“I made the decision to return to Ukraine; it was my homeland, after all,” said Olya. She announced her decision to the local church she had attended with Susan and Dan. Olya arrived back in Kyiv at the end of August 2015.
Pastor Elisey had already moved his family to L’viv and had started to work at UBTS. He called Olya and invited her to L’viv to see if she could imagine living there and working at UBTS, too. Olya laughed at this suggestion, but told Elisey she would come out to L’viv, just to see the city and the Pronin family again. She had begun to look for work in Kyiv, but had found nothing that she felt good about, and she had not made any work commitments.
As plans were made for the L’viv visit, Elisey called her again, telling her that she had an interview on Tuesday with Slavik Pyzh, president of UBTS. Olya bought her train tickets, went to L’viv, interviewed with Slavik and received a job offer. She was to work in the academic office of UBTS, starting as soon as possible since the new academic year was about to begin. Back in Kyiv, she told her parents that she had accepted a job in L’viv. She began working at UBTS at the end of September 2015.
Moving was not complicated, as she had no personal belongings except some suitcases. Initially, she lived with friends in the city while looking for a rental place. It was hard to find a decent, inexpensive flat, but Olya eventually found a nice little place and moved into it. She began a new life at the end of October 2015, establishing a home again, this time in L’viv.
Within a year, Olya invited her parents to move to L’viv and live with her. Galina and her husband were reluctant to leave Kyiv, because they had found a new church family and work. The pastor did not want to lose them as members of his congregation either.
Exciting things were happening in Olya’s family at this time. Her dad had accepted Christ and become a Christian in Kyiv during this time of forced relocation amid the turmoil of war. Back in Pervomaisk, he very seldom had gone to church. Now, as a refugee living in a church building, Olya’s dad was surrounded by God’s love and God’s people 24/7. He saw true Christian faith lived out daily. The church became his family and small group his home, and he drew closer to God.
Olya closed her interview with some reflections. She has no relatives living in Pervomaisk anymore. One uncle, who had stayed behind, died recently. She still knows of older folks who live there, who never had the desire to leave their home, no matter who reigned in city hall. They accepted the occupation as a necessary evil, but they don’t live in freedom now. Olya’s friends have all left – some moved to Poland or America, some to other parts of the world. She has no reason to call anyone in Pervomaisk anymore; she has left her life there behind.
Olya never went back to her home, never saw her house again, never picked up any personal belongings from her apartment. What started as a vacation at the seaside, became a one-way-ticket journey. Olya admitted that she does not keep up with news of the war zone; the occupied territories are part of her past, but not part of her future. She knows that it is still dangerous there. Olya and her parents still live together in a one-room apartment in L’viv. She enjoys her work at UBTS and rejoices that God has blessed her with work at a Christian institution.
Olya is also an integral part of the new church plant, Disciples Church, and Elisey is again her pastor. She serves in the music ministry of the new church, leading the worship team. Her new life includes many new friends and even travel abroad, now that Ukrainians, since July 2017, have been granted free visa travel to certain countries. She said she understands now that material things are not very important in life; we can live without all the stuff, but we cannot live without God and His care.
CHAPTER SIX
Galina
Galina was born in 1958 and grew up in the Donetsk region located in eastern Ukraine. Her father came from Ukraine, but her mother was Russian. She grew up with her older brother in her family’s large apartment. Although she did not know her grandparents well because they lived far away, she knew and loved her immediate family, and admired her parents. Her mother worked as a nurse.
After finishing school, Galina studied at the university. During this time, she met her future husband, Sasha. They were studying the same major, electrical engineering. Right after finishing college, Galina and Sasha married and they moved to Pervomaisk in 1985 and began their life together, working, and planning for a family.
Galina did not work long after getting married. Soon they found out that they were expecting their first child. Olya, their little blessing, was born in 1986. She remained their only child. Olya was a sickly child, and Galina stayed home with her and took care of all her needs. She enjoyed being a homemaker, knowing and greeting her neighbors, keeping her home clean and organized. Once Olya became older, her health improved and she started school, so Galina started part-time work.
Galina had married into a Baptist family. Her in-laws were believers, although her husband was not. Sasha knew about God, but he lived like he wanted. No one in Galina’s family had been Baptists, but when her mother-in-law invited her to church, she gladly went and soon began attending regularly. Sitting in the beautiful worship services and listening to the word of God, convinced Galina of God’s truth and her need for salvation. She made a profession of faith in Christ, but her husband Sasha would wait for a long time to declare his faith in Jesus Christ. Olya was ten years old when Galina became a Christian. Galina’s salvation changed the way she parented. Olya accepted Christ three years later, also at the Baptist church in Pervomaisk.
Galina spent much of her time serving at the church in a variety of ministries. For twenty years she led the prayer group; every morning they met for prayer. She also sang in the choir. Some of her relatives were members of the Baptist church in Pervomaisk. Alexey, Rita’s husband, and Sasha were cousins. The name Kiyan was well known in town. They lived near each other and would often meet and serve together at various church events. Their lives were intermingled, and they liked it this way – small town, deep relationships, Galina said. The years went on and life in small town Ukraine was nice. But then the revolution changed her life forever.
In July 2014, Galina understood that the conflict was coming closer and closer to Pervomaisk. She had followed the developing news out of Kyiv and the news of the annexation of Crimea. Her prayer group responded to the ripples of war with prayer meetings at the church every morning. Though the situation was stressful and frightening, the church still sent the youth group to camp in Kyiv. With her daughter Olya, Galina decided to leave town for a while, head to the vacation town of Feodosia in Crimea and wait out the events. Sasha did not want to leave the city; he wanted to stay home and protect the family’s personal belongings. But after vacationing for two weeks, it became clear that Galina and Olya could not return home.
Robbers and gangsters had taken over the streets of Pervomaisk; crime was the law; war was the sound track. Bombs were destroying buildings and killing people; shrapnel injured many others. Friends and families were seeking shelter in the basement of buildings, desperate for their lives. Galina marveled that God had protected them from the direct experience of war, as they had left Pervomaisk before the occupiers came.