It is not a secret that the war has scattered many Ukrainians around the world. As you might remember, when it all started, most of the seminary faculty, staff and resident students who were on the campus made a narrow escape from the warzone to Western Ukraine after spending around a week in a basement.
Later, when it was unclear how far the Russian army would go, some of them found themselves in different countries of Europe. Today, we would like to share a few words about our resident students of theology Anna Haidar, Maria Kuksa and a student of music, Maria Horbovets, temporarily living Norway.
What is especially enjoyable for us is that our students, being away from horrors of the war, are not just diligently continuing their studies at UETS online, but also are actively involved in ministry at a local church participating in youth meetings and teens’ gatherings, leading discussions, participating in worship, leading Bible study groups, helping out during church services, etc.
We were really pleased recently to receive the following feedback from a local pastor in Skudeneshavn, Norway about them:
“Maria shows dedication in her service, and is willing to do any task asked of her. Her serving heart has been of great benefit to our church, and we are very happy to have such a faithful disciple as her. She always gives 100% every time.”
“The student has shown significant growth, and is weekly getting better at communicating and developing her skills. She shows good biblical knowledge, and the various things she produces for our church such as videos which are also getting better month after month. I am looking forward to continuation…”
“Anna has served faithfully and excellently, and eagerly shows up whenever there is a need for her in the church. She has shown herself to be a good role-model for the teenagers in our youth ministry, and always strives to give her very best. We are very pleased with her service.”
“Maria is always one of the first to volunteer whenever something needs to be done, and continues to exhibit exceptional dedication to serving people both inside and outside of church. She is equally eager to both help out practically where we need it, as well as helping youth understand biblical texts and truths. She faces everything with a positive mindset, and is an important part of building a culture of service amongst our youth and our church.”
“Maria shows great growth in several areas, both as being able to preach to Ukrainian youth as well as taking on whatever new challenge that comes her way. She is passionate about sharing the gospel, and cares a great deal about the important conversations regarding life and faith. This has been a milestone in terms of growth both in spiritual life and in regards to knowledge of biblical truths as well. In terms of practical skills, she has been of great help in running activities with our youth ministry also.”
We are enormously grateful to God for our students who take their calling and UETS slogan “Serving the Church. Transforming Society” seriously enough to be influential ministers irrespective of where they are.