June 15, 2025 • 41 mins
Rodion shares his powerful journey from Ukrainian dentist to missionary serving Ukrainian refugees in Austin, Texas.
• Grew up in a small Ukrainian village where American missionaries introduced him to Christ as a teenager
• Served as worship leader in his Ukrainian church for 15 years before war forced his family to flee
• Describes the traumatic experience of leaving everything behind with just an hour to pack
• Arrived in the U.S. through the "Uniting for Ukraine" program with his wife and children
• Discovered a community of displaced Ukrainians in Austin needing practical help and spiritual guidance
• Now leads Bible studies in Ukrainian and helps refugees navigate American systems and culture
• Transitioning from dental assistant to full-time missionary work with Reliant
• Sees his displacement as God's way of positioning him to reach fellow Ukrainians with the gospel
• Shares stories of Ukrainians coming to faith through simple, authentic Christianity
You can support Rodion's ministry to Ukrainian refugees by visiting www.reliant.org/rodion to donate or learn more about his work.
Follow @unreachedpodcast on Instagram for more!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
In Revelation 7, john shares his vision of heaven,
with members from every tribe,tongue, people and language
standing in the throne roombefore the Lamb.
Yet today there are still over7,000 unreached people groups
around the world.
For the last six years, myfamily and friends have been on
a journey to find, vet and fundthe task remaining.
(00:28):
Come journey with us to theends of the earth as we share
the supernatural stories of Godat work for the men and women he
has called to reach theunreached.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hello friends, thank you for listening to the
Unreached podcast.
I am Clint Hudson, your host.
We are about halfway throughseason four and so far,
throughout season four, we havetraveled from South Asia to
Kenya, to Somalia, to theinternet it's the cloud and
today we are traveling to Austin, texas, by way of Ukraine.
(01:04):
So my guest today is someonewho I have become really, really
good friends with.
He's currently serving as amissionary to Ukrainians in
Texas and he's here to share hisstory with us.
Welcome to the podcast, rodion.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, I appreciate for this opportunity.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah, man, I'm excited.
Okay, so you are from Ukraine,yes, and you have been in the
United States.
For how long?
For almost two and a half yearsalready.
So let's just start with thevery first question why did you
come to the States?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
You know I had a good living in Ukraine.
I've been a dentist over there,so most of my life I spent
educating myself.
My wife is a wedding fashiondesigner.
We having three kids, beautifulkids.
Yeah, and life was really greatlike we had lots of friends,
church I guess I could call itregular life, as most of you
(01:58):
guys have.
Yeah, one morning we woke upfrom you know the scream that
war started, so and that changeda whole of our life, all the
values, you know, everythingthat maybe you collected or
thought of, maybe your plans orfuture.
It changed just in the moment.
One morning, yeah, and we packour van, you know, with
(02:18):
everything that you could do in,you know, in half an hour or
hour, so documents and kids, andwe drove to a safe place or at
that time that was, was WestUkraine, the farthest spot where
you could be.
So we were about 10 miles fromother country, romania.
One family hosted us for aboutfive months in their house, so
(02:39):
there was dedicated Christianswho helped us to just live the
life over there and all of usexpected that it could come to
an end really soon and we couldcome back home.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
You had no context of the time, the amount of time
what it?
Would be like.
So this family, the body ofChrist, this Christian family,
they host you in West Ukraine.
Before you moved, you said youand your wife both had thriving
careers.
Your family was thriving, youguys were doing well.
Talk to me about the church.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
I should start, maybe , with a story that happened to
me long years ago and it shouldbe kind of an encouragement for
missionaries and those whosupport missionaries.
So you know that we came from apost-communistic country, so
there was no God For more than70 years.
(03:30):
Christians who believed to theLord Jesus, they were persecuted
or they need to hide.
So when the Soviet Union broke,there was a window of
opportunities.
So missionaries came tocountries such as Belarus,
Russia, Ukraine, Armenia andlike post-communistic countries,
(03:51):
and I remember a humble family,a missionary and his wife, a
hairdresser.
They came to my village withthe population of a thousand
people, so pretty small at the Idon't know some wilderness you
know of Ukraine.
And this is when you were a kid.
Yes, yes, I was a high schoolkid, I was in the ninth grade.
Wow, there was a one-believerteacher in the whole village and
(04:14):
she said she somehow got toknow that he comes, you know, to
the city.
So she met him and asked tocome to a village to do a bible
study among the teachers you hadone believer yes, in your
entire community.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yes, and then, all of a sudden, this missionary and
his hairdresser wife comes outof nowhere.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Yes, do this so and they did a wonderful bible study
for teachers and that uh ladydid a free haircuts for teachers
and during that you know anhour, they could communicate for
teachers and during that, youknow, an hour they could
communicate, she could sharefaith, she could share.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
You know, christ, they're not allowed to move.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Yes, they have to sit there for an hour yes so it's
amazing and uh, you know, um,year after year, uh, like it was
not just the stories, but itbecomes something special.
I saw their, uh, I saw theirlove to people and that was so
simple.
And one day he said Rodion, Iwant to invite your family,
(05:11):
whole family, your parents andyour brother, to Christian
summer camp.
Please pray for a sponsor.
I've been not a religiousperson at that time, no
relationships with God.
My parents never taught me howto pray or how to obey God.
But after about two months hesaid Rodion, the Lord provided a
(05:31):
sponsor.
You and your family might cometo a Christian camp At that
summer for seven days.
You know there was a wonderfultime.
You know when, every eveningthere was, you know, worshiping
the Lord.
There was a great biblicalstories, you know, sharing who
Jesus is, what he did for us.
And then at the end there was acalling.
(05:53):
You know that if you feltdifference, if you felt that
Lord was spoken to your heart,make that step of faith.
You know, come and say to him.
You know that I want todedicate my life.
So, and I was filled with tears, I don't know, I felt such a
relief, such a joy, you know, ineven being, you know, with
(06:13):
tears, I felt freedom, andlimitless, you know, and I came
to the stage and dedicated mylife.
My mother said, oh wow, you know, this place is kind of a really
good theater and everyone iswell-paid actors.
Life can't be that way.
Everybody's so kind, sogenerous, you know, so gentle.
(06:34):
That didn't touch her as myheart.
So when I came home I had areal persecutions and troubles.
My mom said, oh, now you're aChristian, so you should study.
Well, you should.
You know, clean up your room.
You should listen to mewhatever I say.
And yeah, there was a toughyear for me.
But the next year they came tosummer camp again and my mom and
(06:58):
brother made that gift of theirlives to jesus christ.
The next year my father and myaunt, and the next year my other
aunt and my grandma came toChrist.
So what I'm willing to say?
the dedication of a couple thatleft their comfort zone their
wealthy, living their goals intheir life, they start to think
(07:25):
about other people.
That brought me here, clint.
I'm here now and I'm honored toshare this testimony that I
don't know guys who listen thisnow, but I want to talk to your
heart.
Everything that you do forother people matters because I
could witness that.
You know, I've been at theother part of the world and the,
you know, a humble family cameto my village and shared the
(07:50):
truth with me.
And now I'm here and can sharethe truth with other Ukrainians,
with other people that surroundme, with my neighbors, and I
could never imagine that lifecould, you know, bring me here
to America.
I never dreamt about it, butnow I'm here and I don't want to
lose this window of opportunity.
(08:10):
So if you're surrounded by aneighbor or co-worker or
somebody, I can tell you that weplanned our life, we thought
that we'll live great in Ukraine, but one day you understand
that everything that you have isa moment, is one chance, and
the life could be changed.
So don't lose that opportunityto share your faith story.
(08:34):
If you have some resources tosponsor a mission or go to some
other country, don't lose thatopportunity, because I'm
witnessing right now that God,through the simple things, to
the simple dedication of people,saved whole of my family, and
you know, I'm blessed to be overhere and really honored yeah,
(08:55):
I'm really honored and inspiredto tell this story now for you.
