The Semochkov Family

I love this family.  They are an amazing Ukrainian family trying to live their lives for the Lord.  I was thrilled and blessed to get to know them one afternoon.

Natasha and Viktor, the parents of a dozen or so children are not your typical family.  They have adopted many of their children and are fostering quite a few too.  In Ukraine this is a rare thing and I admire them for what they are doing.

Last year they lost one a little girl they were fostering when she drowned in the river chasing after the family goat.  Naturally, it devastated the family-- but as a result they are considering allowing a bridge to be built so that the river can be crossed during the winter time to prevent another drowning.  At the same time, the high river keeps the riff-raff off their property.  You can see their dilemma and with finances a huge obstacle it may be a long time before a bridge is ever built.

The Semochkov family believes in homeschooling and often resorts to that in the winter when they can't cross the river to get the kids to school.  They are disappointed in the school system and think it does a disservice   to their children to send them to public school when they see that the kids do so much better when they are taught by Natasha.  I could feel her frustration at the government as she vented her concerns.  After school the kids learn scripture, take the cows to graze, and tend to the chickens. 

During our visit Julia and Sasha went outside to explore.  It didn't take long for Sasha to bring in a hurt bird.  Soon that bird got loose and went behind the couch.

I could tell Natasha was used to this sort of thing.  She instructed Sasha to take the bird outside.

During our visit we talked about many things. 

"People here treat each other with little respect.  One farmer will inject his cows with hormones to make them grow bigger and faster and then sell it to their neighbor.  That same farmer will then come to us and buy our beef because we don't inject them with hormones.  Why can't they eat what they are raising to sell to others?"

As the focus of the conversation turned towards David's health, Natasha suggested that she knew exactly what he needed to help his leg circulation.  She brought out two jars of leeches and explained how she used them to help the blood flow in her knees.  They healed her and many of the neighbors who come seeking her leech therapy.

For now, David passed.

Natasha insisted we stay for lunch-- a beef and potato dish with bread and honey.  Natasha is a wonderful cook!  In fact she is quite the homemaker all the way around. 

We talked about more personal stuff too and found great comfort in how much we have in common.  I can see her and her husband encouraging new foster families down the road.

The Semochkovs raise cattle and bees for a living. Here you can see the bee homes.  They believe that honey has great medicinal value so they eat it regularly themselves.

The last time David visited the Semochkovs he said this garage was the size of the white cement you see in the picture.  The oldest son is building his house for him and his wife so that they could move out of their parent's house.

Here is the Semochkov home.  It is good size.  If I had to estimate I would say it is around 2600 square feet.

On the way back to ROJ we stopped at the Belagorsk open market for tomatoes and clothes soap.

As we drove home, I took this picture of the one monument I saw.

These apartment buildings out in the middle of nowhere looked pretty cool with all of their different colors.  So... I took a picture.