Pray for Natasha

Natasha is a Christian friend who translates for us at Dormitory 35 on Monday nights through a charity organization here. She translates what we say in English into Russian and then into sign language - you see, she is a translator for the deaf residents. She shared a bit of her testimony with me last week and it was quite moving - she will share with the dorm kids next Monday night.

She was in an automobile accident when she was 17 and lost her hearing. Through several surguries and much prayer, she was restored to almost all of her hearing. She is the first semi-deaf person to be hired as a tram driver in St. Petersburg.

(She is in the red-striped sweater on the left at the back.)

Last night she shared the following with us: On Saturday morning (she has to be at work at 5am) a 23 year old young woman dashed across the street to try to catch the tram, ignoring the fact that she did not have the right of way and was crossing against the light; was hit by a car (and all of you who have been here know that these people drive like they're participating in the Indy 500) and was thrown under Natasha's tram. The car also lost control and hit the tram, causing the window behind which Natasha sits to shatter, cutting her arm enough to require several stitches.

The young girl died as a result of the accident and, as you can imagine, Natasha was devastated. Even through the police assured her that she was not at fault, and that the girl was most likely dead before the tram ran over her, Natasha didn't feel like she could drive her shift on Monday morning. When she went in to ask for a couple of days off to get over the accident, her employer informed her that if she went home, she need not come back, because she would be without a job. His exact response was, "This is not my problem, but your problem" (we hear that a lot here - it is always the problem of someone else). So Natasha drove her route on Monday, and by the time she got to us last night, she was exhausted and wanted us to pray for her. She was so mentally exhausted, she had to relate the story in Russian because she didn't feel like she could tell the complete story in English.

Please pray for Natasha as she struggles through the next few weeks - a prayer of healing for both her body and her mind.

From Russia with Love!

Nancy