Project Completed!
Thanks to you, the large Zadorogny family now has a much-needed refrigerator and dishwasher! Can you imagine washing dishes for 12 every day? THANK YOU!
The project: The Zadorogny family desperately needs a new refrigerator in order to provide nutritious food for their 10 children. In addition, we hope to be able to provide them with a dishwasher. Imagine the piles of dishes that a family of 12 produces daily! Your generous contributions for such gifts would allow this family to provide more nutritious food as well as more time to tend to the deep spiritual and emotional needs of the many children for whom they care.
About the parents: Lena Zadorogny has been a foster mother for eleven years. When she and her husband first answered the call to care for orphans as foster parents, they had three biological children. Eventually they adopted a sibling group of five children who had come to live with them and continued to foster an additional two children. Tragedy struck this brave family when Lena’s husband died suddenly from a stroke. Despite incredible challenges, Lena continued to care for all 10 children as a single mother. Last year she married Oleg Zadorogny, a retired policeman, and finally the family feels whole again. Oleg demonstrates great strength and courage as a father, but he also has a very kind heart for his many children.
About the children: The five sibling group, Kolya, Natasha, Vicka, Valya and Lena that Lena Zadorogny and her first husband adopted were born in a small Ukrainian village. Their biological parents struggled with alcoholism and didn’t care for the children, who were often left hungry, without proper clothes and living in a house that was literally falling apart—one of the walls had completely crumbled to the ground. They didn’t have running water, gas, or electricity, which made surviving the harsh Ukrainian winters almost impossible. One by one, their eldest brother brought them to live at the orphanage, Father’s House, in Kiev. Soon after, their biological parents both died from an alcohol overdose. This sad story has a happy conclusion in that today all five children have a permanent family who is providing them with love, care and a safe and warm home.
In addition to the five siblings, a beautiful girl named Alexandra lived as a foster child with the Zadorogny family for seven years. Alexandra’s biological mother also struggled with alcoholism, and their home became a gathering place for other alcoholics. There were often drunken fights in the house, and Alexandra was often beaten by her mother or other people who were living in their home. Alexandra spent most of her time on the streets to avoid being at home, and at the age of seven she went to live on the streets for several years, sleeping in a cardboard box. She was given another chance at life when the Zadorogny family took her in as a foster child. She has since gotten an education, blossomed into a lovely young woman and now works as a florist. Two years ago she got married at the age of 24 and she and her husband proudly await the birth of their first child this June.
Because of the compassion and generosity that people like you have shown, foster care and adoption is becoming more and more of a real possibility for children in Ukraine. God is able to work through these loving, Christian families to heal and restore His precious children.
