In the Beginning

I probably should have started this blog quite some time ago. I suppose it has taken me almost two years to find the words to jot down to share not only the experiences I have had, but the encounters with people, love, life, and God that have shaped the ministry here in Ukraine.

My name is Haley Henson, I first came to Ukraine on a short-term mission trip in 2015. To be completely honest, I had no intentions of going on the trip. Sure, I’d had a call to missions placed on my heart, but I was more focused on Latin and South America. I spoke broken Spanish, and I had traveled to a few countries in that region before, so I had my heart set on a children’s home in Guatemala.

The Ukraine trip came up on a PowerPoint slide at my university’s campus ministry in Southeast Missouri.  I did not think twice about it and instead signed up for two other trips that summer.  However, God kept pushing me toward the trip 5,000 miles away from home, so eventually I decided to go to Ukraine.

On our trip to Ukraine, the team and I attended a youth camp where, on the last night, a pastor requested that I return to Ukraine to teach English to university students. After some fasting, praying, and shedding of more tears than I care to mention, I packed my bags, raised a few thousand dollars, and headed back to Ukraine five months later.

I served in L’viv, leading small groups, teaching English, baking cookies, and generally doing life with students for one year. During this time, I got connected with the Roma (gypsy) community in Uzhgorod, Ukraine. I immediately fell in love with the children there. Much like the call I felt to Ukraine, I felt a tug on my heart to serve with, learn from, and love these children.

At first, I ran much like Jonah, in the complete opposite direction of God’s calling. I struggled with the idea of starting over, again. I struggled with the uncertainty of launching myself into a ministry that had no game plan or outline. I struggled with the fact that the Roma have no written language. I felt the constant struggle in my head. Actually sometimes I still do. So I ran. I let fear take over; I avoided the calling.

But the call kept weighing on my heart. After a few months of prayer, and hard conversations with God, I moved to Uhzgorod. I leaned into what God said and without a clear picture, without an outline or a team- I packed my things yet again and said the same goodbyes.

Since then, I have begun learning how to love- to love in times of stress and trouble. To love without the promise of success. To love with absolutely nothing. To love God more than my comfort, my assurance, and my own idea of what the world should be. I have begun to love in ways I did not know were possible, and I hope that I will be able to share that love with you all.

With abounding love,

Haley