Sergey tried alcohol when he was 5. His first alcohol beverage was handmade vodka that was made by his neighbors. HisMomdidn’tmindhim“totry”.
As long as he remembered himself, Sergey saw the permanent member of the family named alcohol. All of them drank including Mom, Dad and Grandma. From year to year his addiction to vodka got stronger and stronger… When Sergey was very little his father married another women and left them. The boy was left practically alone and was brought up by his grandmother who also drank frequently. His mother was always present at drunken parties completely ignoring her son. Allhermoneyshespentonalcohol…. In a definite his mother with a man she lived with sold a good house in the city center and bought a cheap small house without conveniences in the outskirts of the city where they went on drinking heavily. So, almost the whole childhood of Sergey was spent in such an atmosphere.
By the age of 11 Sergey couldn’t do without alcohol - he drank it all vodka, beer, fake handmade vodka. His addiction grew very strong. There were some cases when he tied up his grandma and applied an iron to make her “confess” where she had hidden her pension. The teenager very often took all her money and spent it on alcohol. Since 6th grade he quitted school completely, wandered, drank… When Sergey turned 14 his mother died…. His father by that moment had his own new family a child and drug addiction. He didn’t need Sergey at all that’s why he refused his paternal rights and took the boy to the social service departments for minors. Sergey has become an actual orphan. The service in its turn directed him to the center “Republic Pilgrim” with the request to Pastor Gennadiy to foster him.
Since September 2009 Sergey has been living in the foster family of Pastor Gennadiy. He’s got a tough character which was formed in hard circumstances of the family of alcoholics. So far, he can’t value that God gives him the opportunity to live in normal family: the boy runs away so often going astray. But his foster parents and friends don’t lose hope that Sergey will change, will make his choice towards Good and will start to lead a decent life.
Regardless of the difficulties Sergey has some plan for his future life. He dreams to become an engineer in construction. He is so excited telling that he likes everything that is connected with building of something new and necessary for people.
Recently, in the "Republic Pilgrim" took place the election of a new government. The race was quite tense. A few new guys have declared themselves as strong candidates and presidential elections were difficult.
Adoptive father of 32 children, pastor -pilgrim Gennady Mokhnenko and his family live today in a fairly cramped conditions. The house they live in consists of two rooms for 13 people. Recently, the adoptive family, with a charitable donation, was able to purchase another small house. Both houses need a lot of repairs, however, both parents and children are happy - they are now having more space where they can live.
At the end of 2011 in Italy, in Sassuolo, a second charity exhibition and sale of "ARTE solidale" took place. It was organized for the financial support of children center "Republic Pilgrim", in Mariupol, and for the African Mission in Burkina Faso, where for 40 years working missionaries Lisa and Umberto Ladder.
I was holding my little young son, rocking him and singing a tune. In this sweet, wonderful time inside me clearly and distinctly sounded a verse from the Gospel, which you probably know...
In the center of children's rehabilitation "Republic Pilgrim" in Mariupol, were guests of the British Liverpool. Jennifer and Marc are already familiar with pilgrim children. They were together at last summer camp in the Crimea: played football, went on hike at the Grand Canyon, and now they came to visit “Pilgrim” again.
In a large-scale project "Crystal Heart" workers of "Pilgrim", the adoptive parents Eugene and Svetlana Isaev, that have adoptive children with HIV-positive, have won first place the "Big Heart".
Pastor- pilgrim Gennady Mokhnenko going into another trip to Africa, Kenya, scheduled for mid-January of 2012. Pastor has a desire to see the same desperately dedicated travelers, who will spend 10 days of the mission in one of the poorest regions in the world.
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