Currently we are part of the Leadership Development team for Youth With A Mission (YWAM) that provides training, retreats, debriefing, member care, and life coaching for missionaries and leaders in the field. Our desire is to bring awareness about human trafficking and to work with orphans and children at risk by helping run Children at Risk schools in which we teach other staff how to effectively minister to this group of children in all areas of daily living. Overall, we want to continue showing the Father’s love to each child, loving them for who God made them to be, and helping them to find their identity in Christ. We also work on sustainability projects, discipleship, and hospitality. We believe that people are God's biggest treasure, and that’s why we are so passionate about investing in them.
Rosen was born in Bulgaria and spent most of his early youth in an orphanage. At age 12 he was adopted by a missionary couple, Duane and Joyce Klepel. He was then raised in Lake Elmo, MN until as a young adult he joined YWAM and became a missionary. He has 2 brothers and 3 sisters who are also serving the Lord as missionaries in Thailand. Rosen has always had a heart for children at risk such as girls that are trafficked and girls and boys that are in orphanages.
Oksana was born in Lutsk, Ukraine. She has 2 older brothers. Oksana has worked with YWAM Ukraine for the past 15 years, currently with YWAM’s Discipleship Training School, mobilizing young people to go into missions.
Since many of you have been wondering and asking, I wanted to share with you the story of how Rosen and I fell in love and felt God’s calling on our lives to get married. I met Rosen about 10 years ago when I was part of YWAM Lutsk and Rosen was part of YWAM Kyiv. Eight years ago, we attended YWAM (DNA) Conference in Herrnhut, Germany, where we had an opportunity to spend more time together and to get to know each other a little better. Four years after that, Rosen felt like God was calling him to go to China for a couple of years and then to attend the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California.
Over the previous 5 years, Rosen had been thinking about me from time to time, and even more so in the last year. During his last year of school in the States, he had a vision of us being together. It was very random, as we had not seen each other for around 7 years. He then began to pray and ask God if this was from Him and what he should do about it. Later, he again saw the same vision and at that time Rosen finally decided to act. During this time, God was also doing His work in me.
I, Oksana, had almost given up hope of ever getting married and was upset at God that He hadn’t given me anybody to share my life with. However, one evening I sensed like I needed to act in an opposite spirit. I decided to proclaim hope in this area of my life. I made a decision to not be mad with God, but to give it to Him and wait with hope and expectation with what He would do in my life. Shortly after that, I got an email from Rosen where he said that he liked me from that time in Herrnhut and asked if I was open to building a closer friendship with him. After two days of thinking about it, I said that I was open to that. Soon Rosen came to Ukraine and we started our journey as a dating couple.
The more Rosen and I were together, the more I fell in love with him. The more time I spent with him, the more I could see his passion for God, his kind heart, quiet spirit, and his desire to serve and to bless others. Here is a bit of the story in Rosen’s own words: "Oksana is a great woman of God. She is kind and generous and serves people so well. I am so blessed to have her as my fiancé and future wife. She is very hospitable and is such an encouragement to me. She does everything with excellence. I love her very much and am so happy God put us together. We are a great team." Our relationship progressed and on August 15, he proposed to me and I said;” YES! We both can't wait to share our life together in marriage.” God is faithful, good, and loving. We consider each other a huge gift from God and an expression of His love.
Packing bags for refugees in the East of Ukraine and our region where we live. It's a great ministry and YWAM base is a great job.
Every Thursday I serve at our YWAM base. Our base feed refugees warm meal. We have each Thursday guest speaking who shares for 15 minutes message. I was asked to share so I shared my story and small message.
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