TRANSFORMED INTO A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY
She
was just a child herself, only 14. Now she was about to give birth
to a child. Sitting by a stream in the Chernobyl area one day, Irina
pondered her future. She was filled with doubt, darkness and despair.
Her mind was flooded with questions: What’s going to happen
to me? Where will I live? How will I take care of my baby? She had
no family, no friends, no money, no papers. Nothing. It was a matter
of life and death.
Irina was about to choose
death -- take her life into her own hands – when an angel appeared.
The angel turned out to be Pavel, one of our Samaritan directors who
miraculously happened to be fishing in the area that day. Little by
little, her story began to unfold. She was brought up in an alcoholic
home. She knew nothing but neglect, poverty, violence and abuse. When
she was just a young girl her mother stabbed her stepfather to death
while in a drunken rage. As time went on she and her younger brother
were cast out of the house. Luckily they found refuge in a farmer’s
barn nearby. There they slept in a cattle trough. To keep body and
soul together, they gathered berries, caught fish and scrounged for
mushrooms. Then Siberian man came to work in a logging camp nearby,
robbed Irina of her virginity, and left her with child. Later when
she had reached nearly full term, she was brutally raped by a gang
of hoodlums.
Pavel took her into his
love and care. He arranged her hospital stay where she gave birth
to a little girl. Irina named her Darina. After a month, unable to
pay, the hospital wanted her out. Pavel didn’t know what to
do, except pray. God led him to Mission to Ukraine and eventually
to a Women’s Rehab Center, outside of Zhitomir, run by two Methodist
“sisters” from Germany. The sisters embraced Irina, took
her into their hearts and home and loved her like their own. They
taught her basic life skills. They sent her to school where she learned
to read and write. And they took her to church where she was embraced
by the Father’s love. Deeply touched and moved by God’s
favor on her, Irina invited Jesus into her heart.
About six months ago, Irina
and her beautiful little baby were transferred to the Father’s
House in Kiev, another humanitarian organization, more suited to their
needs. There, as before, she was embraced and empowered by a loving
community until she is now strong enough to be on her own. Irina’s
story is truly a miracle story. As someone has said, “In
her mind Irina was nothing but an ugly caterpillar, but by God’s
grace and mercy she has been transformed into a beautiful butterfly.”
