Introducing...

I am writing a blog for the YWAM Russia National site... I wrote this one on there about one of our staff members and I wanted to share with you. Olya is amazing and this just gives a little taste of her story and heart!!

Olya G. A Former Communist. Both of her parents were of the first generation Russian intelligentsia. Her father was an engineer, and part of the last draft of the Great War. Her mother was a director of literature distribution and during the Soviet years.
Olya herself was a scientist and teacher at a prestigious university. Her husband persecuted Christians under the Soviet Union. Her first bible was one that had been smuggled into the country; her husband had taken it from someone and brought it home.

I really like how Olya said this…“ I was seeking a meaning for life.”
In the Orthodox Church she only found that she felt guiltier. She had read the bible many times and to her was a book that was both controversial and mysterious. Through reading the bible though, God began to reveal Himself to her. She began to attend a home group led by missionaries.
In 1997 she became a Christian and in 1999 she did her DTS. She joined staff here in Rostov in 2000. At the beginning she did a lot of secretarial, administration and legal work as well as translating in schools, churches and for visiting teams.

In 2002 God started something new and began to lead Olya in a new direction. For the first time Olya met Messianic believers. Through this she saw God in a new perspective… God was the God of Israel. The following years were a journey of going discovering of that that really means…The unfailing love and faithfulness to the first born. (Israel)How God is working to bring Jewish people back to Him.
In 2006 she went to YWAM Kyiv where she took part in the School of Jewish Studies. In 2007 Jewish Ministries in YWAM Rostov was born.

Jewish Ministries
Vision: That Jewish people would find their God through Jesus the Messiah and that the Church would be reconciles to their Jewish roots. It is a two part process: building and developing relationships, friendship and fellowship with the Jewish world, and restoring the Church to her Jewish roots and the acknowledgement of God's firstborn, as well as their calling to serve the Lord together along with the firstborn.
Olya together with a group of ladies from local churches began… they began with dance!
WHY?
That was my big question. They began with dance because they were not allowed to speak in churches about seeing Reconciliation with Jews. They needed a way into churches and the Jewish community and God led them to dance!
The first thing they did was come up with a dance program for the Jewish Holiday, Purim for a local messianic Jewish congregation. They were received very well and that opened the doors for them to be involved in ministry all over Rostov city and region(s) in this area.