Bible lessons in orphanages
I believe
Once after the lessons, I was asked by the disciplinarian of the 4th grade class to lead the children to the cafeteria and to tuck them in to sleep. I agreed happily.
And here we were in the bedroom. The girls fell asleep right away. But the boys..... Tolik, Maksim and Dima did not want to lay down to bed, and I had to tuck them in individually. I helped the guys undress, hugged them, tucked them in, and wished them peaceful dreams. All of the sudden Tolik burst into tears and started to talk. He said he wanted to be my son, because his stepfather beat him fiercely. When he was drunk Tolik had to hide. My heart shed blood as he was telling me this. The boy was of short stature and thin. How can you hit him on top of that? He told me this and was all shaky. "Once he broke a window with my head", Tolik continued. "But please do not tell anybody about this".
All the boys laid quietly, likely remembering their lives. But here Maksim burst out, "At least you have a real mother. My mother died. My stepmother beat me. And my real father just tortures me, as if I were some animal. It's good in the orphanage. I have no desire to go home. "And I don't want to", - this spread out like an echo throughout the room, a quiet scream. I stood frozen. I couldn't say one word. There are many different life stories that I have heard, but this one painfully touched my heart.
Coming home, I could not hold back tears. In my thoughts I rewound what had happened: these kids were not taught good, they never lived in a happy family, they did not see kind family relations, and as a general rule their families were like this one. They do not know anything else. Everything continues in a circle. This is a tragedy. But, praise God, that we Christians, know that "What is impossible with men is possible with God" (Luke 18:27). This hope does not leave me. I constantly plea with the Lord about this and believe that He will answer.
Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ!
Constantinova Elena. Mission teacher.
