Magda
Housemother - with all her heart, each and every moment
Magda has been working at the Ebenezer Home since 2012, and three of those years as the house mother. Her daily tasks are very diverse, like those of a mother ... ;)
She makes sure, the residents are well off, their rooms are furnished according to their needs, and if they have specific needs, she goes and shops for them. Another part of her daily work is domestic economics. Every week Magda meets with the kitchen staff to plan the menu, taking into account the diets of the individual residents. Magda also is the first person to contact about laundry and house cleaning. In short: She oversees everything related to the domestic economy. During the year, she organizes various feast celebrations for the residents in the Ebenezer Home or the adjacent garden. Magda is also in regular contact with suppliers, compares prices, and orders food.
The ambience at Ebenezer is very friendly. It feels like a second home to her, and Magda enjoys being at Ebenezer. She explains, "In my daily work, I experience how God gives me the strength, wisdom, and joy to accomplish all tasks. He brought me here. For me it's a privilege to serve Him and the residents here, and it's incredibly fun for me. I want to work for Him with all my heart, each and every moment."
Sophia Goldberg
was born in 1934 in the Soviet Union
Sofia was born in 1934 in the city of Archangel in the northernmost part of the Soviet Union. When she was a child, the family moved to nearby Murmansk, also a port city. Sofia's father was a seaman.
At the beginning of World War II, for fear of a German invasion via Finland, the authorities wanted to take all children out of Murmansk and move them to St. Petersburg. Sofia's mother could not countenance her children being evacuated and went to the Ministry of Interior to ask for permission to move to Archangel. The mother and her three children were permitted to move to a place near Archangel, where they lived with an old lady. The children also went to school there.
Sofia's mother acquired a plot of land, on which she grew vegetables, raised sheep, and also collected hay for the army. Her father remained in Murmansk but was reunited with them after the war.
When Sofia was twelve or thirteen, her mother suffered from a heart disease. In their neighborhood lived some elderly ladies who attended a church. They told about their faith, despite the fact that in those days it was forbidden to believe in God. However, Sofia prayed in the evenings for her mother. The mother did not own a Bible, but she wrote prayers down on paper. In retrospect, she can see that in those days she had the beginnings of faith that would later deepen.
After growing up, Sofia studied and began to work. She married in 1955 and two children were born to her and her husband, who ran a shop in Murmansk. Sofia relates that she had no trouble as a Jewish person in Murmansk.
Her daughter, Victoria, later came to faith and immigrated to Israel. Victoria's children flourished, became believers, and married. Some ten years ago, when her husband died, Sofia also joined them in Israel. She lived for some time in one of the external flats run by The Ebenezer Home before coming into the Home as a full resident in 2013.
Sofia has appreciated the warm, open, atmosphere of the Home. Victoria has observed that The Ebenezer Home has brought a lot of changes to the life of her mother. Her faith has become deeper. It has also matured due to fellowship with many believing friends in the Home. Sofia has drawn closer to God.
From the Uttermost arts of the North