Transition Home Graduate, Nik, Shares His Story - Part I
Nik's story
from "troubled" orphan to husband and father
My name is Nikolai. I am one of eight children, and when I was two years old we were removed from our home by the authorities. We were placed in different orphanages. My whole family fell apart. At two, I didn’t understand what happened, but I was angry. So angry that I was finally moved to a specialized orphanage – one for troubled children.
I spent the next eight years in that orphanage. Although there were 250 other kids, I never felt like I belonged in that place. There were times when life was unbearably hard. I did not understand, but I gritted my teeth and pressed on. Some of those children are no longer alive.
When I was a teenager, Christians came to the orphanage to teach Bible lessons weekly. The kids would ridicule and insult them. Many of the Christians left with tears in their eyes, but at the same time they didn’t respond and were never rude. We only saw love from them. They intrigued me, so I began to attend their lessons. Eventually I became friends with the Christians.
When I graduated, I was sent to a trade school close to a Heart for Orphans’ Transition House. Several of my friends lived there, and I was invited to live there also. I was amazed at how loving and kind everyone was. Soon I felt like I belonged there also. I started going to church and after a while I felt that God was calling me. I was embarrassed to say a prayer of repentance in front on my friends, so I stayed quiet. A half a year later I ended up in hospital in serious condition. I asked God to save me. A month later I walked out, and on that day I repented and ask God to change my heart.
I am now 30. God has blessed me with a wonderful wife and two beautiful daughters. We attend the Voice of Hope church – the same church that sent believers to my orphanage so many years ago. We don’t have a big church, but we are like one big family taking care of each other.
I’ve always had a passion to help the kids in my orphanage because I know what they are going through. Before this horrible war began, I led a team from our church, and we visited the orphanage regularly. I even got a job as a security guard there, and it enabled me to get to know the kids better. We tried to help the kids spiritually by teaching them about God. We prayed for them and taught them that their true identity is a child of the heavenly Father who loves them deeply!