In early January, a merry and joyful celebration took place in the new spiritual and evangelical center in Barnaul - the opening of the Kind Droid robotics club for children with disabilities. Children with various disabilities came to this inauguration and, in spite of their differences, felt like one big team.

After a fun conversation with the animators, or "fixies", the teacher, Aleksey Belokrylov, introduced the children to the basics of robotics, having interested those present with a pre-assembled robot. While the modeling lesson was going on, Pastor Alexander Kiselyov met with the parents of the children over a cup of tea.

On January 24th, the first building lesson took place. In the club, the children work with Lego We Do 2.0 construction sets, modeling models using tablets; two children work together to build each set. The class allows for up to 8 people at a time to participate, but since some children with disabilities need help with assembling, we decided to divide a large group into two separate groups. During the classes, church volunteers of all ages help the children. The children leave their classes in great delight, having experienced a lot of positive emotions, and eagerly return the following week.

These constructor classes are held weekly and help to stimulate interest in the natural sciences, engineering, and most importantly, socialization with peers, which is imperative for these children. Many of them are homeschooled.

Trusting relationships are built with parents as they understand that the church is interested in their special children. At each meeting, there are special guests who are invited to answer certain questions that concern parents. Thus, the local community not only provides assistance to children with disabilities, but also gets involved in the process of interaction and assistance to their parents.

With a population of more than 600,000 people, there is not a single robotics club in Barnaul, so parents express their immense gratitude. The Church prays and serves, believing that this project will become a bridge to help build relationships that will allow parents and children to open up to the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

This article was originally published on the Euro-Asia Division’s news site