November was a month of both tremendous blessing as new relationships in St.
Petersburg were given life, and of unexpected grief, as we learned of the passing of Tanya, a
beautiful young lady we've known since she was a teenager living in the orphanage of Pavlovsk.
Like many of the girls we work with there, Tanya struggled with shame, confusion, anger, bit-
terness and many other fruits coming from the seed of the lies the enemy plants in the heart
of a young girl who has been abandoned by her mother and father, and who has suffered severe
abuse from counselors as a child. (At one point Tanya's wounds from the abuse she received in
the orphanage required medical surgery. She also needed reconstructive surgery as a result of
that incident, which she never received.) Despite these struggles, however, Tanya clearly had a
beautiful spirit, which shown most clearly when she laughed. I had the honor of praying the
sinner's prayer with Tanya during one of our visits there. Despite some deep confusion that
seemed to linger in her about God, I and others close to her know she is with Him now, and
that all is clear for her. ("Yet to all who received Him...He gave the right to become children
of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but
born of God." John 1:12-13. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see
face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Cor
13:12.) Thanks be to God for allowing us the honor of a glimpse into the beauty of His precious
daughter, if even for a short time.
Used with permission of http://www.actsofadvocacy.org/ and photographer Anne Yarbrough