Pastor Kalinin writes about a blind woman who attended church where she was able to see God clearly. She shares, “Later, a friend of mine invited me to the church she attended. She was a believer. I went with her and stayed there. God revealed Himself to me and I saw myself as also a blind sinner. Now I am a church member here.”
My name is Oksana. I was born in an ordinary family. I was born healthy. Everything was fine until I was 3 years old. Then my mother noticed that I had lost my sight. My parents didn’t know much about it, so they immediately took me to the doctor. Although my eyesight seemed to be returning, the doctors scared my parents that I might go blind, so they decided to have me operated on both eyes at once. I became completely blind after the surgery. I was operated on nine times, but my vision never returned. I studied at a school for blind children. Later I received a higher education and was a teacher of Ukrainian and German. I was not interested in God. I did not believe, and did not even want to think or talk about God. At one point I ended up in a monastery where they took care of me, and I could be useful there. I lived in the monastery for several years. Despite my visual impairment, I was able to teach in boarding schools for visually impaired children, as well as in an orphanage for autistic children, and I also held various classes on making children’s toys and so on, both for children and adults. I organized various excursions for the blind to different regions.
My mom died of covid last year. Later, a friend of mine invited me to the church she went to. She was a believer. I went with her and stayed there. God revealed Himself to me and I saw myself as also a blind sinner. Now I am a church member here in a church (Pastor Kalinin). Later I got married to a blind man as well. He is from the Luhansk region. We have a little daughter, 15 months old. She is a healthy, sighted child. I couldn’t get pregnant for some time. And when I did get pregnant, I thought it was a tumor, not pregnancy. So only when I was 7 months pregnant, I went to the doctor for the first time to have the tumor removed. What a shock it was when the doctor told me that I was going to have a baby in two months. How wonderful God is! For all these years, since my childhood, when I was operated on and lost my eyesight completely, I have not been interested in my issue of restoring my vision at all. But I know that it is possible to try to do something, but unfortunately, we do not have enough funds for such examinations. So, I pray that the Lord would open doors where it is only His will. And does He want me to be able to see again, to see my daughter, my husband…? I am grateful to my friends for the food aid, which is a great support for my family.
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