The following is a testimony from Danil from Kara-Balta orphanage.
Testimony| April 2022|Kara-Balta Orphanage
My name is Danil. I have been living in this orphanage since November 4, 2014. I ended up here because there were problems at home, my mother was deprived of parental rights because she was drinking, led an immoral lifestyle, there was no food at home, and there was always swearing. We did not have a father; we do not know who he is or where he is.
My grandmother was in charge of raising Nastya, Sergei, and me. She decided to send us to an orphanage, believing it would be best for us. We all came to the orphanage at once, I was 6 years old, Sergei was 5 years old, and Nastya was 8 years old. It was not easy for us, but the orphanage staff took care and helped us, gave us a place to live, fed us, and gave us a chance to study. The first time we were there, in the orphanage, we were able to visit home and see our grandmother and mother. However, a misfortune happened - our grandmother died of diabetes, it happened in August 2020, and the guardianship forbade us to go home because our mother was deprived of parental rights.
Time passed, our mother lived on her own, still drinking alcohol, and her life was not changing. I prayed a lot for her even before my grandmother died, but there was no change, it was painful for me to see her condition. Sometimes, when I wanted to share my worries, I shared them with our spiritual coordinator, and we prayed about them together. At one of our last meetings with our spiritual coordinator, we decided to visit my mother; it was March 23, 2022. The Director of the orphanage would not let us go to see her alone, but we could go with someone from the orphanage staff. We went to see her, she was sober, her health had deteriorated and it turned out that she was not drinking now - she had been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. We talked to her, talked about God, prayed for her, and invited her to church, which we have been going to since we got to the orphanage. (The kids go to church because the whole orphanage goes to church for Sunday services. Nastya, Sergey and Danil believe in Jesus).
A few days later our mother visited the Director of the orphanage herself, and after talking to her, she said she wanted to move toward being allowed to take the children on weekends. The orphanage director visited the home, checked to see if everything was in order, and gave her permission to take the children on weekends. The house had 4 rooms and the bathroom is outside. After a while she was allowed - that was a great joy for us.
We spent the last weekend at home. In order to continue to take us home my mother needs to do the paperwork, she does not have a passport, it expired, and I pray that everything works out well, but it is already a great joy that she decided to take actions.
