Olga

My name is Olga and I was born in eastern Ukraine. My childhood was happy, but in 2014, war broke out not far from our town. Our family stayed there for five years to serve in the church but after a while we moved to a town near the capital of Ukraine. It was a stressful time, as I faced loneliness, lack of friends, and bullying at my new school. However, we found a church in the new place where I heard about God. One evening I realized that I needed God and that He is the One who loves me.

In 2022 a war broke out again and we had to flee. After some time, when I returned to my city, I began to actively serve and help the church by helping at youth meetings. At Young Life camp, I realized that this is a very good way to talk to teenagers about God and shortly after camp, we began Young Life in our city. I have made wonderful new friends with whom we do Young Life together, and I can be the same good friend I was missing to the teenagers in my city.

Now as a Developing Global Leaders, I study at the Kyiv Metropolitan University, majoring in logopedics. This specialty will help me teach people how to pronounce words correctly. In Ukraine, because of the war, many people have suffered mental injuries and are impaired, I want people to be able to speak well and enjoy it. I am serving as an administrator and leader in our area, and I believe that as a DGL student I will grow as a Young Life leader and tell even more teenagers about Christ.