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
You had a really unique role in the church.
That's very dear to my heartbecause one of the ways that you
and I have connected is throughworship, and so what was your
role like in the church inUkraine?
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Since I've been 16 years old, one dedicated person.
He said you know, are youwilling to come to church?
I know that you know a fewchords.
I'll teach you some Christiansongs that you know that you
could serve people at church.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
And Christian songs only have like three chords in
them.
So like this is great.
So you know all the chords youneed at this point.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
So, and he taught me, you know, and that's how I
spent 15 years leading worshipat my church, growing, you know,
in relationships, building ateam of people who worship the
Lord, who follow Him.
And, yeah, wonderful time.
I remember it as one of thebest times serving people with
(09:54):
worship.
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
One of the things that you told me not too long
ago was about when you came overto the United States to start
this new chapter of your lifewith your family.
Not only did you have to startover from like a career
perspective, but you also had tostart over from even like a
establishing yourself within thechurch perspective, like you've
(10:17):
been leading worship for 15years over there.
You led worship for yourcongregation.
That was there and then one ofthe conversations that you had
with me it's almost like I'm ateenager, like I'm having to
start over again type thing, andso I think probably one of my
most treasured memories with youso far is us getting the
opportunity to lead worshiptogether here in Austin, texas,
and singing songs both inEnglish and in Ukrainian and
(10:40):
leading our congregation.
And it was these catalyticmoments in time where I think
our understanding of God ischallenged, and I think for a
lot of our congregation, theunderstanding of God was
challenged in that moment forthem, because they're like wait,
god doesn't just exclusivelyspeak English.
How many languages do you know?
Four, four, okay, all right, Ibarely know one.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Tell me about it.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I'm like tell me, I'm like OK with one, and so I mean
, I think for somebody like you,you're like well, obviously,
you know God understands us andhe's so much bigger than this,
but I think for a lot of us justto have this understanding of
worship, music and songs beingsung in Ukrainian and the church
being led in worship inUkrainian, which is a beautiful
thought, there was a specificprogram by which you were able
(11:34):
to come into the states.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Yes, united states opened a program for receiving
refugees from ukraine.
It called, uh, uniting forukraine.
So some relatives or somesupporters could apply for
ukrainians to come over here asescape, you know, as get a
shelter, and it's a timelyprogram, so it's not permanent
and even my status over here haslimits.
So, yeah, clint, it was, Iwould say, a frustrated and hard
(12:01):
moment for me to escape thecountry.
First, you always remember thatGod did so much through you at
church and I witnessed so manymiracles, how people were saved,
how we were at the streetsmeeting with my friend, you know
, just after work he calls meand says, hey, rodion, let's
share gospel on the street andwe would meet people and crying,
(12:24):
praying for them, inviting tochurch.
So many great stuff were goingon.
But at some point youunderstand that, wow, now there
is a risk of leaving.
My state was occupied, so lotsof militaries, lots of weapons
start to appear in the city.
The character of the cityreally changed a lot.
So that's why we moved to WestUkraine where it was safer.
(12:46):
And I got that invitation frommy friend.
He said you know we're willingto invite you to the States.
I said, yeah, ok, sure, what Ishould do.
He said is there anypossibility for you to leave the
country?
And there's only two ways, as Iremember.
There's only two ways, as Iremember, if you are disabled or
if you have three kids.
So in my case I had two kidsand a pregnant wife and we were
(13:12):
living in somebody's house, youknow, for four months.
That was really hard for us.
We couldn't go back because wewere scared.
You know, kids start to drawpictures.
We kind of tried to how to say,explain to them, you know, try
to control what they see andwhat they hear, but still they
(13:32):
were drawing the pictures ofsoldiers, you know, of spilled
blood, of tanks and shootings.
And you know I got reallyscared.
We've been in the West Ukraineand I've been driving my state
plates scared.
We've been in the West Ukraineand I've been driving my state
plates and you know, once wewere going to church and the
military stopped my vehicle, youknow, and about you know they
(13:53):
cut off our car and about tenpeople with guns, you know they
said get out of the car.
You know, show your documents.
You know, are you kind of on amilitary account and I showed,
yes, look, I'm doing everythingthat should be done and kind of
that really got scared me.
I thought like one day theywill break the law and take me
(14:14):
to an active military.
No, I won't stay with my family.
So it forced me to leave thecountry.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You and your family.
Once you arrived here in theStates and you started to
assimilate and get engaged andtry to figure out what life was
going on here, you found achurch Awesome Ridge Bible
Church which is where I get thehonor of being the worship
pastor at, and come to find outyou are far from the only
Ukrainians in Austin, texas,which kind of leads us on the
(14:46):
path where we are right now.
And I just have to acknowledge,through the trauma, through the
difficulty, through thefrustration and the disruption
of leaving your home country, ofleaving your home and coming to
a foreign place, all of thesudden you get to this place and
(15:08):
God not only renews vision foryour life, but also calling for
your life and puts you in asituation where you are uniquely
equipped by God because of whoyou are and who he's made you to
minister to a group of peoplewho are also displaced and who
are also here in the States.
To minister to a group ofpeople who are also displaced
and who are also here in theStates.
And this is one of the thingsthat I find so beautiful about
(15:31):
your story is how God isactively redeeming this
difficulty that you're walkingthrough.
He's using you to meet withUkrainians here in the States
and introduce them to Jesus.
So talk a little bit about thediscovery of other Ukrainians
here in the States and how thathappened.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
You know, when we got here, we were searching for
community, for friends, becausewe were completely alone and my
kid we're in a park and he heardsome Ukrainian language.
So the lady came to my wife andsaid hey, are you from Ukraine?
You know, are you kind of?
Do you need any help?
We could invite you to a church.
(16:09):
You know there's a fewUkrainian families and you are
welcome to come.
You know there's a women'sretreat.
And my wife said, yeah, surelyI would come.
So, and when she came therewith her friend, she immediately
called me and said Rodion, weshould come to this church.
People are amazing, you know.
I felt home again.
(16:30):
You know, I felt, you know,family atmosphere again.
So and we came here to AustinRidge for the first time and we
met, you know, american friendsover here.
We met Ukrainian families thatwe found over here and that
became a blessing to understandthat we're in a different
culture.
People here speak differentlanguage, they pursue maybe some
(16:54):
different goals, you know, orlive differently, but we feel at
home in christ.
So he's our guidance and he'sthe same in americans or in I
don't know, new Zealand peopleand Russian or Ukrainian.
The Lord Jesus and His gifts,you know, are amazing and we
(17:15):
felt really warm over here.
You know, I felt that theworship and the preaching really
spoke to my heart, really spoketo other Ukrainians and I
offered.
You know I know some Englishand really spoke to my heart,
really spoke to other Ukrainiansand I offered.
You know I know some English.
It's not perfect but if itcould help, I could translate
(17:36):
sermons.
You know, for Ukrainians thatsome other adult people who
don't know any English that theycould understand it.
So that brand new opportunity.
One friend of mine, xenia, andI, we both did, you know,
translate sermons.
So then we figured out that,wow, we could do a Bible study
for Ukrainians and it pump up.
So then we found out thatthere's lots of families who
(17:56):
don't know Christ yet you knowthat never entered the door of
church and we start to invitepeople over here.
We said you know, home overhere, we feel that there is a
strong community, we feelacceptance.
So lots of families over herestart to invite ukrainians to
just for dinner, you know, justto share their story.
(18:17):
And it's really important forukrainians, you know, to be open
and to share what they've beenthrough.
You know what they struggledand what they struggle over here
.
There's so many categories.
Some people came here andthey've been tech people in
Ukraine.
They came here and immediatelyfound a job.
They know some English, butsome categories are so
vulnerable Parents that neverdrove a vehicle in Ukraine.
(18:46):
You need to open a bank account,but you don't know how to do
that.
You need to, I know, buy somegroceries and you are not able
to.
You know you need to make alease agreement.
