Email Updates on Pastor Victor and Luda February 3, 2009 Dear Friends and family: Pastor Victor is the Ukrainian Pastor who over sees the TABITHA program as well as THE BRENNA HOME. Just after we returned home from our trip, he was rushed to the hospital. We just learned that he is having open heart surgery today ( coronary artery bipass). His wife Luda, has some heart problems as well, and due to the stress of Victor's illness, she too is in the hospital. Please pray for both of them as well as their three daughters and grandson. Surgery in Ukraine is not only very expensive for the family but outcomes are not nearly as good as here in the United States. We will keep you posted as soon as we hear. On another note, Rich and I will be speaking about our most recent trip at Netherwood Baptist Church this coming Sunday at 10:15 a.m. We will have photos and lots of information to share. We would LOVE to see anyone who can attend. Please let us know if you need any directions to the church or further information. dbrn1234@aol.com or call 473-7849 Love and blessings, Donna and Rich Engle February 4, 2009 I went to see the girls yesterday. They told me the surgery will be at the earliest on Friday or on Tuesday. They have to have money for the surgery. Right now all they have is the little bit we have been able to collect - about $250 plus 100 Euros. At this time lack of money would be the stopping force for the surgery to happen. Victor is in the hospital, having tests as the finances allow and is doing alright for the time being. I understand from talking with the girls that one of his arteries is greater than 80% occluded, but he also needs an aortic valve replacement at the same time. They beleive this is why he has been having so many issues with headaches, concentration, etc because the amount of oxygen getting to his brain has not been enough. And the Dr.'s are stressing they are not sure how long he will make it without the surgery. Luda remains in the hospital because her BP is not under control. They are worried because it is 130/85 and told her that she will remain in the hospital until it is stabalized. But with the stress and anxiety she is under it appears that it will be a little while. The medications they are giving her are not seeming to work. She does take nitroglycerin, but it is not stopping her chest pains. So at this time this is the story with Pastor Victor and Luda. Please keep praying. Kimberly February 5, 2009 Dear Family and friends: Rich and I have decided we will have to cancel Sunday's presentation at Netherwood Baptist Church. Rich has some urgent matters at work that require him to be at work this weekend and I am ill. We plan to talk to the Pastor this evening and reschedule our
presentation for a later date. We will keep you posted. I know some of you have expressed interest in coming so we wanted to give you a "heads up" as soon as possible. Love Donna (and Rich) February 7, 2009 Hi!! Mom is not good again... last night she was suppose to come home for weekends but she felt worse and doctor didn't let her go home. Father is worried about surgery!!! Today Oksana and i are going to talk to his doctor and he suppose to tell us when exactly will be surgery!!!! Thank you for getting more money for father!!! Thank you very much!!! Please keep praying!!!!! February 7, 2009 Dear friends!!! Quick update about mom and dad. Sorry i can't send out emails every day. Some days we don't even have time to eat! We go to father to visit him usually in the morning so we can talk to doctors and then we go to mother before dinner time. They both are in 2 different hospitals in 2 different ends of the city only for the way we spend like half hour. But we thank God that He sends people who are helping us a lot! We have one family that brings food for mom and dad every day, other people come to visit them but not every day. This family go to mom in the morning if we go to father and then in the evening they visit mom and we are going to dad! They buy mom medicines and go talk to doctors and just help us with everything we need. Because in our hospitals we need to bring all the food for mom and dad. They give some food but its not good and not enough. They need breakfast lunch and dinner. We thank God for people that help us with food for parents. Some people wonder why we need so much money for surgery? Because we need to pay for everything in the hospital!!! Even little things like soap, cotton, syringe all the pills and everything else. For dads