages with our team. We were invited to various venues to tell children through a play about God, about spiritual and moral values.

Even non-Christian organizations called us and asked us to speak! We visited whole regions and had several performances a day in different places. We have visited the city of Korolev, Naro-Fominsk, the Komi Republic, Kaliningrad and Kaliningrad region, Rostov Region, St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, Tula region, the city of Bogoroditsk, Uzlovaya, Kaluga region, performed in Moscow and the Moscow Region, visited Stavropol Territory, Krasnodar Territory, the Republic of Crimea, and even visited small nations on the edge of the Earth — on Yamal.

New doors were opening for us! Some orphanages hold regular events so the children can listen to the Good News. It is especially joyful that our arrival is dear to them. Many adults noted that our performances were so interesting that they themselves could not tear themselves away, and also learned a lot for themselves, so we managed to establish contact with adults (educators and managers) and have good trusting relationships.

We also visited the children’s cancer center. This is not an easy place where children undergo chemotherapy. They have such weakened immunity that they were released to us for 5 people and we showed a lot of performances in different departments that day. The stronger children managed to hold master classes in needlework. Mothers live with their children in this hospital and they also need spiritual support.

Thanks to my training at the seminary, it is much easier for me to tell people about God, because when various questions arise, it is easier for me now to give answers, because sometimes the questions are difficult and even unusual.

I am so blessed by the many trips, testimonies, and Bible stories, and I want to constantly grow in doing God’s work better. In every event held, we saw God’s hand, experienced trials, and witnessed how many times we had these trials before a trip: people got sick, a strong wind blew a tree onto the car, our car broke down on the road. But each time the Lord got us to our destination!

With each visit, as we shared God’s Word, we realized and rejoiced that no one and no hindrance can take away from us this joy of telling children and adults about Christ! We saw so many happy faces! After long visits, our team returns home so tired and worn but we always return so fulfilled from this Gospel work!

We ask these prayers for our team:

that many would repent and come to know Jesus as Lord
that there is unity in our work
a continued desire to work hard and glorify God
that we devote ourselves to the Lord for spiritual growth
for reliable transportation for all of our puppet show implements

Thank you for your attention!

ministry in the frozen Yamal region

Graduation day