Dear Prayer Friends, Christmas was good for most of us, but there are still many children to whom Christmas meant no more than any other day---just loneliness, hunger, cold, and fear. Please pray for last minute funds to come in so we can wrap up the O.F. Christmas Project, especially in Russia. And thank God for His goodness in supplying for the thousands of children we have been able to supply gifts for thus far this Christmas season. Pray for families pursuing adoption, and for God to raise up more families to adopt. Pray for Nikita in St.Pete, Russia. The following is a newsletter from Dr.Phyllis Kilbourn (on O.F.'s advisory board), giving details of her trip on returning from Russia. Please pray for her ministry, Rainbows of Hope, and the children. REPORT OF TRIP TO RUSSIA November 27 – December 13, 2004 Phyllis Kilbourn I was invited by the Narnia Center in Moscow, Russia to conduct children in crisis training seminars for church leaders who were trying to address the deep emotional needs of children traumatized through ethnic conflicts, abandonment, poverty, terrorist attacks and exploitation of all sorts. I first conducted a crisis care training seminar outside Moscow for twenty-five children's ministry leaders from churches in central Russia. We then moved south to Nalchik, the capital of the traditionally Muslim Kabardino-Balkaria Republic. It lies just north of the Caucasus mountain range that divides Russia from Georgia. In spite of the fact that the entire region of the Northern Caucasus is considered a political hot spot and a potentially dangerous area for travelers, we had a wonderful training week in Nalchik. In this seminar there were seventeen children's workers from churches in six cities in the area. Nalchik is located about 60 miles from Beslan, the city where on the first of September thirty-two Jihadist terrorists commandeered School No. 1, taking hostage more than 1200 people. The 48 hour siege which followed ended with the death of more than 700 hostages (a number much higher than the media has given), over half of whom were school children. Nalchik is only about a hundred miles from Groznyy, the capital of Chechnya, where a long and bitter war between Chechen insurgents and Russian federal troops exist. Some blame terrorists from Chechnya for the attacks, others blame terrorists from Ossetia. We traveled to Beslan to meet with the children and youth ministry workers of the Beslan Baptist church. As we approached the city our driver drew our attention to the cemetery where the victims of the attack had been buried. The cemetery had been greatly expanded to accommodate the many who had died in the siege. Entering the city he drove us to a spot opposite the school where the tragedy had taken place. We could see the empty school and the gymnasium with no roof, a huge semi-circular gap blown out of the upper part of the wall. We proceeded two or three blocks and turned onto a muddy, unpaved road where the Baptist church is situated. Pastor Sergei Totiev and his wife, Bella, live just a few houses from the church. They lost two of their three children in the attack and his brother lost four of his five children. We got to meet them and express our sorrow over the tragedy, assuring them of our prayers for their families and for their city. Lada, close friends of the Totiev family, told us some of their stories. According to eyewitnesses, on the second day of the ordeal Larisa, the 13-year-old daughter of Pastor Totiev, stood up and said to one of the terrorists, "Shoot me and let these others go." She was told to sit down; later she died in the holocaust after the explosion. Those who survived the holocaust have repeatedly witnessed to the fact that the children of believers sensed the presence of Christ at all times during the ordeal and were not crippled by fear as many others were. Bella, the wife of Pastor Totiev, told Lada that the first day she prayed that her children would be rescued. However, she felt that her prayers were somehow not being heard, as if she were talking to a wall. On the second day, while walking down the street with her sisters, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and felt that she must pray the words, "Lord, Thy will be done." She realized this might mean not seeing her children again. But she felt a great burden lifted. Her son Azam, who now is in the hospital in the U.S., was sheltering his little sister who had lost consciousness. He was attempting to take her to a spot to get her fresh air and some water when the explosion that ripped his eye apart took place. His sister was torn out of his arms. In spite of the injury to his eye, he went to look for his sister but could not find her. The pastor’s funeral messages were full of forgiveness. One old man who came to the funeral outside the Totiev family home began to invoke curses on those who had attacked the school and called for acts of vengeance. Pastor Totiev responded saying, "The curses you invoke will only return to visit you. My children are with the Lord. They have gone to a better place. I will not seek revenge for my loss." We also met with Gehrman and Madina Djeriev, the church’s children and youth directors. Owners of a salon/health club have opened their doors for the church to use as a gathering place for the youth ministry and for counseling. Gehrman and Madina are physically and emotionally exhausted from caring for the wounded children and grieving families of the city. There are 500 families wanting them to visit and provide emotional and spiritual support. Pray much for them. A sense of normalcy has not yet returned to the city. Many of the children still have not returned to school. Not only children but also school and Sunday school teachers died in the siege. Madina says that children who survived the ordeal aged many years in those three days. They no longer speak or act as children. Their childhood laughter and joy has disappeared. They have quickly become adults. The church ministry workers have been trying to care for the families of members who have suffered loss along with others who have welcomed them into their homes. But they are overwhelmed; the numbers of those who grieve and who are injured are staggering. Pray for those working with the children in Beslan. Some children are still hospitalized, some paralyzed, some blinded and some are still dying in hospitals. Six children are yet unaccounted for. In addition to ministering to the victims of the terrorist attack, the church leaders would like to open a rehabilitation center for drug-addicted youth who have left their families and are wandering the streets of Beslan. Compounding the peoples’ fear are the threats terrorist organizations have continued to make on the Internet, threatening Russian officials that, "This is only the beginning." It has been a great privilege to provide crisis care training for those working with Russia’s hurting children. Because of the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, there is hope for the healing of children in Beslan and for the thousands of children living on city streets or in overcrowded orphanages and for the many who are abused and exploited by perpetrators of evil. Thanks so much for your prayers for this emotionally difficult trip. Do continue to pray for those who have received training to know and experience the wisdom and strength of God as daily they are confronted with so much pain. " This is an obvious request but please pray for those suffering from the devastating effects of the recent massive tidal wave. Thank you for your part in making a difference. Janey L. DeMeo President/founder of ORPHANS FIRST ; freelance writer. Website: _http://www.orphansfirst.org/_ (http://www.orphansfirst.org/) E mail: _Janey@..._ (mailto:Janey@...) Subscribe to the weekly prayer chain: _http://associate.com/groups/orphansfirst/_ (http://associate.com/groups/orphansfirst/) -- Browse years of Orphans First Prayer Requests: http://welovegod.org/groups/orphansfirst/ To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: orphansfirst-unsubscribe@...