There were just two of us, my son Pavel and me. All of our relatives had boys and girls and Pavel wanted also to have a brother or a sister as well. When Pavel was 8 years old, a cousin said: “I was in the hospital with my daughter and there was a very nice boy in an intensive care unit, but he is very sick and no one wants to take him.” When I came to the hospital, the doctors tried to dissuade me, but I knew I would take him. So, Artyem came to our family.
In a week, he had an attack and we went back to the hospital. The doctor said: “Well, mother, from now on you are our client.” I said that, in the name of Jesus, we would not come to them any more. (Why fill their pockets?) When Artyem had another attack, we did not go to the hospital. We prayed for him at home, as did our friends and God released him from his disease, completely!
Besides the disease, there were no other difficulties in raising Artyem. He is, by nature, a very good boy. The child is so much a part of us that all who know us say that he was born to our family. We didn’t choose him, but God had chosen him for us.
Later Pavel said: “Mother, let us take a girl,” so we decided to file for a girl. When I saw Varvara for the first time, I felt as if I became “wooden”. I felt sorry for her, but I was afraid to think that she’ll be “ours”. Her face was covered in wounds and all painted over with iodine. Her legs were like bent sticks. When we took her Pavel concluded that it’s better to have two boys like Artyem than a girl like Varvara.
In the House of Babies infant orphanage, she was like an “ugly duckling” and, unfortunately, had a syndrome of jealousy. When Artyem was on a pot she wanted to be there at the same time, when he was on a swing, she urgently needed to be there too. But praise God Artyem was ready to give in to her and even to swing her. When Artyem was building something, Varvara could ruin it in a second. It was very hard at first until she could be satiated with love and care. Now she is a beautiful and graceful young lady. When she cleans the house, she does her best. I am glad that when I discipline her, she hugs and says: “Mom, I love you so much”. I am very thankful to God for our children. We help them and they change us.
In 2007, we got a telephone call from the children’s social service department. They wanted us to take another boy. They said he was a very good boy, he was just taken out of a family and they didn’t want to send him to an orphanage. We didn’t agree as we didn’t have space for him and I was on my own with 3 children. However, they kept phoning us for 3 months and eventually persuaded us.
We made all the preparations; the children were ready to give him gifts. However, the first evening he came, he was rude with them and then started to beat the younger ones. He was 9 years old and Artyem and Varvara were 7 years old. Artyem was a head taller than him but that did not matter. My blood son Pavel was 14 years old, and he simply cried that he offended the children. We had quite the opposite to what the social services said. He couldn’t get along with children at school. The teachers said that he was physically present at class but his mind was somewhere else. Late in 2008 he was given a place in a sanatorium. He was tested there and they found bacillus of tuberculosis. He had a three months course of treatment. This year he was given there a place again, and went through another course of treatment. The doctor said that they will do tests again and will decide what to do later. He is the most difficult child in my family. No one caused me to cry or have sleepless nights. It seems he understands everything when you talk to him but does what he wants. I feel ashamed to go to school, because all the teachers make complaints against him. The only hope is God will give us the strength to cope in this situation and will change Stas. Without our faith in God, we would have sent Stas back. This is why I have written to ask for your prayers. Will you friends please pray?
When homeless and orphaned children are given new homes, we celebrate!
However, we may overlook the impact this has on the existing natural
biological children living in the families that receive their new
brothers & sisters.
Life was very hard for the two Kratkii brothers. The boy's fathers are
unknown, for they were the result of their mother's lifestyle. She
lived in a smoke filled, dirty hovel with her constant companion, the
bottle.
Hope Now cottage homes are scattered throughout the Cherkassy region.
Over the next three months we shall eavesdrop on one of these families
in Ruska Poliana.
