I Stopped Believing
Nikita and Vika had lived through painful, even tragic moments in their lives. Their parents were alcoholics, and it often came to the point of arguments and fights between them.
In one of these fights, the husband grabbed a knife and killed his wife, right before the eyes of their scared children!
After the tragedy, their mother was buried, and their father was imprisoned for eight years. The kids were placed in an orphanage.
Nikita is older than Vika, and often supports and protects his sister. He was and remains her reliable brother. These two always stick together!
A year ago, a well-off woman came to the orphanage and decided to adopt Nikita. At first, she would take him only on weekends, and then she took him to live in her family. At first, things were going well, but after two or three months Nikita started having trouble.
The woman’s daughter was jealous of her mother’s attention and started scandals at home. The girl slandered Nikita and insisted that he be sent back to the orphanage. Nikita realized that there was nothing keeping him in this family. He would spend time away from home, and started smoking and drinking, was disobedient to get back at her. In a word, he became unmanageable!
Eventually, the woman returned Nikita to the orphanage as an unwanted item! The orphanage workers were shocked! The boy had changed so much. He behaved like an outlaw! I did not recognize him after his return either, because before, he was such a trusting, open boy, liked to share his plans, always the first to come to the Bible lesson to listen, and asked a lot of questions! And now he was stiff, impatient, and rude! It continued like this for a few months.
Finally, this summer, he went to a Christian camp with the other kids. We prayed for him the whole time! Gradually his character began to improve.
The atmosphere of love and acceptance at the camp made all the difference! The Lord Jesus Christ touched his heart, and he repented! His eyes lit up with love for God and those around him. For the first time in months, we saw a smile on Nikita’s face! He was walking around joyful and happy! Vika said it was as if her brother had revived!
At the end of the camp, as we had a conversation, Nikita confessed: ‘When I got into the family of that wealthy woman, I stopped praying, I had everything, and I thought that this was the happy life! But when the problems came, I was mistrusted, called names, unfairly punished, so I stopped believing and trusting people! I became angry at everyone and decided that I would do bad things to spite everyone! But it turned out that I was only hurting myself!
Now, I’m even glad that I’m back at the orphanage and Vika is here by my side! She’s the dearest person to me! My father got out of prison last year and got married. He asked me to move in with him, but Vika and I decided that we can manage on our own. He has another family now, and we are not wanted there!
Most importantly, I believe God again, and Vika and I pray that God will not forsake us! I am also thankful to God that we have you, people who help us to keep on believing and talk about Him!’
Thank God that Our Almighty God never delays and bestows His Love and forgiveness on everyone!”
From an Orphans Reborn Report
Kazakhstan