Valeria

My name is Valeria. My friends call me Lera. I live in Russia, with my mother, two younger brothers, two sisters, as well as my sister’s husband and nephew. My life changed unexpectedly when my father died from covid; his death felt like the end of my story. However, I have seen that by serving others, praying and reading Scripture, God is healing my broken heart. My dad’s death has also been very difficult for my entire family, particularly for my mother. Her health is declining, and a lot of the physical and financial responsibilities have quickly fallen on me. I have been trying to help her, my four siblings and nephew while studying at the university and serving in Young Life.

Even though it has been difficult since my dad’s death, I see the hand of God in my life more now than ever. As a child, my father was my first source of knowledge about God. He was a pastor and I always loved listening to him talk about what God had done in his life. During my baptism, I heard Galatians 2:20 and realized that God is not just an important part of my life or in the stories my father told, but that He is my life! Then, as a teenager, I got involved with Young Life club and began reading the Bible more consistently, which helped me grow deeper in my relationship with Jesus. Now, I see God using me as a Young Life leader, and I want every teenager to have the opportunity to hear about Christ and to see His love as I saw it through my earthly father.

As a recipient of the Developing Global Leaders scholarship, I am studying mathematical education and game design. I want to be a math teacher and work with teenagers. In Russia, a teacher is not allowed to freely talk about God so my hope is that the children I teach and colleagues I work with will see the love of God through my life, service and prayers.