surgery they will give us list of the things they will need for surgery and it starts from knife and ends with bandage! I mean EVERYTHING!!! Also we need to pay hospital for something and some other bills. On Monday they will give us list and bills and we need to pay it all. After we pay this they will call to doctor from Lviv (city with better hospital) and call him to do this surgery! Doctor said that this surgery is difficult that's why its better to call doctor that has more experience. It scared me because first he said it's not to difficult i guess to not scare us. So after he calls that better doctor they will let us know when exactly surgery will be. So we need to pay all the doctors and also we already prayed for all the tests that father had. I said we need around $ 5000 and thats only for father. Believe me thats the way it is in Ukraine. We are asking everyone we know for money because if we won't have money they won't do surgery. Tomorrow our church will collect some money and i know that God will provide money. He already gave a little bit, some people here in Ukraine already brought a little money. We already got some answers on the emails with promises to send money. Its amazing how God is touching peoples heards He even uses people who don't know father and met me and Oksana only ones and they promise to try finding money. People who lost their jobs or don't get much they email and say they will talk to friends and maybe they will find a little. So far we collected a little more then $ 1000 but i believe God will provide all the money we need!!! Thank you all very much who answered my emails and promised to help! Thank you all who encourage and support us in prayers and emails. Nice encouraging emails help a lot and God gives
strenth through them when we don't have it. We need that very much because we need to be strong for mama and tato (mom and dad)!!! Thank you very much!! Mom and dad send their greetings and thank for all that encourage us and pray for us! Tomorrow we will take mom from her hospital to father for few hours for "date" :) they both very excited about that!! We love you all and thank God for each of you who keeps emailing even if i don't answer and supports so much. We need a lot of prayers but sweet emails with encourages from you are very important for us too. Thank you! Blessings, Ola Oksana Natasha and David, mom and dad!! February 9, 2009 Yes it is big blessing and God answers our prayers! Thank you so much for prayers and so big help!!!! It is amazing how God is working in peoples hearts. Thank you Rich and Dona so much for your help and so much care for parents. I have got the money you sent $900 (400 and 500). Please tell everyone who donated that we all thank a lot them and we are praying so God would bless them 100 times more for their donations. We also pray for you Dona and Rich. May God bless you for everything that you have done for father. I will tell them, i'm telling mom and dad about every email I get. They thank and send greetings every time. Once again thank you so much for such big help. May God bless you. Ola February 9, 2009 Well mom is worried about surgery because it's difficult surgery and we all are worried, especially dad. But they both are feeling better after their date yesterday!! :) Today father had to go to more doctors and they checked his heart again. Oksana and i payed some money already for hospital and some for some medicines but we need to buy more medicines by our self and then pay more after the surgery. No they didn't tell us what day yet. Maybe on Friday if we will buy and pay for everything. We will see i hope doctor will tell us more tomorrow but we will see. Than you a lot for so much help. Please pray for surgery because it's very difficult for us. May God bless you. Ola Februray 11, 2009
Greetings from mom and dad dear friends! Some news about father and mother. Yesterday when Oksana and i were at the hospital we talked to fathers doctor. He said that all the tests are done and all the doctors checked him and now dad needs to wait for his turn for surgery. In Ukraine we have only 3 hospitals which do that kind of surgery, one is in Kiev, one in Lviv and one in Lutsk. So here is big line to do surgery because people come from all over Ukraine. So doctor let us take father home for 2-3 days but he needs to stay in the bed all the time. Well he can get up and walk from one room to an other but he is not allowed to go outside. So our friend drew father home last night. Oksana and i