Valera in Ukraine longed for a job close to home to support his wife and two children. His only good option was to do construction work two hours from home, remodeling and painting homes. Valera’s hours were long and tiresome. He needed to leave early in the morning and came home late at night. With such an intense schedule, he didn’t have much time to spend with his family.
Valera wanted something different but was afraid to start a business on his own. He questioned how a Christian could maintain godly values while operating a business. On top of all these hurdles, he thought he would need a lot of money to get started.
When a SALT savings group started in Valera’s church, he made some life-changing discoveries. Through the teaching at frequent savings group meetings, he learned that starting a business doesn’t require a huge investment. The SALT teaching also helped him understand that he could run his business with a Biblical viewpoint.
With this newfound courage, Valera decided to use the SALT principles he had learned to start a small greenhouse business to help provide for his family.
Now Valera wants to share how God has prospered the greenhouse project. He now has an 18- by 50-foot greenhouse where he grows flowers. This year he planted 2,000 flowers and made a profit of $650. He plans to slowly increase his flowers for the next season. His hope is to grow 20,000 flowers per year, which would give him a stable annual income of $9,000. Valera thinks he can soon step out of the construction business and switch to running his greenhouse fulltime.
Valera sees many benefits in his greenhouse project. Working from home brings him closer to his family, and he can involve his children in the business. In addition to having more time with his family, Valera can invest more time in his church. He also recognizes the wonderful opportunity he has to share the Gospel with his neighbors and customers.
