Julia's Prayer

In 1999, we chanced to meet a young girl named Julia at an orphanage in the Kirov city limits. Each summer the children are sent to relatives while the orphanages close for a month of repairs. Galina Rueben (the pastor’s wife) expressed great concern for Julia because she had no place to go. Two of our team members tried to organize a way for Julia to come to America for the summer. It seemed a heaven sent answer. Money was left, hopes were raised and the prayers began.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, Isaiah 55:9

The plan failed. The authorities refused to grant a visa and instead Julia was sent to a mental hospital (the only public institution that had room for her) during the time the orphanage was closed. Hearts broke on both sides of the ocean. When the new school year began her situation grew even worse. She was sent to the small rural town of Sanchursk, 6 hours south of Kirov to one of the poorest orphanages in the whole region. The weekly visits by the Kirov Bible Church, became another sad and distant memory. Heartbroken, Galina contacted the East West Ministries Children’s Director to ask if the next time the Americans came to Kirov they would also do a program for Julia’s orphanage.

So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9