Life Story of Vika Tkachenko

Here is the story of Vika. Hers is a very sad, but not uncommon story. The story was written and sent to us by Oleg and Anna Serbo. Vika is living at the House of Mercy Shelter for teenage girls in the city of Kramatorsk. This shelter was started several years ago by this wonderful couple, Oleg and Anna Serbo. Vika was taken in by this couple and now has a very important role in the ministry of this shelter. Please pray for this family as they minister to the needs of these girls in Kramatorsk. They are a strong, committed Christian couple. Last year DMI helped them add some needed rooms to the shelter for the girls.

Oleg & Anna Serbo with family)

Baby Xenia

​Vika was born on April 30, 1998, in the city of Snezhnoe, Donetsk region. She was a happy, fidgety child, no different from any other kids, but her life abruptly changed at an early age, and her childhood suddenly ended. Victoria`s mother, even though she was a medical doctor, started drinking and soon became an alcoholic. One day, while drunk, she stabbed her husband (Vika’s father) with a knife. At the age of just 8 years old, Vika lost both parents in just one day. Her loving Dad was sent to a hospital with severe wounds, and her Mom was put in prison. Vika was then placed in an orphanage in the Donbass Region. Her Dad was never able to fully recover from the injury and died when Vika was 10 years old. Their last picture together is a treasure for Vika. Her Dad was the only person in her life who really loved her.

In 2014, because of the war in the Donbass Region, children from local orphanages were moved to other orphanages in safer places. Vika was moved to the orphanage of Svyatogorsk, called "The Emerald City". There she met believers from the city of Kramatorsk, who regularly serve in this orphanage.

Vika was a very sincere, modest and serious girl.  She was focused on her studies and loved reading. But when she was 16, she fell in love for the first time in her life with a young man from the same orphanage. He told her he loved her and promised her they would one day get married and he will never leave her. For the first time after her Dad died, Vika opened her heart to a man. But when he learned that Victoria got pregnant, he immediately left her and even ran away to live in another city. He came back later but has never shown any serious desire to build a family with Vika.

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Vika & Xenia

​She was only 16, all alone, and expecting a baby. When it was time for her to give birth, she was brought to the hospital in the city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region (Ukraine Territory), where she met our family (Oleg and Anna). At that time, we had just started our ministry to orphans. The delivery was very hard, but the prayers of the church were heard, and God blessed Vika. He gave her strength and patience to give birth to her beautiful, healthy daughter Xenia. After the delivery, Vika and her baby lived with our family. Vika quickly adapted to the family. She showed herself to be a very modest, obedient girl, and, to our amazement, a very good, caring and sacrificial mother, despite her young age. Together with us, she attended services of our local church in the city of Slavyansk, Donetsk region.

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Vika & Xenia

At that time repair work was carried out in the house that was earlier purchased to become a home for orphans. At the end of the repair, the House of Mercy (shelter) was opened, and Vika and her daughter moved together with the other orphan girls. While living in the house for orphans, Vika began to attend a local church of Golgotha ​​in Kramatorsk, where she was converted to God.

​Now Vika is an integral part of the House of Mercy. She is a very responsible person; we can always rely on her and her help. Her modesty, obedience and her calm and balanced character affect others very favorably. She has a very good relationship with the other girls residing at the House of Mercy. During all these years, God protected, helped and blessed Vika, and we trust that He will continue to lead her. We are very grateful to the Lord for her. Please, join us in prayers for the future of Vika and her daughter Xenia.

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