My Dear Friends,

My name is Valentyna Pavsyukova and I am originally from Zaporozhye, Ukraine which is a city of almost a million people.  Seven years ago I got an amazing opportunity to come to the United States.  This was a true miracle.  Without my knowing it, my mother entered me into the lottery which offers to people from different countries, an opportunity to move to the USA.  Fifty thousand people win every year and I was one of them.

But I believe this opportunity was given not only to me, but most of all, to the Ukrainian people who have become so dear to my heart.  Here in the USA, I have opened my eyes to realize my country is in big danger, because of the great evil that touched my country in the past; evil that tried to root out true Faith and Belief in the existence of a Loving God from the most important part of people's lives and hearts. 

My country was under a communism regime for a very long time and my people were lied to about the "beautiful future" they would have if everything would be under the communism regime.  Thankfully, in 1991, my country was freed from the chains of communism, but it was left in ruins. 

Zaporozhye is in the southern part of Ukraine, which was completely occupied by the Communists.  There was a Church of St. Nicolas, but people were forbidden to go there or to talk about God.   But, deep in my heart, I knew God was real and in my very early years, I had a desire to pray.  I was also given a little icon of Our Lady of Vladimir, which I carry with me till this day.  But these early yearnings for God faded much in my teenage years.

My grandma Vera, however, taught me how to say the 'Our Father' prayer and had a beautiful Icon of Our Blessed Mother Mary holding the Child Jesus in her house.  How thankful I am to her for this now.

My teenage years were very simple.  I was a typical teenager, rebellious and gave my mother a hard time.  I was surrounded by dear friends, but none of us would ever talk about faith or God. We were embarrassed and ashamed to talk about this.  None of our families ever went to church or prayed at home. 

Everything changed when I moved to the USA.  My first year was the hardest year of my life.  I made many mistakes during this time.  I became very depressed because I did not know the English language and because of the distance from my family.  Everything became very empty and gray in color.  I was overcome by a life of sin, and a deep depression began to grow in my heart. 

Someone must have prayed hard for me at this time, so that I might change my ways.  I was given a Bible, and in my loneliness, I began to understand what I needed.  I needed my God in my heart and I needed Him to help me and to shelter me, and to SAVE ME.

So I prayed for healing and I received the greatest healing of all - the gift of Faith.  Step by step, everything began to be restored.

Because of what I experienced, I had one desire - to give thanks to Father God.  I wanted to give my life to Him and to serve Him.  So I decided to become a missionary.  I was going to join the Peace Corp and go to Ethiopia, Africa.  But then I realized, after some time, my country of Ukraine also had a great need, and maybe the reason why I was in the USA was to help my country.

That is when everything started to change again.

I started to look into what was most needed and what I could do to bring relief to the people of Ukraine.  My uncle helped me very much by mentioning the need for updated medical equipment in Ukraine.  Most every hospital that exists in Ukraine was built in the 1950’s to the 1970’s, during communism times.  Most of these hospitals have never been updated since then.

God continued to show His Fatherly love by showering me with even more amazing blessings.

On September 14, 2007, the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, Chalice of Mercy mission was established as a non-profit.  My heart rejoiced because my friends and I were going in a wonderfully new direction.  This day is very important to me, because I hope that God may work through our mission so that the Cross of our Jesus might be Exalted, and that people might feel once again, the need for our loving God.  I pray we may help to bring dignity back to women, men, children, the elderly, and to everyone.

The first Hospital we wanted to help was in Kamenka -Dneprovskaya, which is about 2.5 hours away from my city.  The hospital serves a population of 45,000 people and has never been updated since the 1950's!!!  It was in danger of being shut down because it was in horrible condition.  It had mold on the walls, broken tiles, rust on the surgery tables and much more....

But through the support of so many friends and people who contributed so much prayer, talent, time, and financial donations, we have been able to make tremendous changes in this hospital.  Our dream that we have been working on for a long time, had now come true.  On September 10, 2009 we were able to ship our first 40 foot container of medical supplies (beds, mattresses, surgery tables, ultrasound and much more).  All this medical equipment was donated from the Sisters Mission Outreach in Springfield, IL.  Chalice of Mercy only had to pay for the shipping costs.

Also, one of the biggest and most important parts of our mission is our desire to help all people, including the Unborn Precious Children.  Our hospital is the first one in the entire region that responded with a "yes" to protect the lives of the unborn.

Now, there will be great changes happening and the doors for a Pro-life mission are open for us.  But, I believe to begin a Pro-Life mission in my country and to help educate people about the importance of life from the moment of conception to the natural death; we need to begin with the doctors.  We need to help them understand their "Priestly Mission ...” as St. Gianna said.  Their hearts need to be free from the locks of communism and be open to receiving forgiveness from Father God, and to starting their lives anew as Missionary-Doctors.

So many women and men just simply do not know and do not understand about the life which they conceived.  They do not understand the baby they are carrying already has a soul and has a future which has already been determined for them by God.

The doors have also been opened for us in other hospitals and we are able to begin our first steps.  We formed a Pro-Life group in my hometown parish of the Merciful Father.  This October (2009) many were educated to become NFP (Natural Family Planning) instructors and they will continue with a seminar this coming February.  We are preparing to go to schools, colleges, universities, and hospitals.  Some hospitals allow us to have an informational corner in the waiting areas where women and men come for regular visits. 

One of the biggest changes is in two hospitals we now have TV screens showing movies about the Incredible Life of the child that is in the womb and the horrible facts of abortion.  It also shows information about where women can receive help if they are in domestic danger.

There are other hospitals that have showed interest in doing a Pro-Life mission, and to receiving medical supplies, by allowing us to open their doors to our mission.  We hope and truly pray we may be able to continue this important work.

Sinserely yours in love and prayer

Valentyna Pavsyukova