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Friends I have Dreamt About!

Mission Without Borders Ministry to children aims to meet their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Summer Camp is a wonderful ministry healing souls and providing a dream come true to some very special kids.

This is the testimony of 12 year old Diana who was lead to the Lord by our CRI field worker at last year’s Summer Camp.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

“I grew up in a dysfunctional family. Memories of how my father abused my Mum often disturb me to this day. My twin sister and I were only three when our Dad would put us both on top of the high wardrobe so we couldn’t see or hear how he was beating our Mum in the next room. There have been many other memories of my father’s inexcusable behavior. However, I am glad I don’t remember all of them. As a result of such a childhood I am now shy, find it hard to express emotions and often seem overwhelmed by grief. However, I pretend to be brave and confident, even though I often feel miserable.  In school, I discovered that if you used foul language and hung around in the right gang, no one would touch or harm you. So with their help, I gained ‘friends’ and ‘respect’ for myself. Soon enough I realised these friends were fake. One incident well and truly proved this.. I had told my ‘friends’ about my idea of making a surprise birthday present for my favorite teacher. At first they were jealous, they made fun of me and then told my teacher that I had said bad things about her and that I hated her. They then passed on the news that my teacher would not be accepting any gifts from me… The situation disintegrated further… suffice to say these friendships were not real, were very damaging and left me feeling very alone.  

Everything seemed to be going wrong in my life. I was doing terribly at school, I had a bad reputation, no friends and then my Mum got very sick.  Little did I know that an offer of a Summer Camp was going to change my life!It was a perfect day! The first day of Summer Camp had bright blue skies and warm sunny weather. But inside, I felt cold and sad as I wanded around the Camp. Taras, our camp leader, noticed me and sat down with me for a talk. We prayed together and he asked God to let me know how much He loved me. I felt very special. After our little chat I felt relieved and at peace. I started to think differently and there was a lot to think about. During the evening service, I gave my life to the Lord. It was also very exciting to see my sister’s eyes full of happy tears on stage. She met Jesus that night too!  Since then, all of my bad words have gone. I don’t even know where? I have asked God for real friends and little by little I was meeting new friends every day at Summer Camp.  As I got to know my Camp ‘Dad’ Talking, I begun to see that not all men are like my father. This prompted me to forgive my father. He probably still feels bad for what he did. I also started to write poems at Summer Camp.  At first, they were only one or two lines. When I showed them to Taras, he encouraged me to do write more as he saw I had talent. So I started to put all my emotions and feelings on paper. Now I have two hobbies, playing soccer and writing poems. I am good at soccer too, only the physical education teacher can score against me! 

When I got sick at Summer Camp, all of the staff members came to my room and sang to me. This has never ever happened in my life and was so wonderful! Returning from Summer Camp, I was terrified about what I would do without “Daddy” Taras and “Mama” Ira. But God took care of that concern. My sister and I have kept in touch with Taras, Ira and many others from Summer Camp. Taras often comes and visit us here at the Children’s Home. We also regularly attend the local church in Ostrig together with our Camp ‘Mum’ Ira”.  

When Diana and her twin sister Vika returned to the Children’s Home, their sparkling eyes told everyone they had changed. Their school physiologist expressed his surprise in seeing such an instant change in the girls. “It was like two new girls had arrived at the Home!” 

Unfortunately, there are many children like the Darinas girls not only in Children’s Homes that struggle with a painful past, unforgiveness and have bitter hearts. These kids need at the very least emotional support. Many may well have bypassed Diana with her bad behaviour and attitude, but the leaders and volunteers at the Summer Camp reached out to her with love and compassion and the change was absolutely amazing!  Diana’s poems were mostly about Ira, Taras and her new life with Jesus. Like Taras and Ira, we have many more staff and volunteers throughout our field countries reaching out to kids with the love of God. Their ministry is made possible thanks to your support. You may not be coordinators of a Summer Camp, or the Sunday school’s teachers but by the grace of God, the lives of others can be changed through you and through those you empower with your generosity… thank you for making our ministry possible! 

Diana’s favourite poem begins with… “Mama Ira is a dream-friend…Now I can enjoy this new friend, I no longer have to dream…” 


This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 7:41 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.