Last Bell staff have known Vitya Yaremchuk for many years. He had been left at Orphanage #4 as a baby; his mother was an alcoholic. At the orphanage he was always begging for candy, making rude jokes, playing the clown, and getting into trouble. He graduated from Orphanage #4 in the spring of 2009, a year earlier than the rest of his class.
He began attending Shelter, but when the rest of his class graduated in 2010, he joined them at the Haven. According to the staff, Vitya was at first “a very difficult kid.” He was negative toward God and mocked another graduate when he repented.
But in April of 2011, everything changed. Over the course of about a week, Vitya changed the way he acted and started to listen. Then he repented. The Haven team said that he quit his bad habits, changed his friends, and began to think and speak about God and the Word with wisdom.
Vitya was baptized on July 3rd, 2011 at Central Baptist Church. God opened a door for Vitya to go to the university he had dreamed about. He will be studying to become a teacher. The Haven staff says that Vitya speaks constantly about how the Lord blesses him and meets his needs.
Chris Cambell, an intern with World Next Door, wrote a great article about Vitya in 2010. Please read his story here.