What do you think should be done for the feast of the Nativity of Christ to bring us special joy? To decorate a furry Christmas tree? To lay a festive table? To invite guests? All this is good, but the main secret of joy lies elsewhere - to give one's love to those near you and not so near, to those you know and don't know. Then the Nativity will be a day of real joy for you.
We invite you to start preparing for Nativity – to participate in the action called "Bring a holiday to children!" Our monastery is collecting gifts for the kids, kindergartens, and Children's Creative Activity Houses of the the Verkhoturye and Serov regions, as well as for children from the needy families with many children in Ekaterinburg. Here we are publishing just a few stories, but in reality children from a couple dozens villages dream of Christmas gifts. Give your love to these children and joy to yourself!
If you'd like to give a gift to a specific child, sign your donation in bold letters!

In the Deryabino village there lives a very serious young man by the name of Roman. The young man is four years old, but he is turning five soon, so he is quite independent now. Every Sunday he and his mom come to Merkushino village to church for liturgy. At the service he behaves like an adult: no pranks, he makes prostrations at the right times, and listens to his mom. Once Roman learned that the church has an active Sunday school, and he immediately asked to be enrolled as a student there. Even though he was too young for the school, he was enrolled - his earnestness conquered everyone's heart. At this time he regularly comes to Sunday school, behaves very well, and has the time to do all the homework. Roman likes construction sets, playing with military gadgets, he also enjoys singing and reading (he taught himself!). Thus, any kind of gadgets, construction sets, and good kind books would make a great gift for him.

Ksenia and her older brother Stanislav live with their parents in the Vostochny village. Ksenia goes to 4th grade, she is a responsible, kind, and responsive girl. She cheerfully helps her mom with all the chores. She likes drawing and reading, so she'd be happy to receive paints, bright markers, and albums for sketching, as well as good books. Her special dream, however, is about a big doll that can walk and talk. And also about a soft, furry rabbit, which for some reason has to be purple. Such a moving dream of a child... Her parents would also love for this dream come true, but they can't afford to make their kids happy with gifts. Perhaps, you could help fulfill Ksenia's dream?

Thirteen-year-old Liza lives in the Kordyukovo village and goes to seventh grade. She also attends Sunday school. For the Sunday school children Liza is like a mommy. She watches the little ones during church services, helping them with everything. After liturgy she gathers all the children for the repast and then leads them back to Sunday school. Liza helps her mom with all the chores. She would love to have colorful encyclopedias and albums about Russia's nature and history, as well as the books by Russian classical writers. Yet, there are only two of them - she and her mom, and their means are insufficient even for some of the essential things, let alone encyclopedias. Liza really needs shoes - both winter and summer shoes, as well as winter clothing.

Two brothers, Kirill and Dmitry, live in the village of Karpunino with their grandmother. Kirill is 12, Dmitry is 11. Grandma adores her grandsons. They bring fire wood, water, and light the stove - they help with everything in the household. Not so long ago the grandmother took Kirill to visit family in a nearby town, and what would you think Dmitry did while they were out? He washed all the floors and made perfect order in the house. The grandmother came back - everything was shining at home. Just how much joy! The brothers do well at school, teachers are happy with them. Kirill's memory is such that he is able to retell fluently a whole lesson he'd listened to at school the next day. The kids like to play sports: to ski, play soccer, and always participate in all school activities - sports and beyond. On Sundays, Kirill and Dmitry come to Merkushino for liturgy and Sunday school. The boys really dream of a construction set, a soccer ball, and even one pair of skis for both of them. They realize that those are just dreams at this point - how could grandma save enough money for skis and a soccer ball. When they grow up, they would buy their own skis, but first - new pots and pans, a beautiful table cloth, and a good iron for grandma. But this is all in the far future... Yet, what if the boys' dreams come true at Christmas?

In the Vostochny village, there lives a good family with four children: Anna, Anastasia, Roman, and Dasha. Of course, all of the kids have to be clothed, provided with shoes, equipped for school, provided with everything necessary, fed, etc., etc.. Anastasia who goes to 4th grade; Roman, a third-grader; and Dasha in the first grade, take great interest in chess, especially Anastasia. She even has awards for chess contests. Yet, there is no chess set at home. The children can only dream of getting a chess set and chess clock as a gift! There would be no end to joy! In addition to chess, the children like modular origami, but, good grief, - they need special paper for it which they don't have at home either. Even at the Children's Activity House where they go, there is a shortage of this paper - teachers buy it, using their own small salaries. Anna, the oldest 12-year-old sister, loves to draw and to make paper souvenirs; she also likes cooking and helping her mom around the house. She would really love to get nice paints, or a cook book with interesting recipes, or a set of kitchen dishes.

The ten-year-old Varvara has a nice big family: loving, hardworking parents, caring older brothers and sisters. But... the mother has gotten seriously ill, and the father was left without a job. Now Varvara does not even dream of getting gifts for Nativity. Moreover, this is no time to think about gifts, as she needs warm clothing to go to school, several kilometers away to the neighboring village. She has long ago outgrown all the clothes she had. There is even a shortage of writing utensils and notebooks – these are "first need" things in everyday school life, but they end so soon, no matter how thrifty you are... And, of course, any gift for Varvara would be a great, unexpected joy. Especially a doll or a good book.

Fourteen-year-old Sonya and her younger brother, nine-year-old Dima, live in the Karpunino village. In addition to them, there are two more old sisters. Sonya and Dima are cheerful, outgoing, and amicable kids. They like playing together. Sonya is great with crafts. A wonderful gift for her would be all sorts of crafts sets, beads, color threads, and everything good for fine needle-work and sewing. Dima dreams about a real soccer ball and skis. Both children also very much need winter clothing and school supplies - notebooks, pens, and pencils.

With deep appreciation we accept:

We accept donations for the action "Bring a holiday to children!" until January 6th, at the following location: 1 Zelenaya Roshcha Street, not to the store, but directly to the monastery Service of social help on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10 am until 3 pm. If a different time is convenient for you and with any questions, please call: 8 912 66 088 03.

Social Help Service

Christmas - feast of joy

The journey of gifts, or One frosty day in the life of a Ural region village