Story Title
Lena’s Testimony: Undying Faith in the Midst of War
There are over one million internally displaced people and refugees in eastern Ukraine today, each with their own story. There is so much pain and tragedy there, but stories like Lena’s show that God is still working out His redemptive eternal plan of hope and healing, even in the midst of circumstances that seem hopeless by human standards. Lena lives with her husband and son in a village near the front lines of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. When the war broke out, the family found themselves right in the middle of the violence. They were unable to sleep for many horrible nights due to the shelling, and Lena’s husband, Valeriy, witnessed several people die and had many missiles explode right above his head. When Valeriy began having psychological problems because of trauma and loss of sleep, the family knew it was time to leave their village. Recently, Valeriy also…
A Family Transformed by Gift of Hope
“My decision to serve Marina, her husband Sergey, and their five children rose out of my desire to be a doer and not just a listener,” shared Maria, one of our School Without Walls (SWW) students in Russia. “After realizing that there is a great need for evangelism in my community, I started praying that God would provide opportunities for me to share the gospel. And one evening, He moved me to start serving a family in my area. “The next day, I shared this revelation with my fiancé, Rustam, and together we visited the village of Sosnovo, where I had met Marina and her family while distributing Gifts of Hope during the Christmas season. Marina told us that her family was facing very difficult conditions, as they had been living without electricity for two weeks. They had fallen behind on their payments, so their electricity was shut off, and even after…
Mission in Profession: A Young Doctor’s Testimony
“I know that God had a plan for me before I was even born,” shares Naira, a School Without Walls student from Armenia. “My family was very poor when my mother found out she was pregnant with me, so they advised her to terminate her pregnancy. But God had a different plan, and my mother decided to keep me. I know that my birth was God’s will, and I have seen Him work in every stage of my life. I could see His hand in my admission to medical school and my decision to become a doctor. “Difficult life circumstances often make us feel distant from God. Unfortunately, I experienced this in my own life, and I turned away from my faith for a few years. When I wasn’t walking with the Lord, Aram, the local School Without Walls coordinator, invited my sister and I to a youth camp, which…
Regina’s Story: Caring for Young Cancer Patients
Looking back, Regina can see clearly that God was working for many years to reach both her and her husband with the Good News. In 2003 both Regina and her husband gained new coworkers in their workplaces that were evangelical Christians. Regina was a teacher at a vocational school and her husband worked in construction. Her husband’s coworker invited him to church, and Regina decided to go with him. There, they discovered people who were full of life and joy. Fascinated, they continued attending church services and Christian events, and in 2004 they both made the decision to repent and dedicate their lives to Jesus. Since then Regina and her husband have been growing in faith and serving in the church. Her husband is a worship leader and deacon. They also have three small children, which until recently had prevented them from pursuing a Christian education. However, when Mission Eurasia’s…
Sharing Christ in the University
Anara (name changed for safety) is one of our current School Without Walls (SWW) students in Kyrgyzstan and a university professor. He uses his influential profession, and the cultural respect he commands as a teacher, to share Christ with his students and their families in this largely Muslim country: “My parents teach at a local university in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and I knew from a very young age that I also wanted to be a professor,” shares Anara. “This is a very honorable profession in Central Asia, and teachers are often called ‘Mughal,’ which means ‘honorable person.’ “After I accepted Christ as my Savior, I started going to church, where I got involved in SWW. I was particularly impressed by the courses that focused on talking with Muslims about Jesus, and I started questioning how I could possibly share the gospel with my students and still be regarded as an ‘honorable…
Sona’s Testimony: From Emptiness to Hope and Meaning
Sona is a vibrant young Next Generation leader from Armenia who is being trained through our School Without Walls program. She shared her incredible testimony with us of how God filled the emptiness of her life with love, meaning, and lasting hope in Him: “I am 20 years old, and I became a believer when I was 15. My parents got divorced when I was 10, and after my father left, I was very angry and I felt so empty without him. I closed myself off emotionally and tried to pretend like I was tough. When I was 14, I asked myself, Why am I here. Why I was born? I believed that God existed, but I imagined that He was far away and that I was alone on earth. “I tried to fill the void in my heart with science, school, and music, and eventually, I started listening to heavy metal….