The Power of Love

Up until the age of two, Yana was left alone and abandoned. Being an orphan, she needed someone to care for her. She needed someone to love her. Thankfully, she was taken in but no one could have anticipated what was to come. Keep reading to hear how CBN’s Orphan’s Promise helped Yana find not only a future but also a family.

A love to be remembered

Not knowing her birth parents for the first two years of her life meant she had missed out on what a loving mother and father looked like. Yet, this was about to change.

Yana shares, “When I was two years old, one wonderful woman opened up her heart and accepted me into her family.” Deeply moved and full of gratitude she says, “She became a real mother to me. Her love and care always surrounded and inspired me.” Through the actions of this kind-hearted woman, the love she had missed at the beginning of her life was being restored and renewed.

For the next twelve years, growing up in this family, she learned what selfless love looks like. She learned what it means to care for those who don’t have anyone. To welcome others into a family when theirs have left them.

Sadly, at the age of fourteen, her kind-hearted mum passed away due to cancer.

“It was painful and frustrating. It felt unfair and was so hard.” Yana conveys.

Though her mother’s friends had taken her into their family, she was deeply impacted by the trauma she had gone through. Battling with the hurt and pain she expresses, “I was resentful towards God and my fate. I stopped appreciating life and started living for my comfort. I started hanging out with the wrong crowds.”

“I was resentful towards God and my fate. I stopped appreciating life and started living for my comfort.”

Replacing the darkness with light

CBN’s Orphan’s Promise run a centre that helps orphans and disadvantaged families. Seeing that this could be a way to restore light in Yana’s dark world, her parents started taking her there. She began to get involved in the events and Bible lessons that took place. She shares “Soon I felt warmth in my heart again. Resentment was replaced with gratitude.”

Being surrounded by the example of her parents and the mentors at the centre, she soon found hope in life again. No longer was she closed off to the world and only thinking about her comfort. Their example inspired her.

She joyfully says, “Now I have decided that I want to continue their work. I am now studying to become an elementary school teacher. When I have free time, I help to care for the children at the new centre which recently opened in my neighbourhood.”

Thanks to partners of CBN’s Orphan’s Promise, who give so generously, centres like these can exist. A young girl who had lost all sense of love, life, and hope, now had a vision. Not only for her future but the future of all those who need someone to call family.

“I want to make the world a better place. I want to give my love to others as someone once gave it to me. I really want to say thank you to all the people who did not let grief steal my life. Thank you and I promise to continue the work out here.”

“I want to make the world a better place. I want to give my love to others as someone once gave it to me.”