Another good decision she made during the last quarter of 2016 was to enroll as a student at UBTS in the international missions program. Lena said that she had thought about missions since her childhood and was fascinated by the wide world; she always wanted to be a missionary. Lena liked the first few sessions she had at UBTS. She met some new people in her courses and made new friends.
During a November class, Lena came to a turning point in her struggle with L’viv. She was finally able to say, “Thank you, God, for bringing me to L’viv.” This moment changed Lena’s whole outlook on the situation – and her new life in Western Ukraine. She fully accepted that this life in L’viv was God’s will for her, that God had plans for her and beyond her, here and now. God was showing her that He would use her talents and gifts to serve Him in L’viv. Lena could stop thinking only about the past and anticipate her future with God in this new place.
Lena’s life soon got busier. The church plant, Disciples Church, started officially with worship services Sunday afternoons in the library of UBTS. Since the library was only available Sunday afternoons, all other events for the small church plant would be held at Disciples Territory, an off-site space the church rented. Lena worked there as a room manager. She stayed busy with church-related work all the time. Disciples Church gave her a small salary for her work, which helped her family with the cost of living in L’viv. She worked in the office, met with young people, organized events, such as discussion groups and game nights. She studied at UBTS, doing her homework faithfully.
Lena reflected about this time in her life and said that life became good, fairly comfortable, and stable again; she had a good routine. She said she began to like her life in L’viv. By the time she celebrated her first Christmas and New Year’s Eve in L’viv, she was very glad, almost happy, with her life, seeing it as a blessing from God. Lena was actually surprised about all the possibilities and opportunities that God had opened up for her and her team to work and serve in the church. She began to understand that her ministry could be greater and better than anything she had done before.
Thanks to her studies at UBTS, she enjoyed a lot of good, deep fellowship with solid, strong Christians. Through interesting lectures and new close friendships Lena grew spiritually and recovered emotionally. God showed her more of His plans for her life, and a subtle excitement filled Lena with hope for the future. She took time to reflect upon the experiences she had lived through. She got to know herself better through introspection and through good discussions with friends. Most of her family was together in one place. Vika had found work as an assistant accountant at the seminary, her mom and dad worked at their jobs; only Vova was away, still studying at an American high school.
All the mission students of UBTS were told that by the second year they would go somewhere for a missions practicum. Initially, Lena thought that she would not be able to go; she had no job at the moment that would finance such a practicum. One of her classmates told her to pray about a place of service and the needed financial support for such a project and trust God with the rest. This was a good reminder for Lena to pray about every aspect of her life and trust God. She began to pray in earnest every day about her missions practicum.
One of Lena’s classmates, Julia, mentioned that she was thinking about a missions practicum, as well, and needed to team up with someone. Over dinner, Lena and Julia sat down to talk more about their ideas. Julia wanted to go to the Middle East, while Lena was really interested in serving in Africa. Lena was wondering how God could bring their very diverse interests together. When Lena mentioned that she also really liked the country of Georgia, Julia’s enthusiastic response was, “Oh, me too!” This was the starting point for Lena and Julia to talk, pray, and prepare for Georgia. They researched the spiritual needs in Georgia and presented the country in their missions class. After a month of prayer, Julia and Lena were invited to be mission volunteers in Georgia for four months.
One complicating factor for Lena was her intense involvement at Disciples Church. In May of 2017, she sat down with her pastor Elisey, and as they filled out some UBTS paperwork, she mentioned that she was planning to go on a longer mission trip, really a mission practicum, to the country of Georgia, and asked if he would give his blessing to these plans. They agreed that the practicum should take place in the fall of that year. The young church plant had already made many plans for summer camps, in which Lena was deeply involved, so her practicum wouldn’t start till after the summer months were over. This was a win-win situation for all. It gave Lena time to serve the church plant and raise money for her practicum.
Lena went to Georgia, initially planning to serve four months, but she ended up staying there for seven months. She arrived in Georgia with Julia at the end of August 2017. Lena prayed that she would not just be teaching others, but would be learning from the people as well. She wanted to be kind and friendly to people, to share freely about her life with God, and to serve in whatever capacity opened up. Lena ended up working in partnership with a local church; she also connected to the ministry of InterVarsity, reaching university students with the gospel. Lena served in children’s clubs, assisted groups of disabled people, and hiked and explored nature with teens and young adults. Lena saw God using her to be part of His work in Georgia. Lena pointed out that God does not need super-spiritual people; He uses those who are willing to follow and obey Him and surprises them with a life they could not have imagined apart from Him.
Her time in Georgia taught her to trust God more fully than ever before. Sometimes finances were very tight. She built relationships with people. She tried to listen to what God – only God – was saying to her; she chose not to listen to well-meaning people with bad advice. She spent much time in prayer, fasting, seeking God, alone with her Bible. There were so many opportunities to serve and be engaged in people’s lives. But the culture and customs of Georgia were very different than what she was used to in Ukraine. The mission volunteers had come to the country to work with orthodox people, but God brought so many Muslims into their lives. Seeing a Muslim girl daily reading the Bible is a memory Lena will treasure forever. “Wow,” Lena’s thought, “What God can do!”
Lena did not want to return to Ukraine at all. She loved her work and ministry in Georgia and saw God at work in the people around her. Lena compared the stress of this time leading up to her eminent return to Ukraine with the stress of leaving Zaporizhzhia. She had found a new life in Georgia; was God really asking her to give it up again? The time came to return to Ukraine. Tickets were bought, things were packed up, the suitcases were ready. Lena said she thought then that she would just go home to Ukraine for a little while and return to Georgia as soon as possible. But she admitted not having conferred with God about these plans. She wondered why God would remove her from such a fruitful ministry setting. Her departure from Georgia was very emotional and teary.
In March of 2018, Lena returned to L’viv. She wanted to work with university students, so she started a weekly discussion group for students. She also led other events at the Disciples Territory meeting room. She found part-time summer work as the administrator of a children’s center. In the fall, after the university holidays, she reopened the discussion club for students with a small team of young people from Disciples Church. Lena met one young Ukrainian woman who had lived in Georgia for five years with her family as missionaries. This woman was working with InterVarsity, on college campuses, engaging students in discussion groups. She prompted Lena to think about working with InterVarsity in Ukraine. Lena’s first reaction was, “What? No, not me.” But this lady challenged her not to just write the idea off, but to pray about it. Lena prayed and thought about the opportunity with InterVarsity all that week. She talked with her pastor Elisey about the ministry of InterVarsity. God had directed her life so far, Lena said. Now He was stirring a desire in her heart to serve Him full-time as a missionary with InterVarsity.