You know to live somewhere, butthey say, oh, you need to show
your credit history or like bankhistory and you don't have any.
So you need to find somebodywho could be a referral person
for you.
So kind of all of thesequestions, you know, and even
(19:08):
moving, buying some furniture,uh, like wow, uh, it's an
incredible journey and I feltthat you know there's a huge gap
where we could serve people.
There's a huge need that how wecould, on understandable
language, with for people youknow, bring Christ Just doing,
(19:29):
you know lots of, you knowrandom things, you know to drive
some furniture, to help buysome groceries to.
You know, offer them to go fora Bible study and do it in
Ukrainian language so that theycould feel you know home, that
they could feel, uh, thatculture.
You know share food and, uh,gathered in a hope message that
(19:51):
god has a plan.
Even being far away, you knowhe's near, he talks to your
heart, he has a, I would say hestill love.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Even, no matter what you've been through, what pain
or trauma you got from your lifeexperience, he wants to recover
you, he wants to use you tohelp others to go through some
difficult situations and so justwhat a beautiful opportunity
that, even the way that you guysdiscovered the community here
(20:25):
was just in a park you overheardsomeone speaking Ukrainian, so
I can just imagine someone heretrying to get a lease agreement,
trying to get furniture, tryingto learn how to drive a car all
these different things and itseems so overwhelming to all of
a sudden hear their heartlanguage spoken, and it happens
to be spoken by a group ofpeople who love Jesus, and so
(20:47):
the receptivity of them to comeand listen, just so they can
hear their heart language spoken, just so they can experience
food that is similar to theirtaste and so that they can hang
out with people who understandwhat soccer teams you're talking
about.
And that deep need forcommunity is bringing people
(21:09):
right to the doorstep of beingable to be presented with the
gospel.
And that is exactly what nowyou have decided is part of the
calling of your life is to be amissionary to these Ukrainians
here in the United States, to goand find them around Austin,
texas and the extended areas and, because of their desperation
(21:34):
for language and culture andconnectivity, that you can
invite them into a spot wherethey can come and hear the
gospel.
And it's such a brilliantstrategy and I feel like it's
something that I'm so excitedabout seeing happen in real time
.
I believe for any Christian whotruly understands the Great
(21:54):
Commission, it boils down tothere are two options of who you
can be.
You can either be a goer or youcan be a sender Because of
necessity.
In your story, you findyourself in a position where you
are now a sender Because ofnecessity.
In your story, you findyourself in a position where you
are now a goer.
You are a goer, but you are agoer in need of senders, and
we're going to talk about thislater, towards the end of this
episode, about how we cansupport you in the work that
(22:17):
you're doing, because I do feellike that is our responsibility,
as God has clearly put you onmission to be here in Austin,
texas, to care for the Ukrainiancommunity that God is sending
to here.
Can you tell us some stories ofhow you've seen God at work in
this community of Ukrainianshere in the States?
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Now every Tuesday we run a Discovery Bible study for
those who just start theirjourney, knowing who God is and
a family that hosts us.
They came and they have asimilar story like us.
So American family hosts themfor seven months in their guest
house.
So they've been inviting themto visit church, to meet other
(22:59):
friends and also Ukrainianfamilies as well, and that
people start to be, thatfamilies start to be open, of
hearing gospel.
They saw a different life.
They saw a different, I wouldsay, heart of people and they
were curious and interested.
So they are still on their wayto getting to know the Lord
(23:21):
clean, but they opened theirhouse for inviting people and
every Tuesday, you know wifemakes a great dinner and a few
families come together and readgospel and we, you know, discuss
and we pray and you know theyare curious and they seek, you
know, more of what God is doingand that really inspires me.
(23:46):
Also, there is a young guy andnext month we plan to do a
baptism for him for the firsttime.
So he came to me and said,rodion, I've heard a sermon, you
know, that really touched myheart.
That was about relationshipsand he said now, at this life
period, I live with mygirlfriend and I understood that
(24:07):
it's not right to be aChristian and be not married and
live with the girl.
And he said you know, I want torepent in that.
I want to start, you know, anew life with God that I never
had before.
He said I want to be baptized.
I have never been baptizedbefore.
I understood that I want tomarry that girl, but I want to
(24:30):
do it right way.
And I immediately said, okay,do you understand that it should
be not just the words, butcould you prove that in actions?
Could you stop living with thatgirl before you got married?
And he said, yes, I'm willingto do that.
I want to take care about her.
But I want to take care abouther, but I want to put the right
(24:59):
basis, the right core values.
You know that I want to, youknow, obey and deeply a person
and transform everything that helives right now that he could
say, oh, wow, I want to do itdifferently.
I want to do it, god way, Iwant to do it, you know, to
please the Lord.
And, yeah, that really shocksme how all of these small
(25:21):
stories, you know, shows ourgreat God that works just among
us.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
So there are some people that are coming here from
Ukraine that have nounderstanding whatsoever of the
gospel and again they're cominginto community in some way,
shape or form.
But there are also a lot ofpeople who have an understanding
of Christianity but not so muchan understanding of the gospel
and the teachings of Jesus.
Now, the predominant religion inUkraine is orthodoxy and so,
(25:55):
which doesn't necessarily have adeep relationship with with
Christ.
Lots of iconography, lots ofthings that you're supposed to
do, but not much access to thegospel and transformation that
happens from the gospel.
Talk a little bit about thatand what some of these Ukrainian
families are, how they'recoming into an understanding of
(26:16):
the gospel now that they're herein the States.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
So you know, there's kind of a transformation of your
mind appearing.
So I guess, from when you comefrom our background there's lots
of traditions, there's lots ofrules, there's lots of things
that you should obey, even notunderstanding why you should do
that.
So sometimes I remember when mygrandma took me on Easter to
(26:40):
the church lots of phimiam, lotsof smoke.
You know you should stand from4 am to like 10 am just on the
literature that you can'tunderstand.
So that was really hard, youknow, being a kid.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
I thought our services were long Sheesh yeah.
So I guess, when Ukrainianscome here, yeah, they'll go
through our like 70 minuteservice and they're like all
right, what's so, what's, what'snext, like what's the rest of
it?
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Yes, and you know it's understandable For most of
people.
They thought that it's reallyhard to reach God, you know.
But at some matter, you knowit's really simple.
We just read we pray.
A prayer shouldn't be a learnedprayer.
You know that is written andyou just know it by heart.
But you could speak with God asa person.
(27:34):
You know, you could say hey,I'm frustrated today.
You know I had a tough day.
Lord, please bring peace to myheart.
You know, call my soul.
I have nobody to rely on.
You are the one.
And when you pray for peoplelike that, sometimes you see hot
tears on their cheeks and youthink, wow, that was a simple
(27:59):
prayer for me, but for themthere's something special,
there's something reallypersonal, and I think that
really impacts people.
The simplicity, and I thinkthat really impacts people.
You know the simplicity, thehow do you call it genuine, like
it's reachable?
You know it's.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
It's honest, it's authentic yes, that's the word.
It's honest to be able to hearthe genuine work of how God is
caring for and meeting withthese people who are walking
through this unexpected seasonof their life, and I think for
all of us that are listening, wecan understand that we are
(28:43):
going to walk through trials ofmany kinds.
James is really clear aboutthat.
James 1, consider it pure joy,my brothers, when you walk
through trials of many kinds.
James is really clear aboutthat.
James 1, consider pure joy, mybrothers, when you walk through
trials of many kinds.
I am reminded today throughhearing what this community has
walked through and how God ismeeting with them, the joy that
they can experience by walkingthrough those things together
(29:05):
and learning more about thegospel.
Talk to us about your missionand the work.
This is new.
This is something that's kindof new.
Again, you came to the States.
You were a dentist in Ukraine.
You've been doing dental workhere as a dental assistant.
Is that right?
Yeah, and then also I hear thatif I have anything wrong with
my car, you're the guy that Ineed to bring it to right.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Yeah, you know there was a hard time when I came.
