Kateryna

Kateryna, called Katya, is from the large industrial city of Zaporizhzhia in eastern Ukraine, where she lives with her mother, brother, and stepfather. Her father left the family when she was young. Her mother worked hard and her grandparents took care of her upbringing. Katya recalls feeling lonely as a child. She was constantly faced with betrayal and meanness that was so difficult that at some points she lost the will to live.

She came to Young Life camp by chance, but within seven days, Katya was amazed at what life could really be like. After camp, she continued to communicate with leaders, found real friends, became part of the local team, and later accepted Christ personally, which greatly impacted her life and gave her a desire to reach out to lonely teenagers like her. The biggest challenge in her life was the war, as her city is near the frontline and most of the team members left. She was almost the only one left to serve her church and local teenagers. This shaped her character greatly, as she had to build Young Life's ministry from scratch amid war, but the Lord blessed her with like-minded people, and now there are great results and development of ministry in her hometown.

Now, as a Developing Global Leader, she is studying to become a journalist, as she wants to bring the truth to the world. She will be the first in her family to earn a university degree. She is also actively developing Young Life's ministry in her city, and dreams of starting several more teams in her area and by multiplying ministries.