Olena Slobodnychenko

Olena was born in Ternopil, Ukraine and has lived there her whole life. As a kid, she started attending a church kids’ club and Sunday school through the invitation of a Christian elementary school teacher. Olena became acquainted with Josiah Venture (JV) through an English camp in 2009. The following year, she went to English camp again and accepted Christ there. She was invited to a youth group, which eventually became Philadelphia Church. There, she started to grow as a Christian and learned how to serve others. She remembers the huge impact and change it brought to her life. Her life turned into an exciting trip with God, which also led to being a Ukrainian intern with JV in 2015 and 2016. This was a time when God revealed His calling on her life and the Camps ministry became one of her passions. Olena enjoys equipping churches throughout Ukraine to use camps as an instrument to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

In 2022 Olena and Evan met in Ternopil due to the war circumstances, as Evan had to move to the West from his hometown Chornomorsk. Evan has been serving God from his teenage age and he loves to care for people. In Ternopil, he is an executive director of Community Care Center that helps refugees and local people in different ways. In 2023, Olena and Evan got married. Now they both are serving in youth ministry.