Hi! My name is Jenna and I’m one of Galina’s teammates. She borrowed my laptop to post her latest blogpost, so I’m borrowing her blog to tell you more about her and ask you to pray about joining her support team! I’m hoping and assuming she’ll forgive me for the invasion.
Galina’s team is called Mighty Oaks, and we are a family of 7.
These are our favorite things about Galina:
- Galina is wonderfully independent. She is faithful in meeting her own needs so as not to burden others, and confident in who she is and what she’s doing. Her life experience seems to have instilled a stability and contentment that I admire.
- Galina may be quiet by nature but she has a lot to say and is not afraid to share her thoughts. One of my favorite things about Galina though is her openness to grow. She came on the race to grow in Christ and is spending her time wisely in order to achieve that. She is always reading her Bible and intentionally spending time in prayer and in Bible studies as well as investing in her community.
- Galina is real. She is not afraid to speak her mind, but she is also open to other’s opinions. She has a desire to grow and learn from God and the people around her.
- I like her unexpected, spontaneous Russian-flavored humor.
- She’s goofy, helpful, loves the LORD, is teachable, always studying and asking questions, holds you accountable and loves adventure.
- Galina is thoughtful and blunt. She listens and responds and actively looks for ways to love people better. Galina is humble and longs for God. She prays and reads and asks questions unashamedly. She is generous, funny, and loves deeply.
These are ways we’ve already seen Galina grow on the race (we live together 24/7!), which are more testaments to why we want her to be able to stay and continue growing in the Lord.
- Galina has stepped out of her comfort zone on numerous occasions. She has preached, lead children’s ministry, and loved on everyone around her. She has opened up and allowed others to love her and know her on a more intimate level. Galina is growing into the woman of God He intended her to be. The race has helped jumpstart that growth and will continue to create environments that will foster the growth.
- I love her hunger to know the Word. She is always reading her Bible and studying. I also love that she asks questions for elaboration and clarity. She has a teachable heart and spirit. She is becoming more confident in leading and teaching. It’s so cool to hear her perspective and input. Galina has a powerful voice and is very direct so it’s been nice to watch her become more gentle in how she speaks.
- Galina has really grown in openness and humility. One of the things that is emphasized on the world race is “feedback”, where we encourage each other in what we’re doing well and also point out areas of growth. I’ve seen Galina grow softer to her teammates and have a teachable spirit, willing to learn and grow.
- I remember back in Albania in month 1 the one thing Galina didn’t want to do was speak in front of people. But despite this fear she still shared her testimony in front of the whole youth group. And since month 1 she has only continued to grow in this area. Just last week at church she was asked to extemporaneously pray to close the service, and she jumped right in giving no heed to the fear of speaking. I foresee continued growth over the rest of the Race in her using her voice to share the love of Jesus with others.
- I’ve watched Galina’s heart get softer and softer since we came together. Things that she formerly cared for little now impact her greatly. The Lord is molding her heart into his heart so she can see others the way God does, and have a larger capacity for compassion and sacrifice.
- Galina’s heart has been softened so much since the start of the race. She has slowly but surely let us into her life more and more, and it has been really cool to get to know her more and more. She has been willing to learn and grow, which is a huge first step in the process of learning and growing.
This is how we’ve watched Galina serve the Lord and love the communities around her, whichever nation they happen to be a part of.
- Galina serves her team and her contacts well. She has an eye for detail and is especially good at bringing order to places that are chaotic. She presented to teachers ways to help bring order and structure to Malawian classrooms, after implementing these actions and habits herself.
- Galina notices the small things that the rest of us overlook. We have been doing a Bible study through Proverbs with the guys we are living with here in Malawi and when the electricity is off we have to do it in the dark. Several times Galina has offered her headlamp to the guys so they can see better and used her phone light instead. She noticed the limited food that the guys have here and brought up the idea of sharing our food with them. I’ve most enjoy watching Galina care for the children here at Moyo Preschool with tenderness and love in a million small ways.
- Our team is living at a preschool with multiple other young adult men. Galina has taken it upon herself to ensure that the young men are fed every night, often offering some of her own food to make sure they do not go hungry. She looks out for the needs of others and helps to make us aware of all the needs. Any time we have downtime, I see Galina reading her Bible and earnestly seeking to know more of the Word. She helps lead a Bible study in Proverbs with the young men in Malawi.
- Galina is always helping out. She notices things and brings awareness to needs most of us wouldn’t think of. She is a servant at heart and a hard worker. She helps keep the place tidy and the dishes clean. She has no problem holding us accountable if we need it.. haha.. She is also great with the kiddos, and loves on them with smiles and hugs.
- Galina always seems to find ways to love the people around us that we seem to overlook. As a result it makes me more aware of such things and ultimately making me a better servant of the kingdom. She is almost always willing to step outside of her comfort zone in leaps and bounds. She used to be someone who hated speaking in front of others. In fact, she probably still does hate speaking in front of others, but that hasn’t stopped her from doing it. In doing so, she has served the ministries we’ve been a part of by sharing her testimony and the love God has poured out in her life.
- Galina sees the mundane and treats it with honor and importance. The rest of us are tired and thinking about getting to bed, but Galina sees dishes that are not washed and is the last one to sleep after cleaning them herself (outside in the dark with buckets of water). We say goodbye to our brothers as they head home, then go to our journals and laptops, but Galina notices they don’t have light to walk home with, so she finds her flashlight and headlamp and lends them out.
We love Galina and she is a vital member of our team. We know the Lord brought her on the race for a beautiful purpose, and we pray He will continue to provide the means for her to stay. Will you consider if you are perhaps one of the means He is calling to help Galina? If 5 people per day give $51 for the next 10 days, Galina will meet her next goal and be able to continue on the race.
Love,
Galina’s overseas family
