Project Update!

The Gavenko family sends their thanks for supplying them with a wardrobe and bunk bed for the kids! 

The Project: The Gavenko Family currently has 7 children living with them and they are in desperate need of new furniture. Specifically, they yearn for a new wardrobe and convertible sofa. The ones they currently own are very inexpensive and old. The sofa doesn’t hold together well and is very uncomfortable for the children!

About the Parents: Maria and Sergey Gavenko have been working as foster parents for almost four years. They are known to have a big heart for kids. Someone once said about them, “all children love them and want to be around them all the time.” What a compliment! Maria and Sergey raised three wonderful biological children, all of whom have families and serve God. In fact, two of their children decided to dedicate their lives to serving orphans and now have big foster families of their own! It’s amazing to see how parents can influence their own children to care for orphans.

In addition to taking in foster children, Maria and Sergey adopted an afro-ukrainian teenager in 2010.  Since the age of seven, Eric had lived on the street. He had never been to school! He did all he could to simply survive, an experience that has left deep scars.

The Gavenkos can’t imagine life without kids, although sometimes it is really difficult to handle the effects of the trauma that many of their children have gone through. However, they continue to show Christ’s love to these children, knowing that they are called to make a difference.

About the Children: Currently, the Gavenko family has 1 adoptive and 6 foster children. One of them, Vitalik, is 13 years old now. His biological parents were alcoholics and he was neglected and abused from a very young age. He didn’t have proper clothes and shoes and would often skip school, especially during the winter months when it was so bitterly cold outside. He didn’t have enough food and was hungry all the time. To survive he started working at the age of 10, selling apples and flowers in an attempt to get some money to buy food. Vitalik is happy to that the Gavenkos have taken him in and, in addition to providing for his physical needs, they love him as their own!

Another of the Gavenko’s foster children, Vova, lost his mom when he was 9 years old and his father went to prison because of drugs. He loved his parents a lot and to lose both of them was very traumatic for him. He lived with his grandma but she worked a lot trying to provide food. Young, impressionable Vova got mixed up in bad company and started drink, smoke, and steal. He often skipped school and was rarely at home. He eventually went to live with the Gavenko’s. The love and acceptance of Maria and Sergey has done wonders to Vova’s spirit. He is a different boy now!

In the past four short years, Maria and Sergey have taken in 17 children. Each child has a unique personality and a remarkable story. Twelve of these children went on to be adopted into loving families, three are currently in the process of adoption, and some of them are still waiting to be welcomed into a loving forever family. But all of them will remember this wonderful, caring family that showed them what a real family is.