Galya and Sasha are two of our longest serving houseparents, having looked after Hope Now children for more than ten years. An additional blessing for the family has been the presence of Galya’s mother, a Christian babushka (grandma). However, for the past two years she has been bedridden due to illness.
Imagine Sasha’s consternation when one morning he went to wake her and the bed was empty! After searching the house he went and awoke Galya. “Your mother has disappeared”, he said. To which Galya replied, “Oh no! The Lord has come and taken his own and left us here”. They looked outside, but still no sign of her, so Sasha got in the car and drove around the village and there she was, talking with friends. Bed ridden for two years, but now like a spritely younger woman, she jumped in the car and said, “Alright, let’s go home.”
Misha with new mum Galya
I listened to the story and smiled as Galya said, “Most of all I was afraid for my children, that they too had been left behind.” Ironically, that was the same day that I took yet another boy from Shpola Orphanage to stay with them. “Will you take Misha?” I asked. Galya embraced him and said, “Of course we will. What I’m afraid of most is to lose the blessings.” This brings the number of our children to five boys and two girls in that one family alone. Pray for them, such simple people who love the Lord.
