Nadiia’s life fell apart when her father was sent to prison. Her mother started to drink and she and her siblings were separated and placed into different orphanages. Her mother promised the children that she would come for them… but she never did.

Sasha is a big guy with a strong presence. He’s quick to tell you that when he was in the orphanage he was a ping-pong champion. He was regarded as the best player in the whole region, and he was even sent to Russia to compete! Who knows how far he would have gone had life given him different circumstances?

People call him Viktor Mikaelovitch, even though he’s only 21. It’s a sign of respect. Viktor loves to dress nicely, often in a suit and tie. He always has a smile on his face and a kind word for everyone he meets, usually complimenting those around him. But Viktor’s sweet spirit and kindheartedness hides the painful truth he has experienced in his short life.

Leonid has seen a lot in his 20 years…from losing his mother at the age of three, to the loneliness of being an orphaned child, to witnessing the ravages of war. But what would stop many of us in our tracks, hasn’t stopped this young man…today Leonid is reaching out and helping Ukrainian refugees as they pour into his city.

The year ended on a high note for Leonid and Sergey, two of our boys from Mel’s House. After six months of preparation, the boys were baptized before their church family and their brothers and sisters from Mel’s and Ruth’s Houses’.

Marina was eight years old when social workers came to her house and took her and her five sisters away. They were all placed in an orphanage because their mother didn’t have the means to care for them and their father was nowhere to be found.

He wasn’t supposed to survive. He was brutally beaten by his own father. His skull… fractured in two places, but somehow he defied the odds.

As the situation worsens in Ukraine and war looms, it is the orphans who suffer the most. Anya is a pretty girl with a twinkle in her eye, but these days her eyes are filled with panic and fear.