Project Complete!

Thank you for providing a kitchen remodel for the Vedernikov family, so they can sit down and share meals together!

Testimony from Valya Vedernikov, the mother:

It all began in 2004 when I was working as a caregiver in a children's home. We had just gotten married and naturally we dreamed about having children, but unfortunately we lost babies early in pregnancy.  After treatments with no results, we decided to simply begin praying. The next time I was on a night shift at the children's home, there were two children 4 and 5 years old, and during the night something woke them up and they began to cry. Calming them, I went first to one and then to the other. And at that moment I experienced something unusual:  grieving for these children, and I began to understand that even a children's home with the most wonderful caregivers could not replace a child's family. I began to ask God to give me the privilege of serving these children with my life.

However, my husband was not ready for such a turn of events. He said to me that if God showed you, then He will show me too, and I just began to pray. Six months later we were given a disc, and on it was a short film called "Letter to Mama". We both watched it and wept... It was a story about how children lived under a stall with their dog, and the narrator said that Sharik, as the dog was called, did not leave the children but was always with them even though he was very hungry and malnourished. We watched, went to bed, and were just silent. And then my husband said to me that he wanted to be that Sharik, who in any circumstances wants to be with the cast-off children. I could not fall asleep all night. After exactly nine months - that was how long we needed to gather all of the documents - we greeted our daughter Leah, who was 11 months old.

The Vedernikov family has since adopted 12 more children, ranging from ages 1-18.  They have spent all their money on caring for the children, and have none left to repair their home which is cinterblock walls, open wiring, and has very little furniture.

Our goal is to help the Vedernikov's repair their kitchen, and make it a place the family can gather and share meals and important time together.