Newsletter No. 1, published February 2022

September, 2022

To our dear friends of Petrova’s Promise,
We wrote the above newsletter prior to the start of the war in Ukraine. We never sent it as
the war broke out shortly thereafter. We have been waiting with broken hearts to decide how we should move forward and continue to help these precious orphans. We would like to update you on that now.

The good news is all of our children are safe in their foster homes with their foster mothers! It has been very difficult, but we have been able to send over the money needed to care for all 24 children for the entire year of 2022 and will continue to do so in the years to come. Although the atrocities that the Russian government is doing to the beautiful people of Ukraine, our children are innocent in this and are also the recipients of the cold heart of the Russian government, which is why we are needed even more.

I am happy to report that we have taken on two more children! Katia’s family has brought in
Sergei and Anastasia’s family has brought in Nadya. Both are toddlers and were not doing well in the orphanages. Sergei was not able to speak and Nadya is HIV positive. Her biological mother was not giving her the required medications, so she was nearly diagnosed with AIDS. Happily, both children are doing very well now. They are so happy to be in their homes!

Sadly, we have not been able to make a visit to Russia since the war began and we do not
think it will be safe to do so anytime soon. Masha, our partner in Russia, was able to make a trip to the US this fall. Through her, we were able to send over teddy bears to Sergei and
Anastasia so that all of the children could have them! We were even able to send over new
clothes for the children to dress their bears in as this is a favorite activity of theirs!

It is so difficult to witness the war on Ukraine and, because of this, we have decided to expand our NGO to include orphans from Ukraine, as well. We are so excited about this! Kim and John are planning a trip to Poland to visit with Ukrainian orphans and refugees very soon. We will write to you with an update on our future plans as soon as we have made our trip and have learned the best ways we can help in Poland!