Kateryna grew up in Ukraine before moving to the UK with her boyfriend. They built up a successful business, had two sons, and bought a house.
On the surface things looked good, but inside Kateryna felt far from satisfied: ‘I had everything a girl can dream of, but almost never felt happy. I felt lonely and worthless, stressed and depressed. I felt that something had to change.’
The opportunity to change came in the form of a new friend, Lizby. ‘Lizby was a mum that I met when my kids were starting school. She knew we were new and was very helpful, and we became friends quite quickly. One evening I received a short text message from her just saying: “Would you like to come to church with us on Sunday?” I said yes.’
‘We need to talk’
Kateryna continued going to church for the next few weeks, but the turning point came when a well-known actor committed suicide: ‘At church the following Sunday, the preacher said that if you felt depressed like that, you need to talk to somebody.
‘So I told Lizby that I needed to talk. As I told her about my life and heard her pray for me, I realised that I needed this God thing too.’
Christianity Explored
The pair started reading the Bible together, using the Christianity Explored series. ‘I was fascinated. I had heard of Jesus, but not like this. For the first time I saw that He’s here and He’s alive, and you can invite Him to be in your life when you accept Him as your Lord. So at the end of the course Lizby said to me: “Are you ready to accept Jesus into your life? Do you believe that he died for you?” And I said, “Yes”. I said a prayer thanking Jesus for dying for me, and asking Him to forgive me and be in charge of my life.’
‘And then Lizby said: “That’s it – you’ve become a Christian”.’
So simple, yet so life-changing.
‘But it didn’t fix anything straight away,’ she adds. ‘It all went downhill.’ Her partner’s drinking habit turned into alcoholism, and when social services got involved, Kateryna was compelled to leave him for the sake of her sons. Since then, it’s been the three of them trying to get by, and moving frequently from one temporary home to another.
Kateryna is clear about what it is that enables her to keep going: “Not for a second has God left my side. I know that my heavenly Father knows me, loves me, cares for me, and is there for me. I know that He’s in control, and that’s what matters.”
