Out of the blue, the lines from an old Twilight Zone television show ran through my mind. “Imagine for a moment, if you will,” brought back memories of the science fiction show, whose host,

Rod Sterling, repeated those opening lines each week to rapt audiences. The memory was triggered by the words of the author, which were painting a vivid description of the appalling conditions in a Ukrainian orphanage.

Like that show, the book begged me to stretch my imagination a bit. “The Grace Effect” (http://graceeffect.com/), by Cullman native, Larry Taunton (who attended Cullman High School until the eleventh grade back in 1984) delves into the complicated world of adoption from an emerging European country, rife with corruption and miles of red tape.  

His future daughter, Sasha, lived a life that most of us would consider something out of the Twilight Zone, or similar shows that depict a life far removed from our own. Most orphanages in the U.S. today are monitored, governed, and subsidized by concerned organizations which exist to benefit the children in their charge, or at least one hopes that to be the case. But in the Ukraine, orphans have a much more complicated and Spartan lifestyle, foisted on them by administrations which have personal gain uppermost in mind, often taking bribes just to hand over a piece of paper which would offer the child a much better, safer and healthier future.

Sasha was eleven by the time the adoption was finalized. She had been allowed, like Cinderella, to spend time with her prospective family, only to be returned each evening to a place which Dante might have been familiar with.

At one point in Taunton’s narrative, he describes the bathrooms at the orphanage, although that’s my noun, which hardly expresses the actual functionality of the place. “In a small outbuilding was the children’s bathroom,” Taunton writes. “There was no heat or air, no doors and no stalls. There were only holes in the ground, the peripheries of each smeared with excrement and urine. And if that were not enough, the files and the wretched smell made it intolerable.”  

The children were given no toilet paper…

In the South, where outhouses of yore are now somewhat romanticized, there was at the very least always a Sears catalog for those purposes, and a little half-moon air vent design cut into the door.

On a lighter note, the book chronicles Sasha’s delight in discovering even the most mundane things that we take for granted everyday. Even barrettes were a novelty to this child, whose struggle and will to live had made her both strong, independent and very brave, yet quite naive in many ways.

Underweight, with some physical and medical limitations, Sasha won the Tauntons’ hearts from the first moment. As they got to know her while awaiting the final paperwork, she began to blossom, but it was only after they brought her to the States that she began to really turn into the beautiful sixteen-year-old that she is today. Although she still speaks with a pronounced Russian accent, it has a Southern flavor to it, and she could be mistaken for a model if you passed her in a mall, things haven’t been easy for her…

“Her attitude now is one of thankfulness,” says Taunton in an interview with The Cullman Times via telephone last week. “She came from nothing,” he said. “So she takes nothing for granted. She knows that God is very real in her life, and has a real passion for those who are aged, sick or widowed, often bringing her testimony along with her wherever she goes.”

“God is very real in Sasha’s life,” Taunton continued.

Sasha is home-schooled, out of necessity because of some of her physical limitations, and has adapted beautifully to life in our culture. “Sasha volunteers her time to help a special needs teacher with other children,” says Taunton with pride. “She also loves ballroom dancing and in many ways is typical of any other teen.”

Taunton travels much of the time, and Sasha has returned to her homeland to bring a message of hope to others trapped in the grindingly slow process of being adopted, and of her Christian faith, which Taunton says is amazing. She has also been instrumental in founding “Sasha’s Hope”, an organization which provides relief to orphans in Eastern Europe.

Taunton, who as mentioned, grew up in Cullman, has many fond memories of the area. One of his most fond remembrances is of the sandwiches now found at Rumor’s Deli, which he ate at their former location in the Stiefelmeyer building as a teenager. Today, he is a freelance writer/Christian speaker, who appeared on television and often writes commentary for The Atlantic, CNN and Fox TV. He spends half of his time in the U.S., and the other half in Europe, bringing his testimony to those who have lived through things that the rest of us hardly think of in terms of reality.

The Tauntons also have three sons who have treasured the little sister that they brought home from that dismal orphanage in Kiev. They were all inspirational to Taunton in the writing of The Grace Effect.  

Larry Taunton and his best bud, Rick Burgess, will be in Cullman today, January 8, to present “Passing The Torch,” which is aimed at Christian parents who have concerns about the challenges of parenting in a culture which is increasingly hostile to Christian beliefs. “Parents often find themselves in need of help in keeping their children in the faith,” said Taunton. “Rick and I offer this program to give them the tools that they need to raise Christian children in this difficult world.”

Taunton and Burgess, of the Rick and Bubba Show, a syndicated radio talk show, have brought these lessons to thousands of people with incredible results. “We prepare and equip other Christians to combat the secular liberal world,” Taunton explained.

Sasha will attend the event, which will be at 6:30 p.m. tonight, at Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1310 St. Joseph Drive, N.W. in Cullman. Although she will not speak at this particular time, she will visit with members and guests during the evening.

Taunton, who is the founder and executive director of Fixed Point Foundation, an organization dedicated to the public defense of the Christian faith. “When I was in college, I found myself surrounded by people who were hostile to the Christian faith,” says Taunton. “I was constantly defending myself for what I believe,” he said.

Bridging the sacred and the secular, and backed by Biblical knowledge, life experiences and wisdom, the program is a must for parents and anyone who works or comes in contact with children and teens.

You can find out more about Taunton’s Fixed Point Foundation by visiting the website, www.fixed-point.org; Fixed Point Foundation, 2326 2nd Ave. N. Birmingham, AL 35203, 205-414-6311.