FROM PAIN TO PROMISE

What does courage look like in the kingdom of God? Sometimes it looks like a woman stepping into a living room she’s never been in before… and choosing not to look away.

For 17 years, Karla Dubena has cared for children no one else would take— children carrying trauma far beyond their years, children whose stories seemed destined for heartbreak. “God loves the children who have no one,” she says. “And He lets us see His heart when we care for them.”

One day, while assisting a local child welfare program, Karla walked into a home expecting a routine visit. Instead, she found a young girl slumped over, barely breathing, foam at her mouth—while everyone else in the room continued on as though nothing were wrong.

Karla couldn’t ignore it. She knelt beside the girl, cooling her forehead with a damp cloth, lifting her chin so she could breathe, and praying silently, Lord, please help her. Please save her life.

Minutes turned into an hour. Slowly, the girl began to stir. She disappeared into another room and returned with a small wooden plaque—Jesus on the cross, arms outstretched, with the words: He loves you. She looked at Karla and whispered, “Is it true? Does He love me?”

In that moment, Karla saw the quiet question every wounded heart carries. And she spoke the truth: “Yes. He loves you—completely.”

Two weeks later, Karla received an unexpected phone call. The same young woman—still struggling, still addicted, and now visibly pregnant— had made a request. She wanted Karla to take her baby when he was born.

Before Karla and her husband said yes, the social worker offered a sobering warning: the child would likely face severe challenges. The mother lived mostly on the street. Her daily drug use was heavy and varied. “This baby will not be okay,” the worker said.

But love—real, self-sacrificing love— looks beyond the odds. Karla and her husband prayed, wrestled, and finally said yes. “We knew only God could give us that desire,” she reflects. “But He did.”

The baby arrived early. He was born addicted to five drugs, and his tiny body trembled violently as he went through withdrawal. For nearly two years he cried from the pain, yet through every sleepless night, every whispered prayer, every small act of comfort, Karla’s family continued to believe that God could speak life into impossible beginnings.

And then, slowly… He did.

The little boy who was expected to struggle in every way grew into a young man defined not by addiction, but by integrity. At a school ceremony, his teacher awarded him a certificate titled Truth—honouring his honesty, his courage to say no when others said yes, his strong moral compass, and his growing confidence. “He bows his head for prayer at lunch every day,” the teacher shared. “He stands for what’s right.”

Only God writes stories like that.

Karla says, “It’s not the end of the story—but I know that what God started, He will finish.” Her words echo Philippians 1:6: “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it.”

Karla’s journey is a reminder that God specializes in impossible beginnings. And He is still doing miracles—one child, one mother, one quiet yes at a time.

To hear Karla share her story in her own words, watch It Is Written Canada this month on CTV or online at iiw.ca. Her testimony will inspire your faith and reveal the Saviour who turns pain into promise.