Story Title
God’s Word in the War Zone: Yevgenia’s Story
Last summer, our School Without Walls (SWW) students hosted a youth Bible camp in the front-line cities of Andreyevka and Avdeyevka, Ukraine–in partnership with a local Mennonite church. Yevgenia, a 16-year-old girl from Andreyevka, was just one of the many young people who participated in this camp and had a life-changing experience with Jesus. Yevgenia, her mother, and their friends are going through a hard time, as war continues to rage in their hometown, and they hear the sound of gunfire almost every day. Sadly, even before the war broke out, Yevgenia had already experienced suffering. Her father abandoned her 16-year-old mother as soon as he found out that she was pregnant, so Yevgenia never met him. Her mother’s grandmother was also killed in a car accident when she was seven months pregnant, and the emotional and psychological stress caused Yevgenia’s mother to go into early labor, so Yevgenia…
Yura’s Story
Our School Without Walls (SWW) students in Moldova met Yura three years ago when he was 12 years old. They met Yura through his sister Inna who had been attending church for a while and had made a decision to follow Christ. She then started inviting Yura to children’s events at church. Yura was always very shy and reserved and wouldn’t talk to anyone. Inna explained to them that he had speech impediments, and she gave some more background information about their family. Their mother worked in Russia to support the family and was almost never around. Their father was an alcoholic and was abusive towards his children. Yura’s speech was developing normally until one day when his father returned home drunk and his aggressive behavior scared Yura so badly that afterwards he shut down as a way of protecting himself, and his speech problems were one way that this…
Zulfiya’s Story: Rescued from Drug Addiction
Zulfiya is one of our current School Without Walls students in Perm, Russia. Today she is thriving, growing in her faith, running a business, and leading an NGO that cares for homeless people in her community. But before her miraculous transformation, drug addiction stole 18 years of her life. She shared her story with us of how God rescued her from her addiction and led her to get involved in School Without Walls: “I could have died from drugs, and lost my husband and son and parents,” shares Zulfiya. “I never would have lived to see another day full of joyful laughter, the blue sky, and warm sun. Drugs stole 18 years of my life, and took my family and everything I held dear from me. “There was one day in my life that changed me from a young girl into a lonely, miserable creature living in the basement of an…
Artem’s Story: Ministry Inspiration from School Without Walls
Artem is a current School Without Walls (SWW) student in Russia. He shared with us about his calling to do ministry and how the SWW training program and the examples of his SWW peers are encouraging him and pushing him forward in his service to the Lord: “I’m 21 years old, and I live in the Krasnodar region. I accepted Christ in 2012, and a year later I was baptized. My parents are also believers, and I grew up going to church and learning about God. I always felt like He was preparing me for something, so I asked Him what His plans were for me, and I felt an urgent call to study church planting at a college in Omsk. I’ve finished my first year of study, and now I am going to do a year of practical ministry training in church planting. “For the past year, I’ve regularly…
Vlad’s Story: A Life Changed at Bible Camp
Vlad is a 14-year-old boy from Russia who was born into a military family that has lived in many different places, including the United Arab Emirates, Greece, and Turkey. Sadly, his father died from a heart attack at the age of 39, so his mother is raising Vlad and his younger brother, Ruslan, on her own. A few weeks ago, Vlad and Ruslan attended a summer Bible camp led by our School Without Walls (SWW) students and graduates in Ardon, Russia. During camp, the boys received their own copies of 101 Favorite Bible Stories for Children, which Vlad began reading whenever he had free time. The stories made him very interested in God, and he started asking the camp leaders insightful questions about Jesus and the Bible. Our SWW students had many significant conversations with Vlad, Ruslan, and even their mother about Jesus, and they plan to continue their friendship with…
Faith Under Fire: Turkmenistan’s Courageous Believers
Rahim (name changed for safety) is the pastor of an underground church in Turkmenistan that some of our School Without Walls (SWW) students attend and partner with to spread the gospel throughout their country despite increasing persecution of Christians. Rahim has a miraculous faith journey that began in the days of the Soviet Union: Rahim was born in 1979 during the height of the Soviet era. In 1993, when Christians were still able to openly preach the gospel in Turkmenistan, Rahim attended a screening of The Jesus Film at a local church. After watching the film, he repented and joined the church! However, a few years later, religious freedom in Turkmenistan came to an end and Christians started suffering harsh persecution. All foreign missionaries were expelled and many Christians fled the country. Rahim’s church was also forced to close. At this time, Rahim was 18, so he was drafted into…