You know you have this desireto work as a dentist over here
because you're skilled, you knowhow it works, you did it for,
you know, a decade and Irealized that I'm not licensed
over here so I can't do that.
And to stay in the field.
You know God blessed me to do adental assistant job, so now
(29:50):
I'm helping other doctors, youknow, to be equipped, you know,
to have these instruments, youknow and so, and that's a
blessing for me, to keep in thefield.
But also, yeah, a side job Idid with my friend.
We repaired vehicles.
We, you know, sell them andthat was fun, you know, to got
to know something, you know,that you have never done before.
(30:12):
So America is a country ofopportunities.
I've heard that.
But in Ukraine I never changedmy oil, you know, or my vehicle,
so I always did it at thedealer.
But coming to US, everythingyou know kind of, you know, a
little bit costy.
So I explored lots ofopportunities, you know.
But for all of this almost twoand a half years that we are
(30:34):
here, in my good and bad moments, I try to be focused, to invite
new families, to have dinnerwith them to hear their life
story, to share our life story,to share how we met Christ, how
he impacted our life, ourrelationships with my wife, how
he blessed us, you know, withkids and with life that we are
(30:55):
having.
And that's still a, you know,journey.
The church, I guess.
They saw, you know a heart of amissionary, of a person who
cares about people, and theychallenged me and said we see
that you're hardworking inmultiple jobs and could we buy
your day, you know, could wehelp you to be more focused,
(31:19):
more sharp on bringing gospel toyou know nations, to Ukrainians
and maybe, in future, other youknow people who are surrounded
in Austin.
And I said what I should do forthat?
And they said we will equip you, we will help you for that, but
you need to raise the support.
(31:39):
And I'm just, oh wow.
I've been a dentist.
I've been always at the otherside, every missionary that came
to me and said I need somesupport, I need some prayer.
So I definitely did that way.
But now I'm on the other sideagain, you know, as a missionary
.
You know I came here as amissionary and you know I felt
(32:01):
really awkward that I need toraise a support.
I felt completely lonely,completely, I would say, as
maybe Moses.
You know, I don't own thislanguage, I don't know this
culture, and now I need to comefor random people that you know.
I don't know.
Or maybe I just met for thefirst time and asked for support
(32:22):
, you know.
But at the other side, god gaveme a warm thought that, rodion,
this story is not about you.
I'm given the opportunities toserve others.
So today, I think God is reallydoing a lot of miracles, a lot
of wonderful work throughUkrainian community and there's
(32:44):
lots of people who are unreachedand who are vulnerable, lots of
people who are unreached andwho are vulnerable.
And if you have that opportunityto pray for Ukrainians over
here, that they could find,temporary or permanently, their
life over here and especially,that they could find a salvation
through dedicated people,through those who could open
(33:06):
their hearts, it will be reallyappreciated.
And also, if you are willing tosupport my ability to spend
time with Ukrainians, to buythat day or two of my time, that
could be really appreciated.
God is really restoring my life.
God is really showing me theway how even if I'll be here a
(33:30):
day or a year or 10 years, Iknow what I should do.
I see the field of people whoreally are seeking, who really
need to hear about the goodnessof our God and, yeah, I really
would love to understand andfeel that I'm not doing it by
myself, but I have a supportteam of partners who are doing
(33:56):
it with me.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
We have listeners who , every month, will come on and
will listen to this podcast andwill hear stories of God at work
in different places around theworld.
Around the world, we'lloftentimes ask them to pray a
specific way, or we'll ask themto give in a specific way, or to
just consider some idea thatthey've never really heard.
In a strategy of reachingunreached people groups, what
(34:20):
can we do to partner with you inthis season of life?
What does that look like?
Speaker 3 (34:30):
There's a few ways.
First one is a prayer.
I really believe that when wesee a need and we pray for it,
god finds people.
God finds opportunities, youknow, to reach people or to
fulfill the need.
I think there's lots of peoplewho really need help.
(34:51):
I'm finding friends, I'mfinding community, I'm finding
ways to buy groceries, you know,or you know simple.
You know drive a vehicle andeven go to DMV.
So please pray for the peoplethat, through all of this new
stuff that they are goingthrough, they could find a place
(35:13):
for the Lord that loves themand that could help them to go
through all of this new seasonof their life that dedicated
Christians could tell them aboutthe way of faith and trust in
the Lord in the trials.
Also, I'm sharing.
(35:37):
You know what I'm doing and howI serve to Ukrainians and I
have a limited circle of friends.
You know that I could ask for,you know, a prayer or for
financial support, prayer or forfinancial support, and if you
have somebody that you couldrecommend that could you know
(35:58):
help financially for somespecific need, maybe, or for a
specific family.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
What's the specific goal for you?
What's the financial need foryou right now?
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Financial goal is $3,000 per month that I need to
raise.
I'm partnering with Reliant andthe Reliant organization
partners with church, so I'm ontheir missionary side and, if
you're willing to give, I needto raise $3,000 per month for
(36:25):
serving Ukrainians and Ukrainianneeds.
And you could go to a websiteof Reliant and find Reliantorg.
Slash Rodion, that's my nameand you'll find my family
picture and, yeah, you couldmake a donation.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Okay, so I got it pulled up right here.
Reliantorg slash Rodion,there's awesome pictures of you
and your family.
There's pictures of you andsome of the Ukrainians that are
here in the United States thatyou're serving.
I am incredibly grateful tocall you friend.
I'm blown away by the work thatGod's done in your life and now
(37:03):
through your life, where you getan opportunity now to care for
people who have been displaced,people who have been interrupted
, people who have beenfrustrated and who are desperate
for community.
You get to love them in theirheart language.
You get to walk alongside ofthem, you get to provide them
with practical resources to helpthem hear, and then you get the
(37:27):
opportunity to be able to sharethe love of Christ with them.
It's really amazing andinspiring to hear the work that
you're doing, and so it's aprivilege for me to be able to
hear your story today, and Ican't wait to see the work that
God's going to do.
There is a beautiful worshipsong about the church.
It's a prayer for the church inUkraine that you told me about
(37:48):
it, and normally we'll have ourpodcast guests pray in their
language, but I think insteadhere at the end of our podcast,
end of our time together.
I would love to have you singthat song before you pray for us
.
So would you do that for us?
Speaker 4 (38:25):
Yeah, sure, god.
I pray for Ukraine.
God, I pray for you, for people.
You forgive them, you save themand show us your mercy.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Lord Jesus, I know that you are present right now.
I know that you hear thelanguage of our heart.
No matter what we've beenthrough, no matter what trauma
or no matter what situationwe've been faced, there is a way
, there is a truth and there isa life.
(39:08):
And, jesus, thank you that yougo in this life journey with us
and I hope that this story wasencouraging for those who heard
it.
I pray for the audience.
I pray for people who followyou, who put the trust of their
life for you.
(39:29):
I also pray for those who stilldon't know what they should do
in you and how they are gifted.
I just want to share this storyabout.
You know random, common peoplethat trusted you and they went
to share the story, the goodstory of Jesus Christ, of
(39:51):
salvation, with people that theynever met, the language that
they didn't know.
But you were faithful and youbring fruits.
So, for those who still thinkwhat they should do, just simply
rejoice, just simply give a joyfor the heart to trust you and
follow you.
(40:11):
For those who you know areextremely busy in their life,
but they could support people.
Missionaries, please inspire tounderstand that they are part of
a big, beautiful adventure andjourney.
They help people to domissionary, missionary work, to
(40:31):
reach unreached and, yeah, to bethe voice, to be instruments in
God's hands.
I know that all of us have ourlife story.
I know that all of us has, youknow, something to share and, um
, I pray, lord, that you couldbe with us today, that you could
(40:53):
warm our heart, that you couldopen our eyes to see the needs
of other people and tounderstand that that's a window
of opportunities for us to bringyour love, to bring your
guidance and, yeah, to pray forpeople as well.
(41:14):
All of us need you.
