“My Home” team continues its work supporting families who were willing to welcome and raise a child. Currently, we do this with the help of church. It’s one of our areas of work, which allows us to show our vision of fighting orphanhood. After all, serving children is just as righteous as serving God.

One of My Home families is the family of Olena and Alexander Matlashevsky.
Olena sincerely shared her story. We hope that it will inspire each of you.
“My name is Olena … my husband is Alexander!

I grew up without a mother since I was two…I saw how little children need protection….And then I said to myself that when I grow up I want to give at least one child my protection! I will grow up and be able to do it! I got married. We had two beautiful children: a son and a daughter. Many thanks to God for this.

We lived just like everyone else: planned something, worked, dreamed, set small goals and went to them, served God, built a house, our nest.

In our family, we created our own password: A+ O= DA (YES).

It means: Alexander + Olena = David and Angelina.

Then big changes came in our life.
We welcomed 5 more children into our nest: Vika, Dmytro, Valery, Veronika, Anastasia.
It changed the course of our history.

And we became a big family. Seven children we love very much and carry in our hearts and prayers!

For this we want to say thanks to God and to all those who were connected with our family.

The path of parenthood was not easy, but God helped us overcome these difficult situations and continues to help us.

We lived in our house and learned to be one whole, one team.

Then suddenly, unexpectedly, the war came to us and we were forced to leave our nest.
We took food, the clothes we were wearing, medicine and documents and left proclaiming:
“And if God is with us, who will stand against us!?” On the way, we saw crushed cars, burnt tanks, wrecked rockets, people in despair and fear.

We had to sleep in a cold room, our hearts froze inside when our children woke up from explosions. We tried to keep peace and quiet. We had full hope only in God and we thank Him that He did not leave us and now shows His mercy to us! We are in a safe place for now.

And our family password is now: A+O=DA+ 5 our children, born in the heart. Always YES, YES, YES, YES, YES to life!

Children are now learning English. Our oldest son is fond of cars: he likes to repair them. Our second son is fond of drawing and motorcycles, two younger girls like gymnastics, the older daughter likes to draw and take pictures. The third son is his mother’s helpers: he loves screwdrivers and the like (he fixes vacuum cleaners and bicycles). The middle daughter likes to sing.

All of them develop according to their preferences and interests. As parents, we always support and help our children.

Our family expresses sincere gratitude to everyone who invests a piece of their heart in our lives!

For all the volunteers, sponsors, teachers and everyone who became part of our lives. May the Lord bless everyone abundantly and keep everyone with the right hand of His truth!! May God’s peace, His mercy and love be with us all!”, – Olena Matlashevska.