Babushka is the Russian word for grandmother and the loving name that many use for Alexandra Goode. Alexandra was born in Russia, but her family was forced to flee to Yugoslavia under Stalin’s communist regime. World War II soon erupted, and Alexandra was forced into an orphanage after losing both parents and two brothers to the war. From there, the Germans shipped her in a cattle car to the Dachau concentration camp. The conditions were so terrible and the misery so great, she prayed for God to take her life. Looking back, she says, “The Lord did take my life but not in the way I was asking. He transformed me, particularly my heart – I was able to comfort and aid others in those miserable conditions after that.”
After the war, she was sent to a displaced persons camp in the English zone in Germany but was smuggled out of there in a mail bag to the American zone where an American couple sponsored her to come to the U.S. in 1949. She met the love of her life, George Goode, and together, they had 3 children and 19 grandchildren. They also started International Guardians Angel Outreach in which they have sponsored more than 240 Russian orphans for medical aid and adoption. Fortunately, God brought Alexandra and LEAP together in their paths, and several former Russian orphans have been helped, including Mason and Alena, who both received life-changing surgery through the Lamon Family Program and were adopted into permanent homes in the Dallas/Ft Worth area.
Sunday was Alexandra’s 90th birthday.