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My Christian life:
A journey from Ukraine to the United States
Fifteen-odd years ago, a little boy in Ukraine stood confidently in front of a room filled with people and began to recite a poem by Taras Shevchenko. He knew his lines. He knew his voice.
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He didn’t know that his voice would take him to the United States to share the gospel as a pastor. He didn’t know his hometown would be ravaged by war after he was gone. He didn’t know his future wife would capture the likeness of each of his family members to tell the story of God’s grace in their lives, that she would use the poet Shevchenko’s words as the title of her art showcase. There was a lot that Kostiantyn (Kostia) Skorenkyi didn’t know as he began his recitation all those years ago, but his story is one that only a God who holds the world in his hands could imagine.
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E-news exclusive photos
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Pictured: Kostia Skorenkyi with friends and family through the years, including on his wedding day (featured image at top); with classmates at Luther Preparatory School, Watertown, Wis. (Kostia far right); in Ukraine as a teenager with his parents and sister; and more recently with his parents and wife.
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Abby Skorenkyi had no idea when she met Kostia at her high school graduation that they would someday be married, much less that she would be able to use her art to tell the story of his family’s flight from the Russo-Ukrainian War. “It feels like it’s my duty to capture their story in the most beautiful way I can,” Abby said when her senior capstone showcase at Bethany Lutheran College . . .
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Ministry is a word that means “service.” What is the service we are to perform? Jesus told his followers in Acts 1:8, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem . . . and to the ends of the earth.” In Mark 16:15, Jesus says, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all . . .
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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Do you need that encouragement today? I do. Like a walking stick that breaks when you lean on it, our understanding can’t handle the weight of life’s challenges. But God can! . . .
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