Tanya, a single mother of 4 sons, lives in the small village of Cherkasskoe, Donetsk region, in conflict-affected eastern Ukraine. Her life is full of trials. Her first husband and the father of two first children died. Her second husband started drinking and left Tanya when she was pregnant with her fourth child Seriozha.

But this difficult life event was not the last one in her life. Little Seriozha was born with a heavy complex pathology: cleft lip and cleft pallet and an inborn heart pathology. The child needed a surgery they couldn’t afford and nobody wanted to help him for free (especially considering the fact that Seriozha needed three or four surgeries).

It took many efforts for Tanya to save $300 out of her scarce income to be able to take her boy to the hospital and try to sew up at least one of the two lip splittings. Deep in her heart, Tanya was hoping for the mercy of doctors. Unfortunately, they didn’t agree to do all needed surgeries for free and Seriozha left the hospital with only one splitting fixed.

 Seriozha is 15 months old now and he often gets sick because of his complex mouth problem. He cannot eat or breath normally and he can’t have a normal life. His teeth are being formed in a wrong order. He can’t chew normally and can only eat grounded food which is a reason for stomach problems.

6 months ago Tanya heard about God from the members of Emmanuel’s Partner, the «Good News» church of Slavyansk. Tanya was impressed with openness and love of Christians and felt that God did care for her. She repented and started attending the church.

At the church, she learned about CBN-Emmanuel’s ministry in the frontline area. She called CBN-Emmanuel’s Director of Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Department and to ask for help and God did answer her prayers!

It was decided to arrange for Seriozha’s full medical check-up in Doctor Yemets’ Clinic. Luckily enough, long before Galina Kucher learned about Seriozha, at one of the frontline hospitals she had gotten to know doctor Yulia who suggested free care for children with heart anomalies.  This makes a perfect match for Seriozha’s case. He can now have a free medical check-up and even a free heart surgery, if needed.

Seriozha’s happy mother came back to Slavyansk with the best news she could hope for. The boy underwent all necessary tests and he will have a surgery in Kharkov this January. It feels like a real miracle for this poor family! And many people participated in it: doctors, volunteers, Orphans’ Promise Organization and pastors of the local church!

You can make a donation for Christmas gifts for children in Krasnogorovka via our web-site  or by calling us at 0800-50-77-50.