Life in Kyrgyzstan was falling apart for Kulepa Moldabayeva until she encountered the power of prayer.
Her husband was gravely ill and Kulepa was spending nearly all her earnings buying him expensive pain killers with the result that there was little money left to feed the family.
Her husband’s condition worsened and unable to combine providing the care he needed with earning a living for her family, Kulepa was forced to send him to his parents to be looked after.
Life then took another turn down a dark alley for Kulepa. Cash-strapped, she resorted to taking out a loan but soon realised she would struggle to pay it back.
`I became depressed,’ said Kulepa. `I wasn’t able to pay for kindergarten for my son and very often we didn’t have anything to eat at home.
`I lost the desire to live anymore.’
It was then that she met an old friend who now worked as a social worker for the Children of Tien Shan, a project run by a Tearfund Christian partner in the town of Balykchy.
Sanctuary
Her friend suggested that the centre could help. It provides a home and caring sanctuary for poor children, many of whom have been living on the streets with little food and no one to care for them.
It also provides support for working families which was just what Kulepa needed.
Soon her six-year-old son Imurat was on the day care programme and began to enjoy being among other children as well as having nutritious meals, a contrast to the monotony of tea and bread that his mother could afford at home.
Staff at Children of Tien Shan also spent time with Kulepa, talking to her and hearing about her life, a process she found very positive.
They also prayed with her: `After the prayers, bad thoughts started to leave me and some joy and light started to come to my soul,’ she said.
Eventually Kulepa gave her life to Jesus and it was the strength she gained from her new-found faith that helped her through the death of her husband, to forge a closer relationship with her family and to find a good job to pay off her debts.
Transformed life
`I can’t even imagine what I would do if I hadn’t met God and the people from this organisation,’ she said. `I just want to say thank you for all the help and support I’ve received.’
Kulepa’s life is one of many that has been touched by the Children of Tien Shan project in the eight years since it was started by Irina Trofimova and her pastor husband Dmitry.
Although it is supported by Tearfund and local churches, the Children of Tien Shan receives no government support and therefore financial pressures are never far away.
• Please pray for a secure and lasting future for the Children of Tien Shan.
• Pray the project has the means to feed poor children and to run the home in Balykchy.
• Pray for the success of the project’s efforts to convince the government of Kyrgyzstan to support the care of poor children.