Zhenya (Eugene) Vachaev (Volunteer)

by Elena Antropyanskaya Hibbler

It all began 10 years ago when Zhenya's boss at work asked him if he would go to Orphanage #1 in town to deliver presents to the graduating children. At the Post-Soviet time it was still a tradition for large corporations to assist the needy - unfortunately, it perished with the collapse of the Empire. Zhenya could not say no, and so at the end of June that year he went to present a few graduating children with simple but pleasant gifts.

It was all it took - to see the faces of these kids, needy, lonely, in many ways bold and arrogant, but in more ways desperate - and to leave his heart there forever.

He convinced his wife, Tatiana, that the orphanage ministry is where God sees them. And this marked a beginning of a new era in their life.

For 10 years the door of their home has never been shut close.  Children ring the doorbell and before Zhenya asks them any questions, he takes them into the kitchen to feed. He has 7 mouths to feed at home and a very meager budget, so it is a miracle that he always has enough for however many visitors show up.