In your name, father and Sonand Holy Spirit, I pray Amen.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Amen.
Thank you for listening toUnreached.
Our sincere desire is that whatyou've heard today will cause
you to see the mission of Goddifferently and your role in it
more clearly.
If this adds value for you andwe hope it does would you please
rate and review the podcastwherever you listen.
Also, share with your family,your friends, your church, your
life group, small group, dgroup,wherever you do life, and if
(41:45):
you want to connect with us,find us on Instagram at
unreachedpodcast, or email us atunreachedpodcast at gmailcom.
In Revelation 7, john shares his vision of heaven,
with members from every tribe,tongue, people and language
standing in the throne roombefore the Lamb.
Yet today there are still over7,000 unreached people groups
around the world.
For the last six years, myfamily and friends have been on
a journey to find, vet and fundthe task remaining.
(00:28):
Come journey with us to theends of the earth as we share
the supernatural stories of Godat work for the men and women he
has called to reach theunreached.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hello friends, thank you for listening to the
Unreached podcast.
I am Clint Hudson, your host.
We are about halfway throughseason four and so far,
throughout season four, we havetraveled from South Asia to
Kenya, to Somalia, to theinternet it's the cloud and
today we are traveling to Austin, texas, by way of Ukraine.
(01:04):
So my guest today is someonewho I have become really, really
good friends with.
He's currently serving as amissionary to Ukrainians in
Texas and he's here to share hisstory with us.
Welcome to the podcast, rodion.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, I appreciate for this opportunity.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah, man, I'm excited.
Okay, so you are from Ukraine,yes, and you have been in the
United States.
For how long?
For almost two and a half yearsalready.
So let's just start with thevery first question why did you
come to the States?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
You know I had a good living in Ukraine.
I've been a dentist over there,so most of my life I spent
educating myself.
My wife is a wedding fashiondesigner.
We having three kids, beautifulkids.
Yeah, and life was really greatlike we had lots of friends,
church I guess I could call itregular life, as most of you
(01:58):
guys have.
Yeah, one morning we woke upfrom you know the scream that
war started, so and that changeda whole of our life, all the
values, you know, everythingthat maybe you collected or
thought of, maybe your plans orfuture.
It changed just in the moment.
One morning, yeah, and we packour van, you know, with
(02:18):
everything that you could do in,you know, in half an hour or
hour, so documents and kids, andwe drove to a safe place or at
that time that was, was WestUkraine, the farthest spot where
you could be.
So we were about 10 miles fromother country, romania.
One family hosted us for aboutfive months in their house, so
(02:39):
there was dedicated Christianswho helped us to just live the
life over there and all of usexpected that it could come to
an end really soon and we couldcome back home.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
You had no context of the time, the amount of time
what it?
Would be like.
So this family, the body ofChrist, this Christian family,
they host you in West Ukraine.
Before you moved, you said youand your wife both had thriving
careers.
Your family was thriving, youguys were doing well.
Talk to me about the church.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
I should start, maybe , with a story that happened to
me long years ago and it shouldbe kind of an encouragement for
missionaries and those whosupport missionaries.
So you know that we came from apost-communistic country, so
there was no God For more than70 years.
(03:30):
Christians who believed to theLord Jesus, they were persecuted
or they need to hide.
So when the Soviet Union broke,there was a window of
opportunities.
So missionaries came tocountries such as Belarus,
Russia, Ukraine, Armenia andlike post-communistic countries,
(03:51):
and I remember a humble family,a missionary and his wife, a
hairdresser.
They came to my village withthe population of a thousand
people, so pretty small at the Idon't know some wilderness you
know of Ukraine.
And this is when you were a kid.
Yes, yes, I was a high schoolkid, I was in the ninth grade.
Wow, there was a one-believerteacher in the whole village and
(04:14):
she said she somehow got toknow that he comes, you know, to
the city.
So she met him and asked tocome to a village to do a bible
study among the teachers you hadone believer yes, in your
entire community.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yes, and then, all of a sudden, this missionary and
his hairdresser wife comes outof nowhere.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Yes, do this so and they did a wonderful bible study
for teachers and that uh ladydid a free haircuts for teachers
and during that you know anhour, they could communicate for
teachers and during that, youknow, an hour they could
communicate, she could sharefaith, she could share.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
You know, christ, they're not allowed to move.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Yes, they have to sit there for an hour yes so it's
amazing and uh, you know, um,year after year, uh, like it was
not just the stories, but itbecomes something special.
I saw their, uh, I saw theirlove to people and that was so
simple.
And one day he said Rodion, Iwant to invite your family,
(05:11):
whole family, your parents andyour brother, to Christian
summer camp.
Please pray for a sponsor.
I've been not a religiousperson at that time, no
relationships with God.
My parents never taught me howto pray or how to obey God.
But after about two months hesaid Rodion, the Lord provided a
(05:31):
sponsor.
You and your family might cometo a Christian camp At that
summer for seven days.
You know there was a wonderfultime.
You know when, every eveningthere was, you know, worshiping
the Lord.
There was a great biblicalstories, you know, sharing who
Jesus is, what he did for us.
And then at the end there was acalling.
(05:53):
You know that if you feltdifference, if you felt that
Lord was spoken to your heart,make that step of faith.
You know, come and say to him.
You know that I want todedicate my life.
So, and I was filled with tears, I don't know, I felt such a
relief, such a joy, you know, ineven being, you know, with
(06:13):
tears, I felt freedom, andlimitless, you know, and I came
to the stage and dedicated mylife.
My mother said, oh wow, you know, this place is kind of a really
good theater and everyone iswell-paid actors.
Life can't be that way.
Everybody's so kind, sogenerous, you know, so gentle.
(06:34):
That didn't touch her as myheart.
So when I came home I had areal persecutions and troubles.
My mom said, oh, now you're aChristian, so you should study.
Well, you should.
You know, clean up your room.
You should listen to mewhatever I say.
And yeah, there was a toughyear for me.
But the next year they came tosummer camp again and my mom and
(06:58):
brother made that gift of theirlives to jesus christ.
The next year my father and myaunt, and the next year my other
aunt and my grandma came toChrist.
So what I'm willing to say?
the dedication of a couple thatleft their comfort zone their
wealthy, living their goals intheir life, they start to think
(07:25):
about other people.
That brought me here, clint.
I'm here now and I'm honored toshare this testimony that I
don't know guys who listen thisnow, but I want to talk to your
heart.
Everything that you do forother people matters because I
could witness that.
You know, I've been at theother part of the world and the,
you know, a humble family cameto my village and shared the
(07:50):
truth with me.
And now I'm here and can sharethe truth with other Ukrainians,
with other people that surroundme, with my neighbors, and I
could never imagine that lifecould, you know, bring me here
to America.
I never dreamt about it, butnow I'm here and I don't want to
lose this window of opportunity.
(08:10):
So if you're surrounded by aneighbor or co-worker or
somebody, I can tell you that weplanned our life, we thought
that we'll live great in Ukraine, but one day you understand
that everything that you have isa moment, is one chance, and
the life could be changed.
So don't lose that opportunityto share your faith story.
(08:34):
If you have some resources tosponsor a mission or go to some
other country, don't lose thatopportunity, because I'm
witnessing right now that God,through the simple things, to
the simple dedication of people,saved whole of my family, and
you know, I'm blessed to be overhere and really honored yeah,
(08:55):
I'm really honored and inspiredto tell this story now for you.
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
You had a really unique role in the church.
That's very dear to my heartbecause one of the ways that you
and I have connected is throughworship, and so what was your
role like in the church inUkraine?
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Since I've been 16 years old, one dedicated person.
He said you know, are youwilling to come to church?
I know that you know a fewchords.
I'll teach you some Christiansongs that you know that you
could serve people at church.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
And Christian songs only have like three chords in
them.
So like this is great.
So you know all the chords youneed at this point.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
So, and he taught me, you know, and that's how I
spent 15 years leading worshipat my church, growing, you know,
in relationships, building ateam of people who worship the
Lord, who follow Him.
