Bondarenko, Lilia
I was born on July 2, 1938 in the village of Liman, Astrakhan region, Russia.
Description
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Tell about your childhood, school, family, etc.
My childhood was very happy and joyful. My father was a kind, sincere, and warm-hearted man. He worked at a mine. We were people of sufficient means. My grandmother went to church. At home, she spent a lot of time reading the Bible and praying. That’s how I learned that there is a God. I went to a bilingual Russian-Ukrainian school. I loved my friends very much. I loved nature, too.
Where did you work? Was your work good? Were you happy with your job?
I worked for a coalmining company Artemvuhillya. I was responsible for the calculation and pay-out of salaries, and dealt with other issues related to the operation of the coalmines. The working conditions were good. I loved my job. But during the times of perestroika, the mines began to close. There was a shortage of work. As a result, my pension turned out to be very small. I am quite dissatisfied with this.
Tell about your present life.
War is a destructive force. It brought grief and suffering into my life. My nephew was killed, and two other nephews (officers) volunteered to fight for our country. I have been praying for them. I ask the Lord to cover them with a blanket of mercy. After my marriage, I lived in Mayorsk, near Bakhmut. This town is not far from the demarcation line between the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and Ukraine (on the Ukrainian territory). In August 2022, intense fighting broke out in our area. Our house, car and all our belongings burned down. My husband and I were injured. We evacuated rapidly with nothing, but our clothes on. Our circumstances are difficult now. But thank God we are alive and experience His care.
Have you accepted Christ? How long have you been following the Lord?
My grandmother believed in God. Her prayers were very sincere. She also sang psalms in a divinely inspired way. It seems to me that it was then that I fell in love with God and was drawn to Him. When I grew up, I bought a Bible and read it every night, and grew in faith and love for God.
Tell about one thing your sponsor needs to know about you.
I have a strong faith in God. I believe in the blood of Jesus Christ that He shed for our salvation. I also want to thank those people who, in our difficult times, fulfill the Lord’s commandment to help the poor and needy. Thank you for your kindness and sincerity. I wish you lots of happiness, health and long life in the Lord.
Story
Lilia’s childhood was not easy. Her father left the family and thus her mother with 3 children had to find a place to live. The only place at her grandmother’s place was a small barn – the woman and her children had to share it with a cow. It was back then when Lilia decided to gain good education not to live in poverty. After graduation from college, she became a successful and well-known agriculture engineer. Would she know then that her elderly years would be spent in poverty and she will have to survive with minimum pension. She lived in worked in Kherson region. Soon she got married and gave birth to two kids: a boy and a girl. When her kids became teen-agers, Lilia finally made a decision to leave her alchoholic husband. Her son got married and moved to Moscow where he became an artist. In one of the phptos you can see his oil paintings. A real tragedy of Lilia’ life happened later when she learnt that her son committed suicide.
While living in Kherson region Lilia met a widower who proposed her and moved her to Kyiv. Having grieved over her son’s death, Lilia was looking for comfort from God. Once as she was heading to work, a stranger shared Christ with her and invited her to the Seven Day Adventists Church. It was back in the beginning of 1990 when Lilia accepted Christ and was merely “possessed” with Bible reading as she says. I noticed how torn up her Bible was – see the photo. She says she reads it every day. As we were talking Lilia kept on encouraging me with more and more Bible verses. She also added that she listens to Christian radio daily.
In 1995 Lilia’s husband Alexander died of cancer.
Lilia’s daughter is single and she works in Moscow as a baby-sitter. Unfortunately, she does not support her mother at all. Lilia had a granddaughter Olena who lives in the remote part of Kiyv. Since this woman in her late 30s provides for her two kids and an elderly husband, she does not visit her granny often. Yet, Lilia speaks very warmly of her family.