This month I’m in Transnistria, the unrecognized country inside of Moldova. My team of seven girls is paired with two other girl teams for the month. All 21 of us live in a big, concrete room with dusty floors and bright pink curtains. But despite our shanty living space, Princess Palace (as we like to call it) has provided us with warmth, shelter and a place to call home. What more could we ask for?
I have the privilege of being a camp counselor this week at an English camp for 10-16 year olds. Every day the counselors wake up an hour before the kids to go over activities for the day and to pray. Each day is packed with English lessons, soccer, arts and crafts, swimming, dancing, singing songs, and jumping on the trampoline.
On the first day of camp, we learned that many of the kids were orphans until recently when all of them were adopted by families in the local church. One of my campers stood out to me as someone very special. Galia is a beautiful, boy-crazy, teenage girl who loves everything American. She speaks broken English and likes to have conversations with me whenever she can. She is always singing and has as much spunk in her as she does beauty. When I learned that she once was an orphan, too, I wanted to get to know her even more.
One night as the girls were getting ready for bed, Galia came over and sat down next to me. She instantly started talking my ear off and I was happy to listen, despite how tired I was from the day’s activities. I asked her a few questions to get to know her better and soon she was telling me about her home and all the details of how she got there. She lost her parents at age five and has lived in an orphanage for most of her life. Her story broke my heart. I, too, had lost my parents at a young age and so I was able to relate to Galia in many ways. We talked about God as our father and how he meets all of our needs that we haven’t received from our earthly fathers. We shed tears together and afterwards we concluded that we are like sisters.
Then I noticed Galia looking at my necklace. She turned to me and said, “Your necklace is beautiful.” I looked down and felt it between my fingers. It took me only a second to know what I would do next. I reached for the clasp to unhook it and then handed the necklace to her and told her she could have it. At first she was surprised and refused my gift but I reassured her that it was hers to keep. She let me put the necklace on her and afterwards she swept her arms around me for a big hug. The feeling in that moment is one I wish to never forget.
Galia has left an impression on my heart that will last forever. I’m thankful that God arranged for me to meet her and be blessed by her sharing her story with me.
