Irena is a precious little Bosnian girl with very light olive skin and heavy brown eyes. She often looks sad, and speaks of ending her own life. She is seven years old.

Every week, students from Grace enthusiastically load buses and drive nearly an hour to Clarkston apartments, where refugee children like Irena live. Their heart is to infuse God’s love to families living there. They play games, do crafts, teach the Bible, and share life together with the children. It is one of the brightest spots in Ashleigh’s week!

Of course, all the kids are precious, and each week Ashleigh gives me a run down on each child that is especially dear to her. This past Tuesday, when I went to pick up Ashleigh after Infusion, I could see that she had been crying. From her face, I could see that her heart had been broken, and I knew it had to be over a child. Ashleigh told me all about Irena. She had been in the emergency room the night before with chest pains; the doctor told her she needed to eat more because she had an eating disorder. Remember, she is only 7 years old. She told Ashleigh that she wanted to kill herself because she was ugly and nobody loved her. Ashleigh hugged Irena and told her that God loves her and she did too, and that she was beautiful. Ashleigh reminded Irena that she was made in God’s image and that He deeply cared for her. Ashleigh had never been in a situation such as this, but she wanted to make sure Irena kept coming back. So she told her that if she came back the next day, she bring her Chinese food, which she had mentioned before as her favorite food.

So, the next day, just before Infusion, we loaded up on Panda Express. Irena wasn’t at Infusion, but her brother who was there showed Ashleigh and Christine where they lived, so they personally delivered the food to her. You can only imagine Irena’s surprise and delight when she saw the girls – and the Chinese food.
Beyond feeding Irena physically, Ashleigh is feeding her spiritual hunger with the love of Jesus and the truths in God’s Word.

Will you please join us in prayer, not only for Irena, but also for all the hurting children who need to be fed with the Bread of Life?