worried that it will be hard to keep father home. But i think that he feels worse then he tells us because this morning he didn't even want to go out and now he is in the bed. It's so much not like father. So please pray for him. He is very worried about surgery. Its very difficult surgery and doctor said it will take around 5 hours, maybe more. Also we still don't know when surgery will be. Yesterday doctor said that 3 surgerys moved because hospital didn't have some thing that they needed for surgery. It's Ukraine!!! But he said that surgery may be in Saturday or Sunday or Monday! Please pray for surgery to go well and that doctors would finally tell us what day. It's very hard for us to wait. Mom looks a little better but she still worries and her blood presure is jumping up and down. Her doctor said it's not good and very bad for heart. He is afraid that on the surgery day she will get so worried that her blood presure will go way up. Probably they will keep her in the hospital till after surgery. Please pray for mom and dad and all of us. Oksana and i feel exhausted and some times we just don't have any strenth. Please keep us in your prayers. Thank each of you who is peaying and encouriging us. Thank you a lot for financial support. We pray God for each of you. May God bless you. In Christ, Ola, Oksana, Natasha and mom and dad!!! Your Brother in Christ Pastor Victor February 11, 2009 Dear Friends! Quick note. Today fathers doctor told us 90% that surgery will be this Saturday and probably will start early in the morning. We payed half and we need to pay some money tomorrow and then we will have to pay the other half after surgery. Tomorrow morning we take father back to hospital. Please pray hard for this surgery to go well. It's very hard for all of us. I don't know if mom will still be at the hospital or not but the plan is that i will stay with mom home or in the hospital and Oksana will be at fathers hospital till surgery is done. We need your prayers very much!!! Please keep us in your prayers and i will let you know if there will be changes. Of course i will email you as soon as i can after surgery is done!! Please pray! Thank you once again for everyone who support us financially and with prayers. Thank you. May
God bless you! Ola, Okasna Natasha and mom and dad!!! Your Brother in Christ Pastor Victor February 14, 2009 Dear Friends! Praise the Lord surgery is over!!!! Surgery was 6 hours! I was with mom at the hospital where she was and Oksana was was waiting for results of the surgery at the fathers hospital! She didn't see the doctors because they didn't come out and started next surgery right away! But in the resuscitation works mother of our friend and see came out and told Oksana that surgery is over and it went well. We don't know much since we didn't talk to doctors but we will know more tomorrow. In the morning Oksana and i go to talk to doctors and pay more bills. Mom is better now that she heard surgery is over and it went well. We hope to take mom home tomorrow. We won't see father for one more day because he will be all day tomorrow in the resuscitation and on Monday they will put him back in the room where he was. Please keep praying for father so recovery will go well and fast. I will email tomorrow when we will get more details about surgery from doctor. Thank you a lot who pryed and keeps praying, who encouraged. Big thank to everyone who opened their hearts and helped financially!!! We are praying for each of you!!! Thank you very much! May God bless you! Ola, Oksana, Natasha!! February 15, 2009 Dear Brothers and sisters! Thank you for your prayers and such great support! We have payed all the bills! Thank you so much for help for prayers and finances!!! Big thank from whole family!!! We pray for each of you and we believe God will bless you 100 times more for for your open hearts and helping our family!!! Yesterday dad had fight with doctor and made him move him to normal room where we can visit him. So now he is in normal room. Doctor told him to start moving a little. Yesterday we were getting him up and he set a little and walked a little. It still hard to talk for him. He talks very quiet. Also its hard for him to have many visitors so yesterday only Oksana and i were there. When i saw father yesterday it was hard to hold back tears. He looks terrible!!!! Doctor said its normal, everything is going well but we need to be patient and every day father will feel better and better! Please keep praying for him to get well soon!
