Lera's Story

Lera's Story

Let me tell you a story about a girl named Lera.

Lera lives in Krasnodar, Russia (map), with her parents and twin brother. When Lera and her brother were being delivered during birth, Lera’s spine was accidentally injured.

So Lera has spent all 17 years of her life in a wheelchair, unable to move, eat, or drink on her own. The only part that remained uninjured was her brain.

One day last year, Lera’s mom heard about something called a 'club' in their town. It was a gathering for kids just like her daughter, which intrigued her. ​

Not only was such an event highly unusual, it was outright suspicious, since her daughter was typically never welcome anywhere. Especially to a social gathering.

What added to the suspicion was the fact that the gathering was completely free.

“There must be some catch here. It is probably some sort of cult”, thought Lera’s mom. But despite her doubts, she decided to check it out.

Before telling you the rest of the story, let me give you a bit of a rundown on what being a child with special needs means in Russia.

It can be summarized in three sentences:

1. You have no future (it sounds harsh, but it's the reality).
2. You are unnoticed by society (meaning the world around you doesn’t accommodate your disability and you live in complete isolation).
3. More often than not, your parents are embarrassed to have you as their child.

But while Lera's Mom and Dad were different than most and were determined to give their daughter as many opportunities as possible, they were still swimming against the social current, which by and large ostracized their daughter from the rest of the world.

The invitation was too good not to investigate, though. Lera's parents weighed the pro's and con's and decided to take their daughter to the 'club'.

Fast forward six months.

After getting over the initial discomfort of being separated from Lera and having someone else take care of her while she had tea with other parents, Lera’s mom grew to love the 'club'.

Her skepticism was gone and she saw her daughter thrive in this new environment.

Lera was safe, looked after by experienced staff, and treated better than she was ever treated before. She even made new friends!

Her precious daughter was finally experiencing life like any other kid.

If you are a parent, I'm sure you know how she felt.

One day, an unfamiliar face showed up at the club.

It was an elderly lady who seemed like she just stopped by out of curiosity to see what was happening in the building.

While looking around, she kept asking parents about the club, why their kids enjoy coming here, and what motivates them to keep bringing them back every week. ​ ​

Lera's mom spoke up:

“This place is the only place that I can honestly call our true home”, she said smiling.

Other parents chimed in, and the lady's eyes filled with tears.

As she was getting ready to leave, she turned to one of the leaders and said:

“Listen, I’m not quite sure what makes you do what you do. But I can see the difference that you are making. I'm aware that you need a van to transport these kids. I'm a member of a local philanthropic group, and our team would love to help you buy it”.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… Love your neighbor, like yourself”. Matt. 22:37,39 NIV

The number one commandment that is so simple, yet, so incredibly difficult.

But when you are able to tap into its supernatural power, is there any heart that would be left untouched?