Thankfully, God gives us exactly what is needed in times where He asks us to do difficult things. The life of an SGA-supported Orphans Reborn leader can be so incredibly rewarding, especially when a young child’s heart is being opened to the love and hope of the Gospel. However, there are days when it takes everything in their physical beings to get through just one day.

The children to whom they minister have come from all different backgrounds. They have so much baggage from their past experiences and great loneliness that comes from desperately wanting their mom and dad. Their hearts are damaged and hurting, which often leads to extremely bad behavior. But as we are taught in God’s Word, love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). This love is shown to the children through kindness and care, and telling them of the hope we have in Jesus. No matter how tough a day may be, these faithful leaders are always ready to sacrifice much in order to help just one child—even one who is running away from them. They can only do this through God’s strength and patience. 

Please pray for the men and women who sacrificially give of their time and hearts to lead these children to Christ and down a new path of discipleship instead of destruction and pain. From an Orphans Reborn Report in Krasnoyarsk, Russia . . .

Greetings, dear friends in Christ,

You are like angels for us for a simple reason: we receive tremendous help from you, but we do not even see you. You are always there when help is needed, whereas God is among us and we can see that clearly. Even though we are thousands of miles apart, we understand and are aware of each other. Your love for us and our children is manifested through your help and support, but we also want to express our love for you. May all these testimonies (one included below) you are about to read become an opportunity for you to realize how much we love and appreciate you, and most importantly, how much God loves you, inspiring us to change the lives of the fatherless!

One of our toughest days at Summer Bible Camp was the day when the orphanage director asked us to take all of the children away with us for a day so that they could clean up the orphanage before an inspection. I knew it would be a difficult task, as we already had 150 people at our camp. But I had no idea that it would be so complicated. We lived through more emotions that day than during the entire camp, and here’s why. We picked up the children from the orphanage, taking them to the campsite at the seaside. We assigned five people from our team to supervise, play, and communicate with the children. 

Another thing that made it difficult was that in the evening, the whole village was holding a memorial service. I admit I was already worried about how the event would go, and now we had 50 more children of different ages from the orphanage. Many of the children have major medical conditions and disabilities, and the worst part is that we don’t know everything about them. At first, everyone was rejoicing; we had planned many activities for the children, prepared a picnic and a Bible lesson, and everything seemed to be going according to the plan, but not for long. Our first game lasted for only 20 minutes, and then complete chaos broke out. The children scattered in all directions around our campsite and beyond. It happened so unexpectedly and so fast that we didn’t even have time to comprehend what was happening! A few seconds later, we realized what was really going on, so we split up and ran in search of the kids. Several older boys with a history of theft split up and ran around the camp looking for something to steal. One girl ran toward the beach, undressing as she ran so fast, as if she could die without water like The Little Mermaid. One kid ran towards the forest, and one boy with one huge tooth bit me and ran to the campfire. This is the story in a nutshell. Now we shall go into more detail.

The first to run away was Sasha! He is almost 18, but he can’t tell his right hand from his left. I heard the children shouting that Sasha ran out onto the driveway and might run into traffic. I ran through the forest to the road, and for the first time in my life, I couldn’t handle this one kid. He seemed not to hear anyone or understand anything, just repeating one phrase: ”I need to go back, I need to be back to the orphanage.” There were about 10 people, and we all tried to persuade him to get out of the driveway and go to the camp. But he stood his ground, whereas we had a few more who ran off in different directions, so I asked the rest of the team go and find them, while I would stay with Sasha. So, here we were standing on the road for a few minutes; I looked at Sasha, who, lowering his eyes, clenched his little fists. And then I noticed that he had one finger missing. Later I learned that one winter Sasha decided to go for a journey and run away from the orphanage. He was soon found by helicopter on Mount Turan with frostbitten fingers, and one had to be amputated.  

So, standing on that driveway, I was thinking about my speech for the memorial service in the village that evening. I was also thinking that because of Sasha and his odd stunt, we wouldn’t be able to get ready for this important event. You know how much I wish I could have just another hour and a half with him on the road.  

Later, while driving with my family on a vacation, I tearfully recalled Sasha, remembering his gaze and his clenched little fist without one finger. And most importantly, I recall what he said to me that day. We talked for over an hour, trying to distract him and make him follow me. But he seemed to be rooted to the pavement, repeating over and over, ”Yes, I’m here, I’m here, I’ll be here, you go, and I’ll be here!” Then I just stopped thinking about myself and my plans. I calmed down and entrusted everything into God’s hands.

I hugged Sasha and started talking about some movies, and it turned out that Sasha really likes movies. In fact, he absolutely adores them. Those 90 minutes flew by, and eventually we bonded. Then I just gently offered Sasha to go for a walk, and suddenly he replied, ”Let’s go!” And so, we walked back to camp like old buddies, and some were wondering how he agreed to it! Standing by my car, we were picking buckthorn berries, and then Sasha suddenly said to me, “Do you know what I dream of?” I didn’t want to seem too excited, so I said, ”What is it?” He looked at me and said, ”I dream of seeing my sister and mother just once.” He smiled as if he had imagined this moment numerous times! I asked Sasha if he’d ever seen his mother. The boy replied that he had never seen her in his life and said something that simply stunned me, ”I know that if I pray, God can do this miracle, I know it for sure,” and smiled again.

Imagine an 18-year-old who cannot tell his right hand from his left, who does not even realize that he had his finger removed. This boy dreams about seeing his mother, even though he does not understand why she left a good person like him. He doesn’t understand what is wrong with him and what she did not like about him. Sasha has been in an orphanage since his birth. He is almost 18 now. How long have you been tormented by this question, Sasha?! How long have you been dreaming about something that seems almost impossible?! How long, Sasha, will you suffer from this pain that burns you from within?! These thoughts have been running through my head for a month now, and my heart is crying, because I don’t have much faith that Sasha will ever be with a family.

Without his family, the boy suffers a lot. I always looked for Sasha in the crowd, and we became such good friends that we now go together to clean up trash on the beach. He was jumping for joy and loving all the attention. 

Please pray for Sasha, as he learns more about God and becomes less disobedient and more obedient in the Lord.