Valera's Story

Valera's Story

Sometimes the hardest hearts are formed in the deepest emptiness. A child who grows up without love often learns to give back exactly what he has received. Until God writes a different story.

Valera grew up in a home marked by his mother's alcoholism. There was little food, no stability, and no one making sure he went to school. Hunger often drove him to steal. He still remembers finding a packaged croissant in a trash bin. At the time, he said, it was the best thing he had ever eaten.

One day, overwhelmed by his circumstances, he whispered a desperate prayer: "God, if You exist, take me away from here. I'll do whatever You say."

Not long afterward, he was placed in an orphanage.

The deepest wound wasn't leaving home. It was realizing no one wanted him back. When he later tried to visit his family, he overheard his aunt say on speakerphone that he wasn't wanted. In that moment, his heart hardened. He carried so much pain that he began hurting everyone around him.

Then Young Life leaders came to the orphanage to run a sports outreach.

One of the leaders, Peter, invited Valera to the movies, then to Young Life club. He spent time with him, bought him clothes and food, and simply kept showing up. Valera couldn't understand it.

Finally, he asked, "Why are you doing all this for me?"

Peter answered, "Because I read the Bible."

That answer changed everything.

Soon Valera began attending church, and later he went to Young Life camp. It was there that he gave his life to Christ.

When he returned home, he started reading the Bible with Peter. Slowly, the anger that had defined him began to disappear. The boy who had only known rejection learned how to love. The child who had caused pain became someone who brought hope to others.

Today, at twenty-three, Valera serves as a Young Life leader, returning to orphanages to care for children whose stories look much like his own. God has also been writing a new story for his mother, who came to Christ while in a rehabilitation program. Last winter, Valera married the woman he loves.

Only God can soften a hardened heart. And time and again, He chooses to do it through faithful leaders, life-changing camp experiences, and relationships that reflect the love of Christ.

Please pray for the kids still waiting for someone to believe in them, and for the Young Life leaders who faithfully go to them, trusting God to transform lives one relationship at a time.