We are pleased to present a series of testimonies and interviews from conferences held in Norway between the 9th and 16th of July, 2023.

The first installment is the testimony of Viktoria Rychenets, who gave her testimony at the conference. Viktoria Rychenets is the founder of a ministry in Kyiv called Trauma Healing Institute that reaches out to people who have gone through suffering.

Viktoria Rychenets’ Testimony

All of my Ukrainian friends thought that I lived this year and a half in Ukraine. And I know the only truth. That since the war started, I live in a carry-on suitcase. For a year and a half, my husband lived in Ukraine in Kyiv. And my parents and my children stayed in Karmøy and I was traveling every two weeks back and forth to Ukraine to do the ministry and come back here to my children. So that was not an easy time for me or for my family.
Before I speak about the Gospel that has been entrusted to us in this critical situation, I would first like to thank the people of Norway.

Tusen Takk – Thank You

During this very difficult time for Ukraine, you have become the hands of God. You have become the words of God. And you became the heart of God to us. By welcoming our nation, you showed the trusted gospel to you, you showed it to us.
You showed it especially for my family and for my children, my parents. And for me, it was a special blessing from God to be here.
Tusen takk (thank you, in Norwegian)

The Day the War Started

I was thinking about times of crisis. It is not only about the crisis in Ukraine. We all go through very difficult times. It is not always the same like we are going through right now.

And times of crisis can be for a mother sitting next to the bed of the child that is extremely sick.
A crisis can also be when a young father loses his wife in a car accident and must take care of the children on his own. A crisis can also be for a student that felt betrayed in school. We all go through difficult times from time to time.

For me personally, the most difficult time was really during this last year and a half. I will never forget the moment when we woke up on the 15th floor. And we heard explosions and we saw these explosions from the window of our bedroom.
I will also never forget the time when we made a decision to take our children out of Kyiv. My husband was standing in the parking lot and he told me, “of course I cannot leave Kyiv, because we are preaching God’s love to these people who are staying here.” I had no doubt he is doing the right thing. I had no doubt that he is doing what God wants him to do, but at the same time I will never forget the moment when I looked into his eyes when I was saying good bye to him I wasn’t sure whether I will see him again alive.
Praise God I saw him alive and he is here today.

The Voice of God

Destroyed Buccha City

I will never forget that first day when the occupation of Bucha was over.
We drove to this horror city where my parents used to live. I will never forget what we saw there. The smoke from the ground was still coming up. We saw roads covered with tanks and bullets. This kind of image will always stay as a scar on my heart.

But we know that there is someone who does miracles in our hearts, in our wounds, in our times of crisis.

If we would like to look at the book that has all the examples, I Kings Chapter 19, we can read an exciting story about my favorite hero in the Bible.

Elijah. He was such a big man. He had done such great things in the name of God. In the 19th chapter he feels like he is dying. The world has finished. The pressure is so strong. The crisis is so big that he cannot move anymore.

And then, God talks to him. I think you all remember how He spoke to him. The strong wind came first. It’s in verse 11, but God was not speaking through the strong wind.
Then the earthquake came. And God was not speaking then. Then the fire came. And not even then. But then in a small voice. a quiet voice. God spoke to Elijah. When I look at Ukraine sometimes I want that tremendous God with a fire and earthquake quick to stop this evil that is going on in Ukraine. But sometimes it’s not happening.
Sometimes God speaks to us in a quiet, simple voice.

To me, when I was driving away from Kyiv and my husband calls me on the phone and says, “Victoria, this is it.” Because Russians were going, the Russian column was going straight in my direction. I asked him, what should I do? And my strong man who always knows what to do.
He said, “I don’t know.” What can I say? I’m a woman alone in the car with children. I don’t know what to do. If I go back they will catch us any way in the direction of Bucha. To go straight, it seems the most stupid and illogical decision.
And I stop on a side road. And very quietly, I hear in my heart, a peaceful decision. I’m going straight. When we were back on track, the Russian column had already passed us and moved on.

The Lord’s Ministry Guidance

I also saw God when we first came to Hostomel. I saw a lady through the whole occupation time. When so many civilians had been killed, she knew about one fully bombed and destroyed house. And there lived a lonely old lady who could not take care of herself. And every day for a month throughout the entire occupation, she walked back and forth with a bowl of hot soup to bring the old lady food.
This is how God speaks sometimes to us in a crisis. Using these experiences that we have gone through, it’s not good, but now we can bring recovery to our people that will live in Ukraine as well.
For the last seven years, we have been working as a trauma healing institute in Ukraine. And this is what the trauma healing institute is trying to do. When it feels hopeless, when there is no more strength to stand up and move on, we know the one who is bringing recovery.

And we know that we can bring our people, the Ukrainian people, those who are suffering so much, we can bring them to the healing cross. So during this year and a half we’ve been doing a lot of projects for these people.

A lot of restoration camps for children, military children. Also for children from occupied territories, the occupied territories or the front lines as well. For the widowers, for the chaplains, the military.

And with all of our common strength we are trying not only to bring aid to the needy people, but we are also trying to grow in training trainers. Within this year and a half we were able to conduct more than 65 projectsAnd today during the war we have a huge team of volunteers.

We have prepared during this year and a half more than 3,500 facilitators that are bringing healing throughout all areas of Ukraine.
So we are able to partner with all churches and denominations, As well as governmental establishments. And we are thankful for your continued prayers and financial support.

Through your help

Because it seems like we are growing so much. We have helped more than 9, 000 people during this time. But the trauma is so big that it seems that we are still just in the beginning of our big journey of recovery.

But we believe that God has prepared us ahead of time. He is here with us today. And with your help, we will be able to continue this challenging journey.

Thank you very much! May God bless you.

The Ukrainian Bible is an indispensable tool in Victoria’s work. Her husband, Pastor Rychenets, also distributes Ukrainian Bibles daily on-site.

New Life Ministries aims to continue printing Ukrainian Bibles as much as possible and deliver them to the local communities, with your support. We also ask for your prayers for the work they are involved in and for God’s protection and healing over Ukraine.

New Life Ministries is currently seeking support for the Ukrainian Bible project. As of the end of July 2023, we still need approximately 20.33 million yen for the funds required for these projects. We kindly ask you to keep this project in your thoughts, and we sincerely appreciate your prayers and support.