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.


Here is an extract from my most recent conversation with Zhenya, “No, I can’t do it tomorrow. I get off my night shift at work at 8 AM. I have to go grocery shopping for some students right away. I deliver the groceries next. Then I am cooking dinner at home, and then running errands for the transition home in Petrokamensk. Make sure you find some warm medium-size girl’s clothes. I need them in the early afternoon. And call the hospital, see if they can wait another day for me to visit Vitya…”
It is now hard to say where the kids get the number - but Zhenya's phone is known as orphans' emergency number. "Papa Zhenya, you don't know me. But I need help..."

For a long time Zhenya and Tatiana served the children by faith, believing that one day God would send more workers... and money. Help came from Texas, then Tennessee joined in along with many other faithful donors that have supported Zhenya's ministry through Desana.

Everyone who knows Zhenya trusts him completely. You should see him shop at the marketplace, choosing produce for HIS children, “I want the best – and give me a discount, will you? I am buying this for God’s children!”  Desana founders, George and Kathy, found an accurate way to explain Zhenya, aka Eugene Vachaev, "He is one big heart..."