No chance for hunger and cold

Actually, Luba (on the left in the picture) never had a chance. She has endured suffering all her life - shyly and quietly. She has never known it any other way.

Born in Tajikistan, Luba had been given to a children's home by her alcoholic parents. There, the children suffered from malnutrition, cold and disease. Released from the orphanage as a young woman, Luba found herself on the street. Without a home, without an education. She struggled to make ends meet in the capital city Dushanbe, looking for security in relationships. In 2004 her son Timur was born, six years later her daughter. The fathers abandoned the family and never took care of the children.

For a long time, Luba had no permanent residence. Then she found accommodation in two tiny rooms in a barrack. She shared a kitchen and bathroom with other families. But soon conflicts arose, against which Luba, as a single woman in a Muslim context, could not defend herself...

She endured the humiliation of the men from the neighborhood, who threatened to expel her from the rooms. When Luba could stand it no longer, she fled with her children to the church in Dushanbe, where she found care, help, and for the first time something like a home through the Christians.

One day Luba came to the church service with a black eye. The sisters of the congregation suspected assault by a neighbor. With tears and great shame, Lyuba showed them the bruises on her body. And God intervened. The brothers and sisters obtained a decision from the authorities that established those two tiny rooms as Luba's property. A small, safe territory for Luba and her children. The beater has not attacked them again since.

Shy and quiet like their mother, Luba's children Timur and Nadja get acquainted with us when we visit their small apartment. Poverty, narrowness - and yet hope! Timur is the great support of the family. He accepted Jesus and became member of the church. He wants to become a graphic designer, but he toils as a helper in a store to earn money for the family. Luba is employed as a cleaner only by the hour. The family struggles to make ends meet. It is especially hard in winter. The cold relentlessly creeps into every corner of the tiny apartment, which - like almost everywhere else in Tajikistan - has no heating.

We have brought food, blankets and a heater, and Luba smiles in deep gratitude. Every time the Christians come and bring help, it is a testimony of God's care for Luba. She knows that God cares for her. She knows that He is the chance she never had. The chance not to have to carry her heavy life on her slender shoulders, but to be carried by God's love.

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How hard will this winter be?

For many people, this is the all-important question, especially for widows, widowers and single people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. For many of them, it means choosing between food and heating - and for more and more people, even that is hardly possible.

But God has promised His help! He gives us the chance today to help the weak in His name - as a strong testimony of His love. Your help brings food and warmth, but most of all hope in God. Hope that can change a whole life! Thank you for being a part of it!

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To survive the winter, widows, single people and their children need above all food, coal and wood - so that hunger and cold do not stand a chance!

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Please help by providing for widows and their children:
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... with food

$50 for a winter month

$125 for three winter months

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... with heating material

$75 for a winter month

$200 for three winter months

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Thank you for your help in helping widows and orphans survive the winter!

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