Melnik, Tamila

Опис

Tell about your childhood, school, family, etc.

I suffered of cold and hunger during WW II. No parents. I spent that time in my grandfather’s village that was occupied by the Nazi. My father was at war and my mother was taken to Germany for hard work there. When I was 6 my parents brought me to Kyiv where we all lived in the damp shed for 4 years and then we moved into a commune apartment (a commune apartment was a regular apartment with one kitchen and one restroom. The number of families living in it was usually equal to the number of its rooms (usually from 3 to 5). Such commune apartments were common in the Soviet Union from 1917 till the end of 1980s). My mother was my idol. For her I was an excellent student and after finishing school I entered the State University majoring in physics. Then I got married and in 1963 gave birth to my son and 5 years later my daughter was born. By that time our family lived in one-room apartment which was received by my husband. Later he received an apartment in which we are still living.

Where did you work? Was your work good? Were you happy with your job?

I started my working career at the scientific lab. That was very bad to health. I was working at inventing new methods of evaluating raw materials at different stages of manufacturing process. Later I received my Master’s degree and published many scientific works. After my husband received our second apartment he offered me to move to work at his factory which I did. That job was even more harmful to health. Again I was writing articles, going on business trips, receiving rewards. It was all done at a cost of putting our kids in nursery while they were still babies – my husband did not allow me to have a maternity leave till they turn 3.

Tell about your present life.

In 1995 I retired and committed the following 16 years of my life to my granddaughter. Again my husband suffered of the lack of proper care and communication. When my granddaughter moved out I got awful emptiness withing me. I was also upset with my husband who started drinking and became abusive. My friend invited me to visit an exhibition that took place in the Orthodox church. For the following 1.5 years we were attending Christian lectures given by an Orthodox seminary student. But during that time I had no desire to read the Bible. In 2014 my friend brought me to St. Paul Church when Roger McMurrin invited everyone to join EE class. And that is when I got the desire to read the Bible to learn more about God and to follow Christ.

Have you accepted Christ? How long have you been following the Lord?

It was in St. Paul Church where I was saved by faith in Christ Jesus. He became my own Lord and Savior in 2015. I was baptized then and committed my life to the Lord. I got purpose in life to get to know God more, praise Him, serve Him and to do my ministry. I was involved in Stephen’s ministry, EE classes, prayer group, church choir.

Tell about one thing your sponsor needs to know about you.

Dear Gayl van Diken, my brother in Christ, I am sincerely thankful for your support. I ask for your prayers for me, our church and Ukraine at this time of testing. After bad injury I do not attend the church and my home became a place of blessing: here I receive printed Bible lessons and food vouchers from my Stephen minister, listen to Christian radio programs, converse with fellow Christians and share the Good News with non-believers. Let God bless you richly. I pray and thank God for you!