Nicoleta's Story

Hello, my name is Nicoleta, and today I want to share with you a little bit of my testimony and how I met God. From what I remember, at the age of five my mother left me and my sister to live with our father. After a year, she came back — but she came back not because she loved us or because she wanted to stay with us. She came back because she wanted to sell me and my sister. Even though I was little, I understood that. At that point my whole world fell apart. I was broken, and I couldn't understand how the person who was supposed to love you and care for you could just sell you.

After she left, my father put me and my sister in an orphanage, because he was disabled and he couldn't take care of us. I spent nine years in the largest orphanage in Moldova, in Strășeni. All the time that I spent in the orphanage wasn't really good, because the teachers were mean to us and they were treating us like we were nothing. They were saying to us, "You are nothing. You are going to achieve nothing in this life."

At the age of 16, when I finished the orphanage, I had nowhere to go and I had no hope for the future. But God had a plan with me all along, and I met the Cameron family. The Cameron family showed us what real love is and what a family is supposed to mean, and I'm really thankful for them. Our goal together with the Orphan's Hands is to go out and reach those who are in need — to show them that there is still hope for them, that God cares about them, and He is always there for them.

Before, I was broken, but now I'm blessed. Even though you are going through difficulties, or you are having a hard time, I want to encourage you: there is a God who cares about you, and He is always there for you. The same way He had a plan with me, He has a plan with your life too — and be a blessing for others.