Sergey is a man devoted to God, his life is full of joy and purpose. But it hasn’t always been like this. In his youth, Sergey used to be a rebel. He always resisted the social rules and tried to find some special purpose in life. When he was 16, he left his parents’ home. “That was the first mistake I’d made in life and as a result all I was left with were pain and loneliness,” says Sergey.

The Tkachenkos is a large family – loving parents Sergey and Nadezhda, three sons and a daughter. But it wasn’t always so.  In 1991, Sergey went to the US and soon the whole family decided to immigrate there but the plans as well as some other things were doomed to fail. Having left for America for a couple of months, Sergey stayed there for several years. Nadezhda and the children were waiting for him in Russia. So, the family split up in such a simple and stupid way.

Andrey Bondarev, a volunteer from Covenant Church of Novosibirsk has been participating in the 'Angel’s Christmas Tree' project for 6 years. This year he shared his story:

Vladimir Moiseevich Murza was born on November 29, 1940 in Virka village of Stepanskiy district, Rivno region, the republic of Ukraine, which was a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. He was born to parents who were Christians of Evangelical Faith. They got saved in the 1920's, when a powerful Pentecostal movement began in Ukraine.

A few months ago the Lord put on my heart to read a book “Mountain Rain” by Eileen Crossman, daughter of the English missionary James Fraser, about her father. James Fraser was a pioneer missionary to China in the early 1900's. He spent his life among the Lisu people reaching them for Christ.

I was born in a Christian family in 1956. In 1960, our family moved from the Caucuses to the city of Mariupol in the Ukraine. Unfortunately, when I was young, I rebelled against Christ. But God worked through various ways to teach me in spite of anything. Almost every Sunday evening my parents hosted people at our home for services. I could not escape those meetings, so I was forced to be there and received food for thought.