The Power of Forgiveness
Fourteen-year-old Olesya had been using “salt,” a dangerous drug, for two years. Because she was a minor, her mother and little brother also came to the rehabilitation center in Asbest, Russia, to accompany her.
The relationship between mother and daughter was strained. They blamed each other for their problems. Their coming to the center led to a miraculous change, however, in the life of the whole family.
PHOTO: The Rehabilitation center in the city of Asbest, Russia
“I won’t take it anymore!”
Olesya was left without a father as soon as she was born because he abandoned the family. Mother Vera remarried when the girl was eight years old. Sergey, the nice stepfather, treated Olesya like his own child. She was happy with her life – until little brother Anton was born.
– “I had to babysit all the time and do all the laundry. Mom said I had to take care of Anton because she had taken care of me when I was a baby,” Olesya said unhappily.
– “If I didn’t want to look after the baby, there was terrible yelling at me. When Dad defended me, Mom started yelling at him, too, and the quarrel got twice as bad. Her discipline was like I was in the military! Finally, I left!”
At the age of 12 Olesya moved in with an older boy into his grandmother’s apartment. The young man was a drug addict and soon Olesya was using drugs, too.
Attitude adjustment for both mother and daughter
Vera, Olesya’s mother, did not try to get her daughter home.
– “I figured if she felt it was better to live with that boy, let her be there,” Vera told us.
She found out about her daughter’s drug problem when the girl went to school intoxicated and the teacher called home.
– “It was a total surprise to me.”
Vera heard about our rehabilitation center and planned to send Olesya for treatment by herself. But by law, a minor must have a guardian with her. So Vera and little Anton came.
– “Now Anton has to be separated from his father for this year-long rehabilitation,” said the disgruntled mother about the situation.
Olesya was very motivated to become free from drugs and she followed all instructions. She attended the local school and her studies went well.
The girl was happy and friendly. During a conversation with our workers she said she no longer carried resentment toward her mother. She dreamed about returning to her family, about having a happy home, and hoped that her mother would hug her and show more love.
At first Vera was not willing to speak with our family counselors. But soon Olesya’s rehabilitation became a time of self-reflection for the mother.
– “Maybe I was too harsh with her,” she admitted. “But I had good intent.”
We helped Vera see the needs of her daughter and understand why their relationship had worsened and reached such a point.
A wonderful moment four months later
A wonderful day came when mother and daughter both wanted to receive Jesus into their hearts. They apologized to each other in tears. That set in motion a change that surprised us all!
Vera began treating Olesya with the same gentleness as she used with little Anton. In the mornings Vera braided Olesya’s hair and took her to school without forgetting a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
It became evident that Olesya did not need a full year of rehabilitation. As the spring term ended we began preparing the family to leave.
Sergey had purchased a house in another city and renovated it for his family. We contacted the local evangelical church and told the pastor about the family’s situation.
When the mother and her children came to town, church members came to help them.
The family begins to serve in the church
The whole family began meeting with the church and a home group. The father was greatly impressed by the change in Vera and Olesya. He soon came to faith in Jesus, too, and in the summer the whole family was baptized together!
Now Vera and Sergey serve in the soup kitchen in the church building for low-income families and the homeless, and Olesya is involved with the church’s youth.
“They are a gift from God to our church,”
the pastor told us.
God has worked a miracle in this family in a short time and changed their lives!
PICTURE: Mother, daughter, and little brother at the rehabilitation center.
