GENNADIY MOKHNENKO MINISTRIES

The director of the center of children’s rehabilitation “Republic Pilgrim” Tatyana Karpukhina has become a winner of the annual contest “The Mariupolite of the year” in the area of “Care for children”.

Thousands of people from Donetsk and Lugansk areas who were involved in the war conflict suffer the hardships and tests of refugees and forcibly displaced persons. They left their apartments or houses ruined by the war losing practically everything, saving their lives and the lives of their children and dear ones. Overnight they were left without a job, place to stay and any means for living. The charity fund “Pilgrim” didn’t stay aside from the plight of our compatriots and has been trying to render the help to the afflicted families for over a year now.

It was such a joy for everyone when the dream of Anton Kopytin came true!  His life after he won the Ukrainian project started flowing as a turbulent river! We are asking Anton what is going on in his life right now.

Due to the war conflict going on in the east of Ukraine, many people lost their homes, lost their dear people and had to leave their places. Mariupol as a city by the frontline has received many displaced people. A lot of families with kids started to settle there from zero and it is an incredibly hard task. The center of children’s rehabilitation “Republic Pilgrim” has also got into gear with the displaced people.

After winter camp in Odessa the pilgrims made good friends there – the Prilutsky family from the Victory Church. And now they have helped to organize the summer recreation for the children of the center of children’s rehabilitation “Republic Pilgrim”. The kids could enjoy Odessa and the shore of the Black sea for 2 weeks. Beside the goal to temper and to improve health of the kids there was an important goal to obtain some tourist skills and to learn to survive in extreme conditions. Such rehab tourism is an important part of restoration of a person’s identity.

The Vasilenko family serves children with special needs. They have been living in their new house in The Pilgrim Village for the second summer now. Now they have the opportunity to be engaged in farming and to arrange well life and this is what greatly improved the psychological state of the children and in general impacted the lifestyle of the adoptive family.

2 years after the purchase of the house in “Pilgrim village” the adoptive family Kovalenko could finally move in. The family has 4 kids, 2 of them have finished 1 st grade in school this year. The youngest daughter is still in the nursery school. In their garden they have a special playground and even their own small house and a tiny vegetable garden.

Anton Kopytin, a famous classic singer in Mariupol and Donetsk, has become famous all around the country. The Ukrainians in their vote of the project “The Voice” gave their preference to Anton – a Christian with three kids.

The holiday house project “Datcha” of Republic Pilgrim had started only 1 year ago but within this year so much was done. The house itself and the front yard were significantly improved, the vegetable garden is ennobled, they planted fruit trees and bushes and made a flower-bed. And special reason to be proud of is “the banya” (sauna) which is being built.

The “Day” newspaper begins to publish a series of reports from battle line places of Donbass.