Svetlana
Dear friend,
When Svetlana began sharing her story with me, I felt as though I was reliving the familiar sting of Stella’s death.
I have shared Svetlana’s painful story before. Do you remember? She was not an orphan. She was lured by the promise of a job selling leather jackets in Italy, but wound up being trafficked in Turkey. When she reached her destination, she was led to a small hotel room crowded with other young girls her age.
“One of them told me I had been sold and I would have to be a prostitute,” she told me, before bursting into tears. “When the man came back to the room I asked him to please let me go. Then he asked if I had 1,500 Euros. I would have to repay him what he paid for me before he would let me go. Then he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down the hallway and into an empty room. I started to scream for mercy, I told him I was a virgin, begging him to let me go.”
Rather than show this girl mercy, the man increased her price and her virginity was sold for 100 Euros to the first man who lined up.
Svetlana told me that when she woke up from her brutal attack, she wished she were dead. The physical and emotional pain was horrific. And it didn’t stop. Night after night, day after day, men would approach her door and force her to do the unthinkable.
In time, she learned to numb the pain—with no money and no resources, she thought she would never escape. But one day, she met a hotel employee who helped her escape! When she went to take out the trash, he drove up and swung the car door open. She dropped the garbage and leapt inside the car and was dashed off to the Embassy where she began spilling her story to officials.
That’s when I met her.
We had a spare single room at Providence House and once I heard her story, I offered it to her. Two months later, she gave birth to a sweet little girl named Maria. But there is still so much hurt in this young girl’s heart.
To be honest, I fear that we might lose her. She has already bought the lie that she is nothing but a worthless piece of meat, good only to be used by men, and I fear she may flee from our care. Pray against this. And pray for the other girls like her who are desperate for healing.
James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
I know you take that scripture to heart because you have helped so many orphans in our care before. Would you consider helping again so that we can continue to provide refuge to orphans and girls like Svetlana? Will you be her voice? Will you be Stella’s voice?
I’m asking God for a
“MIRACLE OF GIVING”
within the NEXT 7 DAYS:
I need 10 people to step up and say,
“I AM SENDING $1,000.”
With them, I need 25 to say,
“LOOK FOR $500 FROM ME TO HELP!
And finally, I need 125 people to say,
“HERE’S $100 TO MAKE THIS MISSION POSSIBLE.”
Please take a few minutes to watch the video below. Take a moment to see where these girls were… what they went through… and where they are now because of your generous gifts. Let’s keep this work of God moving forward.
God bless you.
–Philip