And, yeah, wonderful time.
I remember it as one of thebest times serving people with
(09:54):
worship.
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
One of the things that you told me not too long
ago was about when you came overto the United States to start
this new chapter of your lifewith your family.
Not only did you have to startover from like a career
perspective, but you also had tostart over from even like a
establishing yourself within thechurch perspective, like you've
(10:17):
been leading worship for 15years over there.
You led worship for yourcongregation.
That was there and then one ofthe conversations that you had
with me it's almost like I'm ateenager, like I'm having to
start over again type thing, andso I think probably one of my
most treasured memories with youso far is us getting the
opportunity to lead worshiptogether here in Austin, texas,
and singing songs both inEnglish and in Ukrainian and
(10:40):
leading our congregation.
And it was these catalyticmoments in time where I think
our understanding of God ischallenged, and I think for a
lot of our congregation, theunderstanding of God was
challenged in that moment forthem, because they're like wait,
god doesn't just exclusivelyspeak English.
How many languages do you know?
Four, four, okay, all right, Ibarely know one.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Tell me about it.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I'm like tell me, I'm like OK with one, and so I mean
, I think for somebody like you,you're like well, obviously,
you know God understands us andhe's so much bigger than this,
but I think for a lot of us justto have this understanding of
worship, music and songs beingsung in Ukrainian and the church
being led in worship inUkrainian, which is a beautiful
thought, there was a specificprogram by which you were able
(11:34):
to come into the states.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Yes, united states opened a program for receiving
refugees from ukraine.
It called, uh, uniting forukraine.
So some relatives or somesupporters could apply for
ukrainians to come over here asescape, you know, as get a
shelter, and it's a timelyprogram, so it's not permanent
and even my status over here haslimits.
So, yeah, clint, it was, Iwould say, a frustrated and hard
(12:01):
moment for me to escape thecountry.
First, you always remember thatGod did so much through you at
church and I witnessed so manymiracles, how people were saved,
how we were at the streetsmeeting with my friend, you know
, just after work he calls meand says, hey, rodion, let's
share gospel on the street andwe would meet people and crying,
(12:24):
praying for them, inviting tochurch.
So many great stuff were goingon.
But at some point youunderstand that, wow, now there
is a risk of leaving.
My state was occupied, so lotsof militaries, lots of weapons
start to appear in the city.
The character of the cityreally changed a lot.
So that's why we moved to WestUkraine where it was safer.
(12:46):
And I got that invitation frommy friend.
He said you know we're willingto invite you to the States.
I said, yeah, ok, sure, what Ishould do.
He said is there anypossibility for you to leave the
country?
And there's only two ways, as Iremember.
There's only two ways, as Iremember, if you are disabled or
if you have three kids.
So in my case I had two kidsand a pregnant wife and we were
(13:12):
living in somebody's house, youknow, for four months.
That was really hard for us.
We couldn't go back because wewere scared.
You know, kids start to drawpictures.
We kind of tried to how to say,explain to them, you know, try
to control what they see andwhat they hear, but still they
(13:32):
were drawing the pictures ofsoldiers, you know, of spilled
blood, of tanks and shootings.
And you know I got reallyscared.
We've been in the West Ukraineand I've been driving my state
plates scared.
We've been in the West Ukraineand I've been driving my state
plates and you know, once wewere going to church and the
military stopped my vehicle, youknow, and about you know they
(13:53):
cut off our car and about tenpeople with guns, you know they
said get out of the car.
You know, show your documents.
You know, are you kind of on amilitary account and I showed,
yes, look, I'm doing everythingthat should be done and kind of
that really got scared me.
I thought like one day theywill break the law and take me
(14:14):
to an active military.
No, I won't stay with my family.
So it forced me to leave thecountry.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You and your family.
Once you arrived here in theStates and you started to
assimilate and get engaged andtry to figure out what life was
going on here, you found achurch Awesome Ridge Bible
Church which is where I get thehonor of being the worship
pastor at, and come to find outyou are far from the only
Ukrainians in Austin, texas,which kind of leads us on the
(14:46):
path where we are right now.
And I just have to acknowledge,through the trauma, through the
difficulty, through thefrustration and the disruption
of leaving your home country, ofleaving your home and coming to
a foreign place, all of thesudden you get to this place and
(15:08):
God not only renews vision foryour life, but also calling for
your life and puts you in asituation where you are uniquely
equipped by God because of whoyou are and who he's made you to
minister to a group of peoplewho are also displaced and who
are also here in the States.
To minister to a group ofpeople who are also displaced
and who are also here in theStates.
And this is one of the thingsthat I find so beautiful about
(15:31):
your story is how God isactively redeeming this
difficulty that you're walkingthrough.
He's using you to meet withUkrainians here in the States
and introduce them to Jesus.
So talk a little bit about thediscovery of other Ukrainians
here in the States and how thathappened.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
You know, when we got here, we were searching for
community, for friends, becausewe were completely alone and my
kid we're in a park and he heardsome Ukrainian language.
So the lady came to my wife andsaid hey, are you from Ukraine?
You know, are you kind of?
Do you need any help?
We could invite you to a church.
(16:09):
You know there's a fewUkrainian families and you are
welcome to come.
You know there's a women'sretreat.
And my wife said, yeah, surelyI would come.
So, and when she came therewith her friend, she immediately
called me and said Rodion, weshould come to this church.
People are amazing, you know.
I felt home again.
(16:30):
You know, I felt, you know,family atmosphere again.
So and we came here to AustinRidge for the first time and we
met, you know, american friendsover here.
We met Ukrainian families thatwe found over here and that
became a blessing to understandthat we're in a different
culture.
People here speak differentlanguage, they pursue maybe some
(16:54):
different goals, you know, orlive differently, but we feel at
home in christ.
So he's our guidance and he'sthe same in americans or in I
don't know, new Zealand peopleand Russian or Ukrainian.
The Lord Jesus and His gifts,you know, are amazing and we
(17:15):
felt really warm over here.
You know, I felt that theworship and the preaching really
spoke to my heart, really spoketo other Ukrainians and I
offered.
You know I know some Englishand really spoke to my heart,
really spoke to other Ukrainiansand I offered.
You know I know some English.
It's not perfect but if itcould help, I could translate
(17:36):
sermons.
You know, for Ukrainians thatsome other adult people who
don't know any English that theycould understand it.
So that brand new opportunity.
One friend of mine, xenia, andI, we both did, you know,
translate sermons.
So then we figured out that,wow, we could do a Bible study
for Ukrainians and it pump up.
So then we found out thatthere's lots of families who
(17:56):
don't know Christ yet you knowthat never entered the door of
church and we start to invitepeople over here.
We said you know, home overhere, we feel that there is a
strong community, we feelacceptance.
So lots of families over herestart to invite ukrainians to
just for dinner, you know, justto share their story.
(18:17):
And it's really important forukrainians, you know, to be open
and to share what they've beenthrough.
You know what they struggledand what they struggle over here
.
There's so many categories.
Some people came here andthey've been tech people in
Ukraine.
They came here and immediatelyfound a job.
They know some English, butsome categories are so
vulnerable Parents that neverdrove a vehicle in Ukraine.
(18:46):
You need to open a bank account,but you don't know how to do
that.
You need to, I know, buy somegroceries and you are not able
to.
You know you need to make alease agreement.
You know to live somewhere, butthey say, oh, you need to show
your credit history or like bankhistory and you don't have any.
So you need to find somebodywho could be a referral person
for you.
So kind of all of thesequestions, you know, and even
(19:08):
moving, buying some furniture,uh, like wow, uh, it's an
incredible journey and I feltthat you know there's a huge gap
where we could serve people.
There's a huge need that how wecould, on understandable
language, with for people youknow, bring Christ Just doing,
(19:29):
you know lots of, you knowrandom things, you know to drive
some furniture, to help buysome groceries to.
