In a small Ukrainian town near Lviv, lives a special family – Igor and Bogdana Nevolko – and they are raising a little blind girl. Their adopted daughter Angelina is a beautiful child who knows how to share joy and hope. She sings, takes piano lessons, and overall creates a great vibe in the family.
In order to understand her personality, her perception of the world and her values, you just need to spend a few minutes at her side. She's like an angel, who can encourage and comfort you with her presence. For these reasons her parents named her Angelina, giving special respects to God’s miracle in the adoption of this little girl.
I remember my first meeting with Angelina, at the beginning of the "Heart for Orphans” bicycle tour in Ukraine in August 2013. She performed a favorite song called "I see God every day," and this was the first time I truly understood those simple words. To not be able to see with your eyes, but to feel God with your heart – that is true worship. Of the two hundred people watching, only a handful could hold back the tears, glorifying God because of this little angel.
If you try counting the Nevolko family, you might lose track: two parents, four biological children, and six adopted children. They are one big, happy, Christian family. Visiting them, you will experience a unique atmosphere of warmth and comfort, and leave with one desire – to visit this home once again.
The third President of Ukraine – Viktor Yushchenko – also had a chance to visit this family. Streets were being prepared for his arrival; the gas company finally fixed the gas leak (which they were informed about by the parents multiple times). The day came. Mr. President enters the house, greets the children, journalists are swarming all around, picking up the blind girl, he asks her: "What would you like to have?"
"A candy " replies Angelina, putting the big guy in a very awkward position, as there were indeed gifts for the family, but no candy. She later made sure to ask him who he really was.
Angelina is different from most of us because she doesn’t look at people - she feels them. We sometimes forget about the inner being, letting the shiny surface catch our eye, but the pearl isn’t so easy to see, it is hidden in our heart, where God can see us, and where people just have to sense.
The children in this family receive sincere love from their parents, and its not that simple to accomplish. Igor and Bogdana opened their hearts to orphans when they did not have the appropriate circumstances or stable financial opportunities, but they demonstrated courage by going after the Lord's will. They lived in a very small space, but their big hearts found room for kids that were unwanted to someone else. God made a miracle happen – a successful entrepreneur who is also a brother in Christ once heard the Church praying for the needs of the Nevolko family, and decided to help. He bought them a house, near the city where they could raise their children, biological and adopted. How Great is God’s will, he finds those who will take in the children, and those who will help them. Both are blessed by the Lord.