We hear so often of how February 24, 2022 changed a life forever as the Ukraine war began. In the story below, it was spiritual rebirth!  Yuliya and her family felt the presence of God in their lives. Destruction had caused emptiness, but their hearts were filled through the people of an SGA-supported church.  

This family recognized God’s sovereignty and plan for them in looking back over the months. Even though they lost most of their belongings, they found the Lord and are now fully trusting in His will for their lives. Read more of Yuliya and her family’s story . . . 

“Hi, my name is Yuliya. I am 28 years old, married, and have three small children: son Andrei and daughters Sofia and Adele. My family and I lived in [a Ukrainian region] where we had a private house. My husband Alexander and I really enjoyed gardening there. I love flowers very much, so my yard was decorated with beautiful, colorful flowers from spring to autumn. My husband, would always tinker around with his hands. He used to keep a small apiary (bee yard) and liked to work on the land. We happily planned our future and wanted to teach our children, who always helped us in the household, to love our land.  

But February 24 changed our plans forever. For some time, we lived next to the front line, having equipped a primitive shelter in the basement of the house, where we hid from rockets and shells with the children. At the beginning of April, we decided to leave our home, unable to bear the constant worries and increasing destruction. Having two small children and being pregnant with our third child, I convinced my husband to leave, so we decided to go to a safer place. We ended up in [a different Ukrainian region] where friends helped us with housing. It was here that our spiritual rebirth took place, because by analyzing the events that happened to us, we realized the presence of God in our lives. It so happened that my husband and I heard that humanitarian aid was being provided at the Evangelical Baptist Church. We went there, received humanitarian kits, and got invited to a meeting. When we came for the first time, we realized that the church was exactly what we were missing in our lives. After some time, we knew from acquaintances that a rocket had hit our house, the very basement where we had set up a shelter. My husband and I saw God’s providence in everything that happened to us, starting with the fact that we safely left the city on an evacuation train, the station of which, two days after our departure, was fired upon by rockets that killed people. We saw that in leaving our shelter that would not protect us, God brought us to a place where we found Him and decided to devote our lives to serving Him.

In everything that happened, I see God’s hand, which led us to Himself, protecting, defending, and helping us to go through difficult trials. We lost almost all of our possessions, everything that we had earned through years of hard work, but in return, we found the Lord, so we fully trust in the Lord’s will, His mercy, and justice.”