An orphan's life

 Outwardly, Tanya was feisty, a real scrapper... but her eyes were dulled and sad. Her entire being seemed to be focused on her anger at the world around her. Her anger and pain often spilled over into other's lives, hurting those who were weaker than her...

 I looked up and saw Egor himself running toward me full-tilt, his face glowing.  He ran up, yelling at the top of his lungs "I found it! I found it!" I was confused..."What did you find, Egor?" I asked. "I found a family!!

I am so grateful that God has me in a life of full time ministry to these needy girls, for whose care and protection He, as their Heavenly Father, is particularly concerned... 

Soon Agape Ministries will celebrate it's 10th anniversary.  In some ways it seems like a long time, in others, not long at all. When we stop to consider -  the tears and laughter, the heights of joy and depths of despair...it's by God’s grace we have learned and grown through it all.

By the mercy of our Lord a miracle has taken place at our adaptation center.  For a long time we had been praying that our guys could work at home, so that the center could be more independent and to give them an opportunity to take part in meeting our needs as a family...

"Child, I’ve been praying for you for years and years!
I ran into this woman one day, carrying a toddler and pulling his older brother along by the hand... I could see that she was drunk and in quite bad shape, so I stopped and did what I could to help her..."

After the lesson, everyone raced off, leaving Lyuda behind. Lyuda is an open, tenderhearted girl, very sensitive and easily hurt. She asked very politely how I was doing, and despite her shyness and discomfort, struck up a conversation...

As I approach the classroom, I can already hear the noise of loud voices and laughter. I'm on my way to a group of 9th graders today...

I knew that these were very special children and that working with them would be a challenge – but I had no idea of how hard it would really be... 

A story from one of Agape’s adaptation centers...  Yana had a very rough childhood, and she has long suffered from loneliness and poor self-esteem. 
The past several months have not been easy for us. Yana has really put a lot of time and energy into searching for a job, but she has been turned down at every single place where she applied for work...