The Thousand Step Journey.

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." - Helen Keller

Lisa Chupryna and her daughter Elia.

Lisa Chupryna took her first small steps of a thousand-step journey at the end of 2024 and joined our team. We had some long conversations about the idea. During the Summer, Lisa was amid some pretty scary life changes. We all know what that's like - the uncertainty, the self-doubt, the lack of confidence, the fear and stress. These emotions can easily send us into a spiral leaving us frozen in place. In the Fall, I asked her, "Lisa, if you could do anything you wanted, what would that look like? "

She thought about it for several days before she answered,

"I discovered that I love ministering to teenagers. I never thought I would say that. Not in a million years."

We started talking about ways to make her dream a reality. Finally, as I've begun making it a habit to ask everyone who joins us, “Dream big for a moment and try to envision what could be. What does that look like?”

Lisa is a Ukrainian refugee living in Warsaw – displaced by the invasion. She and her teenage daughter Eliana (or Elia for short) are from Kyiv. They fled Ukraine after the beginning of the invasion.

I met them in 2022 after a friend introduced us and suggested I contact her during the planning stages of a trip planned for later that year. Because of the war, travel into and out of Ukraine is arduous. It's no longer possible to simply fly there. One must fly into Europe and pass over the border by train, bus, or car through Poland, Romania, or Moldova. I was searching for lodging as I passed through Warsaw.

"We help ministry leaders from various countries and cities with transportation, accommodations, provide hot meals, and support however we can. After all, they’re the Lord’s servants fulfilling His work in Europe."

Lisa and Elia began hosting guests – pastors, missionaries, and ministry leaders – in their home who were passing through Warsaw on the way to Ukraine. They were gracious enough to host me in their home. They had been granted a spacious apartment by the Polish government which they shared for a time with another woman and her daughter. Later they were given an apartment of their own.

When I asked her what prompted her to host travelers she told me that as they were fleeing Ukraine she had prayed the entire trip for safety, protection, and God's provision. She prayed for a place to stay, a job, and a way to survive. God answered those prayers and her response in gratitude was to open their home to road-weary travelers.

Lisa was a teacher in Kyiv at a prestigious school and hoped to find similar work in Warsaw. However, the requirements there were very different. Through one job experience, she discovered her passion for ministering to teens.

Lisa expressed her desire to lead a youth ministry that integrates teens from Ukraine and Poland. Intercultural differences make it difficult for Ukrainian and Polish kids to understand one another. She shared with me some of her thoughts since teaming up with T3O...

“We’re deeply grateful to be teaming up with T3O because, in Warsaw, we gather young people to celebrate events like Hanukkah.

Recently they hosted a Hanukkah party for the teens and young adults from the congregation and several other churches. Even some non-believers from the community came. About  60 young people in all attended. Everyone greatly enjoyed the event. Lisa and the team shared how God answers prayers and performs miracles in our lives.

Lisa serves the Lord at KJMC Warszawa "Shalom" Congregation (a daughter congregation of KJMC in Kyiv) by ministering to teens. She also serves in the congregation's worship dance team. In their congregation, they have a broad vision for teens. She said,

We have a strong desire to expand and develop a youth program that includes prayer retreats (and other events) aimed at the spiritual development of youth.

As a mom of a 14-year-old teenager, Lisa is often keenly aware of Elia's struggle with living in a foreign country. Besides the struggle of just being a teen, many Ukrainian teens find that there are many cultural hurdles to overcome like the language barrier, performing in school, separation from friends in Ukraine and other countries, making new friends in Poland, and just fitting in. Because Lisa is guiding Elia, gently helping her navigate these obstacles she can share these experiences with other teens and their parents, supporting them, being Christ to them, and shepherding them.

"Our goal is to encourage both Ukrainian and Polish teens to come to know God and Yeshua, repent, and then strengthen their faith in the Lord.

She also recognizes that there are similar struggles for Polish teens as well. It is equally difficult for them to develop healthy intercultural relationships without prejudice. Furthermore, in a country where 98% of the population claims to be Christian (of that, 95% identify as Roman Catholic), she finds that few Polish teens have a personal relationship with Yeshua (Jesus).

This initiative is aimed primarily at Ukrainian teens who have experienced hardships as refugees and the challenges associated with the war in Ukraine. 

They include Polish youth who are seeking God, greater purpose in life, and opportunities to connect with others. In February 2025 they are hosting a Winter Prayer Retreat in the Carpathian Mountains of Western Ukraine for a group of about 60-70 teenagers. Many of you helped to sponsor them through our funding campaign last fall.

We ask you to pray for this retreat so that it may bear much fruit. The retreat will take place in February for a few days, and then we will return to Warsaw to continue God’s work.

"We are grateful that you tirelessly support us. We would love to get to know you better, so please come visit us in Warsaw! May God bless you abundantly. Shalom!”

I mentioned before that I had asked Lisa to “dream big” and to cast her vision for what could be in Warsaw, Poland. Lisa recently shared with me the idea of creating a summer camp near Gdansk, Poland on the North Sea for a group of teens in her congregation and community. She has many other ideas for spiritually enriching the lives of teens within her immediate reach.

I hope that we can gather a team to join Lisa in Gdansk and combine and collaborate to share Christ with her teens.

Together we can accomplish great things!

Please consider joining our partnership development team. We need your help to continue to fund Lisa so that she can “keep running a good race” and share the good news of Jesus with teens in Warsaw.

Visit our website 1231ministries.org and click the donate tab. There you find links to our accounts in your favorite pay apps as well as how to donate by check.

Joel Butts

Executive Director, Twelve3one Ministries

1231ministries.org