Ivanna and Victor would have greeted visitors with a warm hug last year. But their house would have been cold. The couple and their five children live in a rural village near our Ternopil sponsor site in Ukraine. Ivanna works with the elderly for minimum wage in the village. Victor is a tractor driver and finds seasonal jobs.
With their difficult financial circumstances, the family is grateful that their eldest daughter, Valentyna, has a Chalice sponsor who helps with education costs, nutritious food, and other daily needs.
The family’s home is small and has no conveniences. Their kitchen is in a separate small building. It was already falling into disrepair when a minor earthquake in September damaged it further. The walls cracked and those cracks are now spreading.
“At first we did not pay attention to the cracks in our kitchen walls,” Ivanna said. “But as days went by the cracks became bigger and a few months later they became a threat to the durability of the house.
“We were especially worried about the wall that carried the gas pipe. The old roof was leaking and the walls and ceilings were damp. The windows and floors had rotted, too.”
Ivanna and Victor had no resources to do the repairs and the situation became urgent. “Electrical wiring short-circuited because of the wet walls,” writes Ivanna, “and we even had a fire which we were able to put out on time, praise the Lord. “To make things worse, the war broke out in our country. Cost of goods have gone up. We found ourselves in the worst situation.”
Desperate for support, the family approached the Ternopil site staff, who put forward a request for the repairs on the family’s behalf through Chalice’s critical needs response fund.
“Thanks to your generous support we have done the necessary repairs to our house inside and outside,” Ivanna said. Chalice donors helped Ivanna and Victor buy the wood and construction materials to do the overhaul. “It’s difficult to describe the joy and happiness we all felt,” she said. “Our elder children’s eyes sparkled with happiness and their ringing voices sang about the changes they would like to be made in the new kitchen.
“The day when we settled in the kitchen to cook our first meal after the repairs was our happiest day of the year. The food tasted particularly delicious. Our big family had enough space at the dinner table.” She said that “a child’s prayer is the most powerful thing.”
“I hope that very soon you will feel the power of our prayers. May God always watch over you and your family and may the light of love that pours out of our hearts shine upon your life.”
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