Sarah was a beautiful Russian girl born to a very poor family. Although she was pretty, she didn’t have the comfort and all the pretty things many children her age had. As she grew up, she realized how cruel the world could be to her. You’ll see what I mean as we go through Sarah’s life story.

It was a cold winter’s night when Sarah was born, not in any cozy warm hospital but on the ice cold streets of Moscow. Since her parents couldn’t afford a house, they lived on the streets, literally surviving on the food from the garbage. Dirty old newspapers to wrap herself from the cold and a fire, were all Sarah had when she was born. But inspite of lacking the comforts of the world, she grew up to be a pretty and loving girl. She tried her best to keep her parents happy by bringing home food and money that she begged on the streets. Many a days her dad beat her up as she didn’t bring home enough money or her mom will not be home for days, as a result she didn’t know what real love meant. Sarah didn’t have friends as she never went to school nor did she know anything about church or God or His love for little children. The constant insults and bruises that Sarah faced everyday in her life were turning Sarah into a more hard-hearted person. She starting hating her parents and often cried herself to sleep. When Sarah was 5 years old; her mom tried to kill her as she couldn’t afford to feed or look after her. By now, Sarah’s only thought was to run away from home as she knew her parents didn’t love her nor cared that she lived. So, one night when her parents were sleeping, she left home into the lonesome night not looking back even once. Since she lived on the streets earlier, she knew how to keep herself warm at night, and live on the food thrown in the garbage.

One day, as she was searching for food in the near-by dustbins, she saw many children dressed in beautiful clothes playing together in a big open area. She followed them with her eyes and wished that she could be there laughing and playing with them. As she was standing near the fence, one of the kids saw little Sarah watching them from a distance and told the other girls, who decided to let her play with them too. Sarah gladly accepted their offer and played the games the girls taught her. She had never been so happy in her life before. They shared their food with Sarah and told each other stories until the children’s parents came to take them home. Her new friends promised that they would meet her again tomorrow at the same place to play. So, Sarah slept on one of the bench in the park waiting for tomorrow to dawn. As the sun started to rise, she waited eagerly for her friends to come. When everyone came, they laughed and played new games and shared their food until their parents came to take them home. As days passed by with her new friends, Sarah missed having a happy family and missed the love her friends got from their parents. On the 5th day, her friends surprised Sarah by giving her small things that her parents never bothered to give her, like their old clothes, shoes and food to eat. Sarah was so overwhelmed that she started crying and asked why they had done such a nice thing for her. One by one, they told little Sarah the stories that they learnt in Sunday school; that they have to love their neighbors as themselves and how God loves little children. Since little Sarah didn’t know any Bible stories or what a church was, she found it comforting when her friends told her about Jesus. When Sunday came, they took Sarah to their Sunday school where little Sarah learnt many things about God’s love and forgiveness. Sarah learnt to pray, sing and read the Bible with the help of her Sunday school teacher. Since Sarah was bright in her class, the priest of the church let Sarah stay with him in the church premises and provided her with everything a child would want and taught her about the Bible.

Sarah found love and comfort in Jesus as she grew up in the church and became the best vocalist in the choir. Her voice echoed all over the church and brought many people to understand God’s love through her songs. As Sarah dedicated her life to Jesus, not only did her past life stop haunting her, but her future was made by becoming the best gospel singer in the country. Now that Sarah is famous and rich to have anything she wanted, she never forgot the hardships she faced in her childhood nor did she forget her parents. So, she went back to her old home to see her parents but learnt from the neighbors that they had died long ago from the cold. Sarah felt sad because she never got the chance to tell them God’s love and what He had done in her life. So, she decided that she would build a home for the homeless and teach them about God and His love for them. To this day, ‘Hope Giver – Home for the homeless’ stands as a beautiful testimony of God’s love in Sarah’s life and a reminder to all that no matter who you are or where you are, God is there to give you the best in life, but at His pace.