The women's crisis centre adopts Jesus' example of unconditional love.
About the women who leave prematurely, before Alina the manager of the crisis centre believes they are ready, she says....
'they'll be back, and we'll be here with open arms when they are ready'
Katya left the crisis centre before she was ready. Her decisions turned reckless and again she found herself broken. This is Katya's story told in her own words.
My name is Katya, I am 36 years old. I was born into a large family and brought up very strictly, especially by my mother. I was a daddy's girl and I spent a lot of time with him. Everything went wrong when he died. I was just 15 and felt I no longer had a place in my family. Feeling lost, I got into bad company and tried alcohol for the first time. After a while I got pregnant and gave birth to a son and then a second. The drinking continued. I tried to be a good mother but it was too late, alcohol did not let me go – I'd become an addict.
Persuaded by my older sister, I went to the women’s crisis centre with my children. Slowly I came to my senses. When we read the Bible, the Lord touched my heart. Life sparkled with new colours and meaning appeared. The children went to school, studied well and I was proud of them. I was baptised and became a member of the church and helped around the centre.
As time went on I decided I wanted to live on my own. I found a job and I even got married... but it was all too soon. It wasn't long before I was again dependent on alcohol and fights began in the family. One day an old friend appeared on the doorstep, he'd recently left prison and was a drug addict. I began using drugs with him.
I lost my job, was in debt from loans I couldn’t repay and I had no money for rent… it was a very dark time.
The children skipped school and I lied to the teachers about why. I was fighting with loved ones and losing my home and my health; I'd become anorexic and weighed under 6 stone.
The meaning of life I once had, was completely lost, I saw no joy in anything.
Two years had passed since I'd left the crisis centre. I was ashamed asking to return and admit that I had messed up, that I'd not been ready and still needed help. Thankfully they accepted me back and supported me through withdrawal from my addictions. I want to recover spiritually and physically and restore my relationship with God. I am so grateful to the people here who don’t let me lose heart".
This centre is a life-line to mothers like Katya who are battling addictions and increasingly also to women who have fled domestic abuse.
You can support a whole family here through sponsorship and read more about this project here.
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