Amalia

My name is Amalia and I live in southern Russia. I was born into a loving family. The relationship between us was wonderful but unacceptable things began to happen, involving quarrels and physical injuries. My father began to drink heavily and was constantly intoxicated. He splashed his anger and failures in his work on me and my sister and especially on my mother. When I was ten, I didn't want anything anymore: no happiness, no love. I wanted to commit suicide.
By age fifteen, we left my father and the abuse, but the emotional trauma persisted as we tried in vain to cope with all we had experienced. However, it was at this time that I met my first true friend, and I began asking questions of the heart and whether there was anything better for my life. I blindly said yes to an invitation to be a “buddy” at Capernaum camp. I never expected the love, support, sincere interest in me from the leaders, just what my broken heart was looking for. After a week at leader training, I didn't understand everything yet, but it was there that God took me in his strong hand and whispered in my head, "you're home."
My vision for the rest of my life is to be in education. As a Developing Global Leader, I am studying at a local university to become a teacher. I believe being a teacher is not just a profession, but a lifestyle that combines my career and my ministry into one. I want to show that love can work miracles. And I hope that the more knowledge I gain in the field of child-adult relations, the more lost teenagers God will take under his wing and raise up to become future leaders.