Valerie Britton

Field Liaison 

Valerie is a native of Moscow and worked as an interpreter for many years before joining the Heart for Orphans team in December 2015. She moved to Virginia in 2001 to get her MA in Practical Theology from Regent University. Valerie uses her language skills to communicate with our house parents overseas and to translate our materials and correspondence. She loves people and her goal in life is to help them grow in their walk with the Lord. Valerie and her husband, Brian pastored for many years and are cofounders of Harvest Family Network and reside in Williamsburg with their daughter.

Mandy Craft

Administrator

Mandy joined the Heart for Orphans team in November 2020. She has over 20 years of experience in office administration and bookkeeping for small businesses. In addition, Mandy and has worked alongside her husband in their family business for many years. Mandy has a passion for detail and a love for supporting the ministry staff both locally and overseas. She believes in the vision and mission of Heart for Orphans, and is excited to help orphans around the world. Mandy enjoys spending time with her family. She and her husband Ross have two children and reside in Williamsburg, VA.

Nancy Hathaway

Founder/Director

Nancy is the Founder/Director of Heart for Orphans—a ministry God placed on her heart after she and husband, Steve, adopted three daughters from Ukraine 19 years ago. Her story is the foundation of our ministry. Nancy began her professional life as a model and actress before she transitioned behind the camera as a producer, director, and writer. But her passion and calling has become helping orphaned teens in Ukraine who have no voice and desperately need someone to care. Nancy works full time as director of Heart for Orphans, and she and husband Steve live in Williamsburg. They are the parents of four grown children and grandparents to three.

Amber Linnekin

Director of Donor Relations

Amber joined our team in May 2019. After graduating from Radford University, Amber worked in the banking industry for 18 years, most recently as the Vice President/Branch Manager of a local community bank. In 2013 Amber came on her first vision trip to Ukraine and she hasn’t been the same. Her passion for orphans, paired with her desire to serve, led her to join our board of directors in 2014. Amber travelled to Ukraine with her husband Ryan two more times. Each time she visited, her passion was renewed, and that led her to leave her banking career to come on staff full time as Director of Donor Relations. Amber and husband Ryan have three children and live in Williamsburg.

Sergey and Nataliia

House Parents - Anastasia’s House
Kramatorsk region

Nataliia and Sergey lead Friends Club, a walk-in center for orphaned teens in Kramatorsk. Four nights a week area youth can drop in to play games, learn to cook, eat, watch wholesome movies, join in Bible studies and learn practical life skills all while having fun. Natasha knows what orphaned teens want, because she was once one herself. It was at a Friends Club, and later while living in a Heart for Orphans Transition Home, that Nataliia turned her life around. She realized that she must take the things that God has taught her and share them with others who are in the same situation that she once was. Sergey grew up in a Christian home and knows the importance of service to others. Sergey and Natalia have two children

Note: Their home in in Kramatorsk, Ukraine but they are currently living as refugees in a home in Romania.

Andrey

Boys mentor - Mel’s House
Zaporizhzhia region

Andrey grew up in an orphanage and knows the pain of loneliness and abandonment. When he graduated from the orphanage and moved into Mel’s House, he finally found the family he always wanted. After he left Mel’s House Andrey attended Kyiv Bible College. When he graduated he came on staff with Heart for Orphans as a boys mentor. When a new boy arrives at Mel’s House, a mentor takes them under their wing and gets to know them. He helps them adjust and teaches them God’s word, and how it relates to our daily life. Andrey is also part of the Orphanage Outreach team. They visit the orphanages weekly with an upbeat, fun program that teaches the kids about God, and His love for them.

Note: Currently, Andrey is taking care of our “of age” boys from Mel’s House—living on the border of Ukraine as they are not allowed to leave.

Vladimir and Antonina

House Parents- Mel’s House
Zaporizhzhia region

Vladimir and Antonina know that God called them to be in orphan ministry. They know that His purpose for them was to serve teens by loving them as house parents at Mel’s House. Vladimir grew up in a large family of nine children and was sent to an orphanage himself during a time of financial stress for his parents. Tonia knew as a teen when she was involved in church ministry, that she had a passion for children and wanted to work with orphans. Becoming house parents was a perfect fit for them as a married couple when they joined the Heart for Orphans family in 2011. Vladimir and Antonina have six biological children and countless other teens and young adults they now call “family.”

Note: Their home is in Zaporizhzhia but they are currently living as refugees in a home in Romania.

Volodymyr and Viktoria

House Parents- Hope of the Desert House
Lodwar, Kenya

Viktoria grew up in a small village in Ukraine. When she went to Trade school she came to live in Ruth’s House, a Heart for Orphans Transition Home. It was there that she met Christ and her life changed dramatically. She attended Ternopol Missionary Institute and heard God call her to leave her home in Ukraine and to serve in Kenya. In Kenya she met fellow missionary Volodymyr and the two were married. Volodymyr grew up in a Christian home and knew God had called him to Kenya, also. They presently serve in a remote area that is predominately populated by orphans. They are not only House Parents to orphans, but they also have a widows and orphans feeding program, an adult bible study and they minister to street kids.

Mikola and Yulia

House Parents, Gerry’s House of Hope
Rivne Region

Both Mikola and Yulia grew up in different orphanages. After they graduated they both had the opportunity to live in a family. It was there that they learned how important family was to the development of a child. It was there that they met Christ and learned what it meant to walk with Him. When they married, they knew that the Lord had called them to work with orphans. They currently have Gerry’s House of Hope, a Foster Support home – ten children of mixed ages, along with four biological children.

Ivan and Larissa

House Parents, Kind Shepherd House

Belarus

Larissa and Ivan both had parents who were alcoholics. They understand the pain of rejection and the feeling that vodka was more important than they were. Both Larissa and Ivan gave their hearts to Christ as teenagers. When they married they prayed about adopting a child. God told them that He wanted them to not only take care of orphans, but serve their families as well. Today Larissa and Ivan have a Foster support home – House of the Kind Shepherd in Belarus. They have nine children – a combination of biological, adopted and foster kids. They also have a weekly Orphanage Outreach program.