The world was a promising prospect to be conquered, and then a herniated disc changed everything. Zhenya was a driven young man, and, coupled with his competitive spirit, he set his sights high. He had just finished high school and he had turned his eyes to several prestigious schools in Kyiv. As a Ukrainian Jew, he aspired to be an ambassador to Israel.
And just like that, in the blink of an eye, Zhenya’s world was turned upside down, literally.
One day he went swimming with some friends and one of them playfully pushed him off the rock they were standing on. He dove into shallow water to avoid falling and in doing so, He fractured his neck. He spent a month bedridden. As a result, he and his parents decided better to stick closer to home to remain under the supervision of his doctor. His dreams of big schools in Kyiv were choked off.
He studied at the smaller local institute in his hometown of Nikopol, Ukraine. A non-prestigious institute was going to make his goal more difficult. In fact, his dreams were being realized but they needed some realignment first.
During this time, while casually perusing the paper, he came across an advertisement:
“Free English lessons with Native English speakers”
He decided there could not be any harm in seeing what it was all about. So, he went. Mike Locke and his wife, Mary, along with Jeff and Becky Chudek (their daughter and son-in-law) had come to Nikopol to conduct English lessons with Stuart Merrill, a missionary from Belarus. They used a curriculum using the Bible to teach English to students. He enjoyed speaking with Americans and was intrigued by the content of the lessons. Soon after, Stuart contacted us and invited us to Nikopol to plant a congregation. We asked Zhenya to translate Bible studies and sermons for us. After some time attending church and hearing the gospel message, Zhenya was baptized into Christ. He continued to serve Christians in the church in Nikopol for the next nine years. If he hadn’t had that accident, he wouldn’t have met ‘The Americans’, and we wouldn’t have had him to help us build the foundation for the work in Nikopol.
As it turns out, Zhenya eventually ended up in Kyiv, as an ambassador of a different sort. He has been translating classes for the Ukrainian Bible Institute in Kyiv for the last six years.
Zhenya can sympathize with Paul, who wrote,
“I bear in my body the brand marks of Jesus” (Galatians 6:17)
His back has continued to degenerate, adding to a herniated disc defect, that was the result of premature birth. A year ago, surgery did not correct the situation, and he may have even been the victim of a corrupt doctor. German doctors examined his MRI and found that the herniated disc was still enlarged, and was only about 25% reduced after the surgery
Many of you have been following news that My husband and I have been posting on our Facebook pages and might be familiar with a man named Jason Casey. He has been helping to channel money to various locations inside Ukraine. With his help, Zhenya has been able to get permission to come to the United States with his wife, Nastia. He will be seen by a neurosurgeon the day after he arrives as he prepares for surgery to have the problem repaired
Zhenya is supposed to report back to Ukrainian authorities two weeks after his arrival in the States. He hopes he will be excused from military service due to his recovery from surgery and the lengthy physical therapy that will follow.
Nikopol Evangelism has raised the money to get Zhenya’s surgery covered but this leaves the shelves bare for other relief efforts still being conducted in Ukraine.
Zhenya has sacrificed so much of his time over the last eighteen years for the cause of Christ; Cold bus rides to a rehab center to translate Celebrate Recovery meetings, Train rides to Kyiv to Submit documents, and emergency translation for missionaries in desperate situations. After all this giving, it is his turn to receive.
https://www.facebook.com/Nikopol-Evangelism-182218741809512
If you are moved to donate to Zhenya’s surgery or to Nikopol Evangelism ministry, Checks can be made out to Nikopol Evangelism and sent to:
Nikopol Evangelism, 1200 E Moreland Blvd., Waukesha, WI 53186
Make sure to write Zhenya in the memo line to keep it separate from other donations.
I am Jason Casey’s mother. We continue to pray for all of you. My husband and I are very inspired to sponsor any who wish to come here and will continue to assist however we can
Hi Donna! You stayed with me in college, when you came for Jason’s graduation! Jason set up an account himself to help Zhenya cover his surgery. If you are interested in donating, you can ask him. Otherwise, our own Nikopol evangelism nonprofit is being sent straight to the minister working in Nikopol now.
Great read! I used to facebook.com. but i had bad results. Now i use datatoleads.com for all my b2b needs.