At just ten years old, Tapos made the desperate choice to run away from home. His father’s alcoholism turned each night into a nightmare of violence. Terrified and broken, Tapos fled in search of freedom but instead found only hunger, fear, and hardship.
Alone on the streets, he quickly learned survival’s harsh lessons: fighting, stealing, and doing whatever necessary to make it through each day. He slept wherever he could find space – in alleys, on sidewalks, under bridges. People walked past, recoiling at his smell, avoiding his gaze. He had become invisible. Unwanted.
Then something unexpected happened. A friend told him about a day shelter supported by Streams of Mercy. Skeptical and filthy, he walked through the doors, and everything changed.
A Hug That Changed Everything
“The first time I came, they just hugged me,” Tapos recalls. “People on the streets covered their noses when they walked past me, but here, they didn’t care how I looked or smelled. They just hugged me.”
That hug, the first act of love he had felt in years, broke something open inside him. He kept coming back. Slowly, his walls came down. When introduced to Jesus, the message of hope began to take root in his heart.
People on the streets covered their noses when they walked past me, but here, they didn't care how I looked or smelled. They just hugged me.
The transformation wasn’t instant. One day, filled with rage after hearing a convicting teaching, Tapos picked up a large rock, intending to kill the shelter director.
“I thought, ‘If I kill her, they’ll stop talking about God’s love,'” he remembers. “But something stopped me. I thought, ‘If I do this, I won’t be able to come back for food.’ I dropped the rock.”
That moment marked a turning point. Though his anger remained, it was the beginning of his journey toward healing. The patient love of the shelter staff gradually melted his defenses. Eventually, he surrendered his life to God.
A Full Circle Redemption
Years later, Tapos did something extraordinary: he opened a new day shelter. Now married to Sona, his compassionate partner who shares his heart for street children, he spends his days caring for these kids just as he was once cared for.
He knows their pain intimately. He’s walked their path. And now, he walks beside them, offering food, love, safety, and the hope of Christ.
No One Is Too Lost to Be Found
Tapos’ story reminds us that no one is beyond redemption. What began with a single hug has become a legacy of hope for countless children.
With your help, more children like Tapos can find rescue, restoration, and purpose.