Mom is home already but she got cold at the hospital!! So now she is stayi ng home with fever. Pray for her too because its hard for us. Every day some one needs to be with father all day to help him move, drink and eat a little and also we need to take care of mom home. Oksana and i are exhausted and very tire. Please pray for all of us we need your prayers! Thank you once again for care and help!!! May God bless you In Christ, Ola, Oksana and Natasha!! February 19, 2009 Greetings from father and our family! Just a quick note about father. He is getting better every day. Every time he walks a little more and sits more and talks better and louder! Here are few pictures of father. One is of first day he was in the normal room and 2 other are on 2nd day. You can see big different even on the pictures. Please keep praying for him because he is still in a lot of pain!! Mom is home and still sick, she is coughing very bad and yesterday i've got sick too. Oksana is the only one who is healthy and can go visit father please pray for me and mom to get better soon and for Oksana she needs a lot of strength to take care of dad and mom i'm not big help any more. Thank you very much for your great support and help!!! Please keep us in your prayers! May God bless you, Ola February 23, 2009 Dear Friends and Family: Mark 9:37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Yesterday we received pictures from Ukraine sent from the housemother, Valla. We wanted to share some of them with you. Since we have returned from our January trip, two new children have come to Brenna's Home with another coming as soon as he is released from the hospital.( as mentioned in the last note) Here is the story of these children: When we were at the end of our January trip, a 16 year old boy named Peter approached us. He was very sad and told us his mother had just died a couple of months ago. He had 3 older siblings who were in jail and 3 younger siblings he wanted us to take in. His father is a severe alcoholic who had increased his drinking since his wife died. Peter himself, confessed to us that he had
started drinking to ease the pain of his mother's death and also was smoking. We prayed with Peter and explained God's love for him. He did start coming to church before we came back from the trip. Valla has since taken in Lilia, age 8, Peter's sister and Vania, Peter's 14 year old brother. Yura is 7 and in the hospital having his leg operated on due to a fall out of a window. Valla spent 2 days trying to get the lice out of their hair by scrubbing and cutting their hair. Thankfully, Lilia and Vania are doing well in Brenna's Home. Kola and Vania are the same age and have become good friends. Kola is happy to have another boy there with him. Lilia is playing with Yulia and Pavlina. Both new children are thriving. Praise God! Here is Valla with Yura(7) Vania(14) Lilia(8)Vania and Kola ( The 2 boys in Brenna's Home)Lilia (8) and Yulia (7) in churchyulia and Pavlina with housemother Valla. We also received many photos of the children opening their shoe boxes (SAMARITAN'S PURSE), shipped over by The Hyde Park Yesterday, We did a presentation at NETHERWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH, Salt Point,New York and were able to share many stories and photos of our most recent trip. We have two more upcoming presentations and hope to see those of you who are local at one or both: Sunday: March 15th at New Beginnings Church, Degarmo Road, Poughkeepsie. We will speak briefly for 10 minutes at both the 8:30 am service and the 11:00 am service Sunday March 22 at HYDE PARK BAPTIST CHURCH, Hyde Park at 10:30am ( we gave the wrong time in the last note) for a 30 minute talk with photos. Love and Blessings: Donna and Rich February 24, 2009 Greetings dear friends!!!! Sorry I didn't email for so long but we have a great news!!! Today we took father home!!"they removed the stitches yesterday and today let him go home! God is healing him and everything is going well. He still doesn't feel strong and can't talk well but we are very glad he is home. Although doctor forbid father to drive for 2 months till the ribs will heal together. So it will be hard for us to keep him from driving for that long. Mom is better too. Father is home so now she is all busy with father and forget about herself. We thank God for answering our prayers and our parents are feeling better, we thank God for people who helped with what they could (encourage, payer, financial, food, cleaning...) Thank you once again for your opened hearts and care for our parents. We keep praying for each of you. May God bless you! With love in Christ Ola, Oksana and Natasha. March 9, 2009 Greetings to you dear Rich and Dona. I'm writing you again after this long break. Thank you a lot for the prayer and financial support! I
thank God for friends who are staying friends in the difficult times! Thank you for all your prayers and prayers of all brothers and sisters. By Gods mercy i'm still alive. Praise the Lord! I'm home already but doctors are checking me. The surgery went good and now is recovery part. I need to be very careful, take all the medicine they give and wait till all the organs will heal after surgery. Our church and many churches in Ukraine and USA had prayed and still praying for my recovery. Thank you all very much. The recovery time will be 2-3 months. Big thank all of your friends who i may not even know for prayers for me. May God bless you all and answer on your prayers and fulfill your needs!! I don't know much about Brennas home now. I'm not able to do much now. I hope Vala kept you updated. Vania and Lilia and having school at home. They need a lot of time and work because they haven't been studying at all. Yesterday Tabitha children and children from Brennas home had progam for church service. Yulias and Kolas mothers were at the church and they were crying during service. I think God has been touching their hearts. Thank you for caring for this children and their future. You all in our prayers. Please pass my greetings to all our friends. May God bless you!! Your brother in Christ Pastor Victor!