You know, offer them to go fora Bible study and do it in
Ukrainian language so that theycould feel you know home, that
they could feel, uh, thatculture.
You know share food and, uh,gathered in a hope message that
(19:51):
god has a plan.
Even being far away, you knowhe's near, he talks to your
heart, he has a, I would say hestill love.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Even, no matter what you've been through, what pain
or trauma you got from your lifeexperience, he wants to recover
you, he wants to use you tohelp others to go through some
difficult situations and so justwhat a beautiful opportunity
that, even the way that you guysdiscovered the community here
(20:25):
was just in a park you overheardsomeone speaking Ukrainian, so
I can just imagine someone heretrying to get a lease agreement,
trying to get furniture, tryingto learn how to drive a car all
these different things and itseems so overwhelming to all of
a sudden hear their heartlanguage spoken, and it happens
to be spoken by a group ofpeople who love Jesus, and so
(20:47):
the receptivity of them to comeand listen, just so they can
hear their heart language spoken, just so they can experience
food that is similar to theirtaste and so that they can hang
out with people who understandwhat soccer teams you're talking
about.
And that deep need forcommunity is bringing people
(21:09):
right to the doorstep of beingable to be presented with the
gospel.
And that is exactly what nowyou have decided is part of the
calling of your life is to be amissionary to these Ukrainians
here in the United States, to goand find them around Austin,
texas and the extended areas and, because of their desperation
(21:34):
for language and culture andconnectivity, that you can
invite them into a spot wherethey can come and hear the
gospel.
And it's such a brilliantstrategy and I feel like it's
something that I'm so excitedabout seeing happen in real time
.
I believe for any Christian whotruly understands the Great
(21:54):
Commission, it boils down tothere are two options of who you
can be.
You can either be a goer or youcan be a sender Because of
necessity.
In your story, you findyourself in a position where you
are now a sender Because ofnecessity.
In your story, you findyourself in a position where you
are now a goer.
You are a goer, but you are agoer in need of senders, and
we're going to talk about thislater, towards the end of this
episode, about how we cansupport you in the work that
(22:17):
you're doing, because I do feellike that is our responsibility,
as God has clearly put you onmission to be here in Austin,
texas, to care for the Ukrainiancommunity that God is sending
to here.
Can you tell us some stories ofhow you've seen God at work in
this community of Ukrainianshere in the States?
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Now every Tuesday we run a Discovery Bible study for
those who just start theirjourney, knowing who God is and
a family that hosts us.
They came and they have asimilar story like us.
So American family hosts themfor seven months in their guest
house.
So they've been inviting themto visit church, to meet other
(22:59):
friends and also Ukrainianfamilies as well, and that
people start to be, thatfamilies start to be open, of
hearing gospel.
They saw a different life.
They saw a different, I wouldsay, heart of people and they
were curious and interested.
So they are still on their wayto getting to know the Lord
(23:21):
clean, but they opened theirhouse for inviting people and
every Tuesday, you know wifemakes a great dinner and a few
families come together and readgospel and we, you know, discuss
and we pray and you know theyare curious and they seek, you
know, more of what God is doingand that really inspires me.
(23:46):
Also, there is a young guy andnext month we plan to do a
baptism for him for the firsttime.
So he came to me and said,rodion, I've heard a sermon, you
know, that really touched myheart.
That was about relationshipsand he said now, at this life
period, I live with mygirlfriend and I understood that
(24:07):
it's not right to be aChristian and be not married and
live with the girl.
And he said you know, I want torepent in that.
I want to start, you know, anew life with God that I never
had before.
He said I want to be baptized.
I have never been baptizedbefore.
I understood that I want tomarry that girl, but I want to
(24:30):
do it right way.
And I immediately said, okay,do you understand that it should
be not just the words, butcould you prove that in actions?
Could you stop living with thatgirl before you got married?
And he said, yes, I'm willingto do that.
I want to take care about her.
But I want to take care abouther, but I want to put the right
(24:59):
basis, the right core values.
You know that I want to, youknow, obey and deeply a person
and transform everything that helives right now that he could
say, oh, wow, I want to do itdifferently.
I want to do it, god way, Iwant to do it, you know, to
please the Lord.
And, yeah, that really shocksme how all of these small
(25:21):
stories, you know, shows ourgreat God that works just among
us.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
So there are some people that are coming here from
Ukraine that have nounderstanding whatsoever of the
gospel and again they're cominginto community in some way,
shape or form.
But there are also a lot ofpeople who have an understanding
of Christianity but not so muchan understanding of the gospel
and the teachings of Jesus.
Now, the predominant religion inUkraine is orthodoxy and so,
(25:55):
which doesn't necessarily have adeep relationship with with
Christ.
Lots of iconography, lots ofthings that you're supposed to
do, but not much access to thegospel and transformation that
happens from the gospel.
Talk a little bit about thatand what some of these Ukrainian
families are, how they'recoming into an understanding of
(26:16):
the gospel now that they're herein the States.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
So you know, there's kind of a transformation of your
mind appearing.
So I guess, from when you comefrom our background there's lots
of traditions, there's lots ofrules, there's lots of things
that you should obey, even notunderstanding why you should do
that.
So sometimes I remember when mygrandma took me on Easter to
(26:40):
the church lots of phimiam, lotsof smoke.
You know you should stand from4 am to like 10 am just on the
literature that you can'tunderstand.
So that was really hard, youknow, being a kid.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
I thought our services were long Sheesh yeah.
So I guess, when Ukrainianscome here, yeah, they'll go
through our like 70 minuteservice and they're like all
right, what's so, what's, what'snext, like what's the rest of
it?
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Yes, and you know it's understandable For most of
people.
They thought that it's reallyhard to reach God, you know.
But at some matter, you knowit's really simple.
We just read we pray.
A prayer shouldn't be a learnedprayer.
You know that is written andyou just know it by heart.
But you could speak with God asa person.
(27:34):
You know, you could say hey,I'm frustrated today.
You know I had a tough day.
Lord, please bring peace to myheart.
You know, call my soul.
I have nobody to rely on.
You are the one.
And when you pray for peoplelike that, sometimes you see hot
tears on their cheeks and youthink, wow, that was a simple
(27:59):
prayer for me, but for themthere's something special,
there's something reallypersonal, and I think that
really impacts people.
The simplicity, and I thinkthat really impacts people.
You know the simplicity, thehow do you call it genuine, like
it's reachable?
You know it's.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
It's honest, it's authentic yes, that's the word.
It's honest to be able to hearthe genuine work of how God is
caring for and meeting withthese people who are walking
through this unexpected seasonof their life, and I think for
all of us that are listening, wecan understand that we are
(28:43):
going to walk through trials ofmany kinds.
James is really clear aboutthat.
James 1, consider it pure joy,my brothers, when you walk
through trials of many kinds.
James is really clear aboutthat.
James 1, consider pure joy, mybrothers, when you walk through
trials of many kinds.
I am reminded today throughhearing what this community has
walked through and how God ismeeting with them, the joy that
they can experience by walkingthrough those things together
(29:05):
and learning more about thegospel.
Talk to us about your missionand the work.
This is new.
This is something that's kindof new.
Again, you came to the States.
You were a dentist in Ukraine.
You've been doing dental workhere as a dental assistant.
Is that right?
Yeah, and then also I hear thatif I have anything wrong with
my car, you're the guy that Ineed to bring it to right.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
Yeah, you know there was a hard time when I came.
You know you have this desireto work as a dentist over here
because you're skilled, you knowhow it works, you did it for,
you know, a decade and Irealized that I'm not licensed
over here so I can't do that.
And to stay in the field.
You know God blessed me to do adental assistant job, so now
(29:50):
I'm helping other doctors, youknow, to be equipped, you know,
to have these instruments, youknow and so, and that's a
blessing for me, to keep in thefield.
But also, yeah, a side job Idid with my friend.
We repaired vehicles.
We, you know, sell them andthat was fun, you know, to got
to know something, you know,that you have never done before.
