As promised our question and answer with Ivan and Kate is below. Our accidental run in with these two was in no way an accident. It was great getting to pour into them over our short time together and they into us. While these two are not missionaries by job title they exemplified what it means to live a “ministry is life & life is ministry” lifestyle. Thank you to Ivan and Kate for sharing a part of your story with us. We hope that this will impact others as much as yall have impacted us. God Bless. We also apologize for any miss types due to language barrier.
Q&A with Ivan and Katerina (Kate) Yakovenko
What are five fun facts about yourself?
Ivan
- Ivan is a twin.
- Hid first flight was to Argentina to go be on the show Wipeout for 13 hours. He got chosen to do show with Kate
- One year later him and Kate got married.
- Kate led him to Christ and he was water baptized in the Black Sea..
- He won a one- way ticket to Bali and that was how he and Kate decided to move. They have continued to rely on God as they have faced many challenges since moving.
Kate
- Kate was a professional fencer from age 7. She fell into fencing when she went to do training for swimming. The trainer actually taught multiple things (fencing being one of them) and she ended up falling in love with it. She finished school at 17 and moved to a new city where she decided to focus on fencing and school because she wanted to make sure she had time for studying. After one and a half years she had won the sport in her country.
- Kate finished high school with a gold medal, which by American standards would make her a Valedictorian.
- In 2010 she had an accident while on the show Wipeout in Buenos Aires and hurt her back and had to have it straightened. It was a miracle because she should have broken her back. It ended up putting her fencing career on hold.
- She loves movies, and being a part of them. She’s an actress, and her favorite scenes are the fighting scenes because they are the coolest to film.
- She is currently in the running for a role in an action movie. She told us it was a Ukrainian film that would be a mix of a Jackie Chan / spy style movie.
What was life in the Ukraine like?
Ukraine has four seasons that mimic the United States. The winters are colder in winter like in Canada. The economy is not good. There is cheap and quality products in Ukraine. They were making low wages for the jobs they were doing and finding it was a hard place to live. They were putting away very little money for themselves at the end of the day. They felt it’s was not enough and their government was just using people. Inflation of prices was continuing to increase in greater amounts as time went on while pay remained the same. They told us that the people are very smart and love to be active, but a lot of people fall into a cycle of bad things. In Ukraine, the students don’t really learn English so everything they knew was self- taught after moving to the Island of Bali (very impressive). People want to leave Ukraine for the “good life” because politics is corrupt.
Despite all of these things they love Ukraine and will always consider it home. Ukraine is really struggling with war in Russia and it caused Kate to move to Turkey for a period. She loves her city but hasn’t been back since the war because many things have changed. Because of the war, people have rejected others as sides were picked making it hard on some friendships. They miss Ukrainian food the most, they loved the countries fruits and food that wasn’t spicy (hard to find non- spicy in Indonesia). They also miss the Many historical/ beautiful places in Ukraine like the castles and mountains.
What is the Church like in the Ukraine?
Ukraine is a Christian country but mostly Russian Orthodox Churches. After 2014 many people came to know God in their country. After the war, many people were lost so many were coming to church to try and find themselves. Then the Ukraine church partnered with US pastors and helped the church grow. However, some churches were bad and brought Christians a bad name in the country. Propaganda is very prevalent.
How did the two of you meet?
Ivan went to a youth retreat that Kate’s sister went to in her younger years. Afterward the two met on social media. They got to know each other and then met in real life when she got back from school. When she arrived, he was waiting for her with a sign and flowers. They dated for some time and then got engaged on a ski lift over the mountains. Fun fact, the two did not kiss before marriage.
Why did you decide to come to Bali?
Ivan won a one way ticket on social media from promoting, and they decided to buy Kate a ticket and just go. Neither had heard of the Island, but they decided God was calling them on this adventure and went in blind faith.
How and when did you become Christians?
Kate has always been a Christian from the time she was 12 but was able to lead Ivan to Christ. In 2002 her brother opened up a church where he was the pastor and that is where she decided to give her life. At 14 she was baptized, and in her life Kate has always tried to put God first. Ivan was a Christian in the Orthodox Church where he went very seldom. However, everything changed when he met Kate and she starts to teach him about Jesus and the bible. God sent him people who told him about a Christian camp and he attended and saw the way that they lived. Step by step after this camp, he begins to learn more about God. He repented and then he got baptized after Argentina where him and Kate we on a gameshow together called Wipeout . He decided to get baptized in the Black Sea. Their family back in Ukraine who are not Christians are getting to see Gods love through them, and they hope that they will see their family come to faith eventually.
How do you feel God has used you here?
First, we see our God father arranged for us to be here. They thought they might just come for holiday, then realized that they were being called to stay in Bali for a longer amount of time. Once they found a church their journey became a lot easier but before that it had been rough in Bali. and we bless you and find church in Bali. They were not members at first but just coming every Sunday. It was a little hard because they didn’t know enough English at first but they had to learn to go to church. The most important lesson they have learned is that you must love Jesus with your heart, your spirit, and everything. All that you have is not yours, but his. All of your stuff and all of your time belongs to Jesus. They continue to ask that God bring people who don’t have Jesus into their lives so that they can be kingdom builders in Bali. Without Jesus you can do nothing.
