The Year of Good Deeds: the Most Interesting Moments of Our Ministry in 2018

1. Personal Stories: They Are Finely Attuned to God and People
 
Our Publishing House published a book titled The Yonder Land in 2011. Its main characters are the residents of the Boarding Home No.3 for the mentally challenged, as well as the sisters and brothers of the Sisterhood of Saint Elisabeth, nuns of St. Elisabeth Convent, and doctors. There is a chapel in honour of St. Xenia of Petersburg in the Boarding Home. Today, just a couple of days after the patron saint’s day of this chapel, we would like to share some excerpts from this wonderful book with you…
 
 
 
2. Joy and Growth Under the Snow at the Women’s Farmstead
 
In the pre-dawn darkness of mid-February, our car from Saint Elisabeth Convent slid over the snow through the gate of the Women’s Farmstead, and pulled up to the house in which Fr. Andrew would celebrate Divine Liturgy. It was my second week staying at the convent, and I, along with another guest and one of the nuns who had herself never yet seen the Women’s Farmstead, were being given the opportunity to visit this unique place…learn more
 
 
 
3. Children, Parents and Teachers of the “Iсhvis” School Gave a Concert Devoted to Victory Day
 
“I want that there won’t be another…” was the slogan of the concert that took place on the eve of the Victory Day (i.e. the victory in World War II) in the “Iсhvis” school. The artistic performance that was on the stage that day, fully expressed the pain that our land had to face during the World War II…learn more
 
 
 
 
4. Fr. Andrew Sommer and the Members of the Prince Vladimir Youth Association Visited St. Elisabeth Convent
 
The members of the Prince Vladimir Youth Association from the United States, under the direction of the Father Andrew Sommer, were able to tour the various workshops and the two farmsteads of St. Elisabeth Convent. Nun Anfisa provided a detailed guided tour of the ceramic and sewing workshops along with many other workshops for the guests…learn more
 
 
 
 
5. Over 200 Adults with Special Needs Participate in a Feast Day Organized by the Brothers and Sisters of St. Elisabeth Convent
 
The holiday celebration in the residence for adults with special needs began with a service. At the Liturgy, which was served in the assembly hall, more than 200 residents prayed which accounted for over half of all the residents. After the Divine Liturgy, everyone participated in procession around the main building. The holiday concluded with lunch in the open air and friendly interactions…learn more
 
 
6. Make the World a Better Place: A New Workshop for People with Disabilities
 
One of the newest projects in St. Elisabeth Convent is a unique workshop called “Dobrodel” (one that does good deeds) especially designed for people with disabilities. The workshop gives a chance to people with special needs to overcome social isolation and find themselves in society through work…learn more
 
 
 
 
7. Pilgrimages for People with Special Needs
 
The volunteers of the Fund in honour of St. John the Russian have organised two pilgrimages for children and adults who live in boarding homes for people with special needs. They visited St. Elisha Laŭryšava Monastery on July 22 and Holy Annunciation Monastery in Malyja Liady on July 28…learn more
 
 
 
 
8. The Brothers’ Lives: Diaries of the Rehabilitation Centre of St. Elisabeth Convent
 
The Rehabilitation Centre of St Elisabeth Convent is a place where labour and prayer help people to build their new life — different from the life in a prison cell or a hospital ward. Many of those who come to the rehab have a dark past. Their new life calls for a different attitude to themselves, to their neighbours, and to God. The old self has to die to give way to the new self in the eternal life…learn more
 
 
 
 
9. A Visit to the Not Indifferent Ones: a Personal Story about the First Meeting with Special Children
 
Sometimes they only need physical contact. They are excited every time you touch or hug them. The feeling of having someone around makes them sure that they are protected and at peace. I’m talking about the children who stay in the Boarding Home for Children with Special Needs, where I went to take part in an Orthodox worship service together with the sisters of St. Elisabeth Convent…learn more
 
 
 
 
10. How Women with Troubled Fates Receive Shelter in St. Elisabeth Convent
 
Women’s Rehabilitation Center of St. Elisabeth Convent was established in 2011 on the territory of a former military base near v. Nialidavičy (Minsk Raion). The Convent bought several buildings and received some other buildings later for free. There had been a church here, too, but it burned down several days prior to land registration. The circumstances suggest that it was arson: some local resident must have set the church on fire because they didn’t want women who had been on the wrong side of the law to live near their villages. They thought that if they burned down the church, there would be no rehab, either. Time has proven them wrong. Today, a new church is being
built here…learn more
 
11. The Equine Therapy: New Friends, New Treatment
 
In 2010 on the territory of one of the rehabilitation centres of St Elisabeth Convent there appeared a stable with a couple of horses. This rehabilitation centre is situated about 30 km from Minsk in a village called Lysaya Hara (Bald Mountain). As of today more than 10  equines live in the spacious stalls of the stable. Two of them – Purga (‘Blizzard’) and Begonia, mares of average height and quiet tempre – are used for therapeutic horseback riding…learn more
 
 
 
12. A Cycle of Goodness: How the Workshops of St. Elisabeth Convent Appeared and What They Give to Other People
 
The House of Love of Labour of St Elisabeth Convent was founded with the blessing of the Very Rev Andrew Lemeshonok, the spiritual father of our Convent. It preserves the main principle of the original facility, that is, serving one’s neighbour. It is fitting that a nun named after Saint Chionia, an Italian martyr who was orphaned when she was very young, is in charge of the House of Love of Labour…learn more
 
 
 
 
 
13. The Dog’s Chance: How Nuns Save the Lost at the Men’s Rehabilitation Center
 
More than two hundred homeless or alcohol-addicted men gather on a farm 19 miles from Minsk during the winter, where they are supervised by just a couple of sisters from St. Elisabeth Convent…learn more

 

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