Before long, students will soon be ready to go back to school! This includes refugee and immigrant families, and you and I have a great opportunity if we open our hearts in support. Reflecting on this mid-summer season, I want to share a story from my own family about how God takes care of those who trust Him.
The Heart of God
I was born in the Soviet Union in a large Christian family. We lived in a society that was aggressively opposed to faith in God. Atheism was the main religion, and the state did everything possible to make life difficult for Christians. Our life was not easy. My own school experience as a child was not always positive. But my parents raised us to trust God in many different circumstances and to always pray and trust God every day. This is how we survived the Soviet Union and the economic crisis that came after it collapsed.
In 1998 my family and I received an invitation to move to the United States under the religious refugee program, but we could not even pay for the tickets. Then World Relief supported us, and in the end people who did not even know us responded and donated so we were able to move to this country!
First Kings 17:9 says “Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I ordered a widow woman there to feed you.” This verse reminds me that when you trust God, you see how he has his own people all over the world who can care for you and give what is needed.
Who knows, maybe today you are the person God can use to help another, just as strangers helped my family years ago!
“Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I ordered a widow woman there to feed you.”
1 Kings 17:9
Even the smallest things help! You can help by donating backpacks, school supplies, and other seasonal needs today!
Image: Tanya, her husband Oleg, and her daughter Lisa on their flight to the USA in 1999.