Luiza's Story

(This testimony was spoken in Russian; the transcript below is an English translation.)

My name is Luiza. My mother gave birth to me very young, at 17. I never knew my father. When I was born, my mother was disappointed that I was born, and she gave me up. Some time later she came back into my life, but I didn't know her at all. For me, my father and my mother was my grandfather. And when he died, my mom took me in.

After some time she had a new husband — or, more precisely, a partner — and my brother Kolya was born. By that time I already understood that my mom didn't need me; she loved my brother more, and that was that. After a while my mom had a new man, and my second brother, Andryusha, was born. My mom began a bad way of life. She could leave for several weeks and abandon us children.

Once — I had already started first grade and wasn't attending school — my teacher became interested in why a child wasn't coming to school. One day she came to our home, and she was shocked at how we were living. She went and told the authorities how our family was living, and our mom was stripped of her parental rights. I ended up in a shelter with my brother Kolya.

When I got to the shelter, my mom told me, "You are not my daughter." Those words hurt me to this day, but I know that God loves me. In the shelter I was very angry at this life. I thought, why live? Why do I have such a life? But what held me back was that I have a brother — my brother Kolya.

After some time my mom came to the shelter to visit us, but I wasn't there — I was sick at the time. That was the last time she ever came. When I returned from the hospital, they offered for us to go to another shelter. I thought, it can't be worse. And it was much better — I came to a believing, Christian home. The children there were joyful, having fun. I thought, why are you celebrating? You have no parents, and you're having fun. But I got used to them. It was my home. They treated me well — not the way my mom had treated me before.

And I saw real love — I saw that someone could love me. I thank God for everything, for all that He is doing in my life. I am thankful that there are people who support me and help me. Thank God.