Helen’s Story:

Helen was one of the sweetest, most remarkable students I ever met. She and her family had just arrived in the United States from the Russia–Ukraine border, where both languages are spoken interchangeably. In these moments, it felt as though there was a God Who Weeps with Us, sharing in the joys and struggles of our lives. In our first meeting, no one on the school team spoke Russian, so we worked through an interpreter. Through her, I told Helen that I would teach her every piece of technology she needed to finally access her education, something she had never been able to do at sixteen years old.

Helen’s story began long before she reached my classroom. Her mother had been pregnant with her when the Chernobyl disaster occurred. The radiation exposure affected Helen in utero, and by the time she was ten or eleven, brain tumors began to appear in her head. The medical care available to her was heartbreaking, and her family endured more than most of us could imagine. Eventually, someone in the U.S. sponsored her travel so she could receive the medical attention she desperately needed. A skilled surgeon removed her tumors through her nose, a delicate and effective procedure and by the time she moved to the state where I was teaching blind students, the tumor was gone.

When she arrived, the only screen reader available was JAWS, and it spoke only English. So I contacted a blind colleague in Russia who shared Russian-language scripts with me. I installed them on her computer so she could hear her native language to learn how to speak English and to use both as she wanted.

On her very first day, she sat down, turned toward me, and said in halting English,
“I want to die cause I’m blind as they can’t do nothing.” This was when I truly felt the presence of a God Who Weeps with Us.

My heart broke. But I also knew that if I could show her how to work like her peers — quickly, independently, confidently — her life would change. And it did.

I didn’t speak Russian, but I immediately began showing her how to type English keys and hear Russian output. When she heard her language spoken back to her through the computer, her eyes lit up. The smile that spread across her face told me everything I needed to know: hope had entered the room.

Within a month, she had begun teaching herself English by switching between languages and reading her assignments. Soon she was interpreting for her entire family at school meetings. Within weeks, she no longer needed an interpreter at all. She learned cane travel, navigated her classes independently, and blossomed into a vibrant teenager with long, beautiful hair and a smile that said, I can do this. Through these moments, I was reminded of the God Who Weeps with Us.

Two months after we began, she told me,
“I don’t want to die anymore. I want to live. This is all so great.”

Her confidence and joy grew. Her belief in her own future grew. She was going to be a Teacher of the Blind too!

But within the year, her headaches returned. A new doctor in a new city chose a different surgical approach — one that required removing the entire front of her face to reach the tumor. They believed it would be faster than going through the nose. It was a devastating decision, and ultimately, a fatal one.

The day after she received the news, she came to school early, knowing I was always there before sunrise. She sat with me and began to cry — deep, soul-level tears explaining what the doctor told her. I was speechless and the Holy Spirit moved me to simply sit with her and cry too. We held each other and wept until the Kleenex box was empty. It was a moment where we felt the God Who Weeps with Us was present.

There were no words to fix it or even say. No advice that would make it right. Just presence, and love. Just shared sorrow.

“Weep with those who weep.” — Romans 12:15

That morning, we lived that Scripture. And when the tears finally stopped, she was steadied enough to face the days ahead. Truly, a God Who Weeps with Us was there in our shared tears.

The Heart of the Story

Most of the time, people don’t need our advice.
They need our presence.
Someone willing to sit in the ashes with them.
They need someone who will cry when life breaks their heart.

Just as Jesus did

“Jesus wept.” — John 11:35

Helen taught me that love is often expressed not in answers, but in tears shared, burdens carried, and hope held gently between two people who refuse to let suffering have the final word.

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