(30:12):
So America is a country ofopportunities.
I've heard that.
But in Ukraine I never changedmy oil, you know, or my vehicle,
so I always did it at thedealer.
But coming to US, everythingyou know kind of, you know, a
little bit costy.
So I explored lots ofopportunities, you know.
But for all of this almost twoand a half years that we are
(30:34):
here, in my good and bad moments, I try to be focused, to invite
new families, to have dinnerwith them to hear their life
story, to share our life story,to share how we met Christ, how
he impacted our life, ourrelationships with my wife, how
he blessed us, you know, withkids and with life that we are
(30:55):
having.
And that's still a, you know,journey.
The church, I guess.
They saw, you know a heart of amissionary, of a person who
cares about people, and theychallenged me and said we see
that you're hardworking inmultiple jobs and could we buy
your day, you know, could wehelp you to be more focused,
(31:19):
more sharp on bringing gospel toyou know nations, to Ukrainians
and maybe, in future, other youknow people who are surrounded
in Austin.
And I said what I should do forthat?
And they said we will equip you, we will help you for that, but
you need to raise the support.
(31:39):
And I'm just, oh wow.
I've been a dentist.
I've been always at the otherside, every missionary that came
to me and said I need somesupport, I need some prayer.
So I definitely did that way.
But now I'm on the other sideagain, you know, as a missionary
.
You know I came here as amissionary and you know I felt
(32:01):
really awkward that I need toraise a support.
I felt completely lonely,completely, I would say, as
maybe Moses.
You know, I don't own thislanguage, I don't know this
culture, and now I need to comefor random people that you know.
I don't know.
Or maybe I just met for thefirst time and asked for support
(32:22):
, you know.
But at the other side, god gaveme a warm thought that, rodion,
this story is not about you.
I'm given the opportunities toserve others.
So today, I think God is reallydoing a lot of miracles, a lot
of wonderful work throughUkrainian community and there's
(32:44):
lots of people who are unreachedand who are vulnerable, lots of
people who are unreached andwho are vulnerable.
And if you have that opportunityto pray for Ukrainians over
here, that they could find,temporary or permanently, their
life over here and especially,that they could find a salvation
through dedicated people,through those who could open
(33:06):
their hearts, it will be reallyappreciated.
And also, if you are willing tosupport my ability to spend
time with Ukrainians, to buythat day or two of my time, that
could be really appreciated.
God is really restoring my life.
God is really showing me theway how even if I'll be here a
(33:30):
day or a year or 10 years, Iknow what I should do.
I see the field of people whoreally are seeking, who really
need to hear about the goodnessof our God and, yeah, I really
would love to understand andfeel that I'm not doing it by
myself, but I have a supportteam of partners who are doing
(33:56):
it with me.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
We have listeners who , every month, will come on and
will listen to this podcast andwill hear stories of God at work
in different places around theworld.
Around the world, we'lloftentimes ask them to pray a
specific way, or we'll ask themto give in a specific way, or to
just consider some idea thatthey've never really heard.
In a strategy of reachingunreached people groups, what
(34:20):
can we do to partner with you inthis season of life?
What does that look like?
Speaker 3 (34:30):
There's a few ways.
First one is a prayer.
I really believe that when wesee a need and we pray for it,
god finds people.
God finds opportunities, youknow, to reach people or to
fulfill the need.
I think there's lots of peoplewho really need help.
(34:51):
I'm finding friends, I'mfinding community, I'm finding
ways to buy groceries, you know,or you know simple.
You know drive a vehicle andeven go to DMV.
So please pray for the peoplethat, through all of this new
stuff that they are goingthrough, they could find a place
(35:13):
for the Lord that loves themand that could help them to go
through all of this new seasonof their life that dedicated
Christians could tell them aboutthe way of faith and trust in
the Lord in the trials.
Also, I'm sharing.
(35:37):
You know what I'm doing and howI serve to Ukrainians and I
have a limited circle of friends.
You know that I could ask for,you know, a prayer or for
financial support, prayer or forfinancial support, and if you
have somebody that you couldrecommend that could you know
(35:58):
help financially for somespecific need, maybe, or for a
specific family.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
What's the specific goal for you?
What's the financial need foryou right now?
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Financial goal is $3,000 per month that I need to
raise.
I'm partnering with Reliant andthe Reliant organization
partners with church, so I'm ontheir missionary side and, if
you're willing to give, I needto raise $3,000 per month for
(36:25):
serving Ukrainians and Ukrainianneeds.
And you could go to a websiteof Reliant and find Reliantorg.
Slash Rodion, that's my nameand you'll find my family
picture and, yeah, you couldmake a donation.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Okay, so I got it pulled up right here.
Reliantorg slash Rodion,there's awesome pictures of you
and your family.
There's pictures of you andsome of the Ukrainians that are
here in the United States thatyou're serving.
I am incredibly grateful tocall you friend.
I'm blown away by the work thatGod's done in your life and now
(37:03):
through your life, where you getan opportunity now to care for
people who have been displaced,people who have been interrupted
, people who have beenfrustrated and who are desperate
for community.
You get to love them in theirheart language.
You get to walk alongside ofthem, you get to provide them
with practical resources to helpthem hear, and then you get the
(37:27):
opportunity to be able to sharethe love of Christ with them.
It's really amazing andinspiring to hear the work that
you're doing, and so it's aprivilege for me to be able to
hear your story today, and Ican't wait to see the work that
God's going to do.
There is a beautiful worshipsong about the church.
It's a prayer for the church inUkraine that you told me about
(37:48):
it, and normally we'll have ourpodcast guests pray in their
language, but I think insteadhere at the end of our podcast,
end of our time together.
I would love to have you singthat song before you pray for us
.
So would you do that for us?
Speaker 4 (38:25):
Yeah, sure, god.
I pray for Ukraine.
God, I pray for you, for people.
You forgive them, you save themand show us your mercy.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Lord Jesus, I know that you are present right now.
I know that you hear thelanguage of our heart.
No matter what we've beenthrough, no matter what trauma
or no matter what situationwe've been faced, there is a way
, there is a truth and there isa life.
(39:08):
And, jesus, thank you that yougo in this life journey with us
and I hope that this story wasencouraging for those who heard
it.
I pray for the audience.
I pray for people who followyou, who put the trust of their
life for you.
(39:29):
I also pray for those who stilldon't know what they should do
in you and how they are gifted.
I just want to share this storyabout.
You know random, common peoplethat trusted you and they went
to share the story, the goodstory of Jesus Christ, of
(39:51):
salvation, with people that theynever met, the language that
they didn't know.
But you were faithful and youbring fruits.
So, for those who still thinkwhat they should do, just simply
rejoice, just simply give a joyfor the heart to trust you and
follow you.
(40:11):
For those who you know areextremely busy in their life,
but they could support people.
Missionaries, please inspire tounderstand that they are part of
a big, beautiful adventure andjourney.
They help people to domissionary, missionary work, to
(40:31):
reach unreached and, yeah, to bethe voice, to be instruments in
God's hands.
I know that all of us have ourlife story.
I know that all of us has, youknow, something to share and, um
, I pray, lord, that you couldbe with us today, that you could
(40:53):
warm our heart, that you couldopen our eyes to see the needs
of other people and tounderstand that that's a window
of opportunities for us to bringyour love, to bring your
guidance and, yeah, to pray forpeople as well.
(41:14):
All of us need you.
In your name, father and Sonand Holy Spirit, I pray Amen.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Amen.
Thank you for listening toUnreached.
Our sincere desire is that whatyou've heard today will cause
you to see the mission of Goddifferently and your role in it
more clearly.
If this adds value for you andwe hope it does would you please
rate and review the podcastwherever you listen.
Also, share with your family,your friends, your church, your
life group, small group, dgroup,wherever you do life, and if
(41:45):
you want to connect with us,find us on Instagram at
unreachedpodcast, or email us atunreachedpodcast at gmailcom.
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