A Little Russia Comes to Suwanee

We know smiles, especially Russian Smiles. Every year Suwanee Dental Care hosts a group of Russian Girls and Boys who are part of the T.E.A.R. program that brings Russian orphans to America as part of a cultural exchange and arts program. After going through a rigorous competition back in Russia, a handful of fortunate youth from all over Russia travel throughout the USA showing their artistic talents and meeting with people on this side of the globe. T.E.A.R. is The Evangelistic Association of Russia and is a mission to the Russian people to share the Good News about Jesus Christ. Suwanee Dental Care is proud to be a sponsor of this outstanding effort to bring God into the workplace as well as into the heart of these orphans from a place far, far away.

Here is an example of the type of art that these talented youngsters produce and a story about how it all comes about.

Fantasies to Faith Art Contest

One of the many things that TEAR has done as a way to reach the orphans in Russia is to hold a Christmas Art contest for them. Each year, over 50,000 children from orphanages all across Russia participate! The top 10 winners of the contest win a trip to the United States to celebrate Christmas in the home of an American family.

The TEAR website reports that the top 150 paintings have been displayed in the Moscow Art Museum for several years. Their website also conveys that multiple orphanage directors have expressed a great improvement in the attitudes, behaviors, and even grades of the children who participate. They become motivated, experience a sense of purpose, and most importantly are in the Word of God in preparation for their project.

Each child must read the Bible for himself or herself to determine the true meaning of Christmas. They are then to create a painting and write a short essay explaining their artistic point of view of what they have learned.

The results have been astounding, to say the least.