God Prepared Us For The War with Valeriia Cherednychenko of Catholic Charities
On a February morning about three years ago, Valeriia Cherednychenko and her family woke up to explosions outside their home in Ukraine. When Valeriia looked out, she saw missiles exploding.
Valeriia and her husband immediately hid with their four daughters in an interior room of their home. Once there was a break in the missile attacks, they fled the country.
Listen to this Easter podcast to hear Valeriia’s moving story about how strangers helped meet her family’s basic needs and get them to safety during the most threatening time of their lives.
Learn to reflect on your life and recognize how God was at work even when you didn’t realize it, too.
Once in Nashville, Tennessee, Valeriia and her family received assistance from Catholic Charities, Diocese of Nashville, through their “New Americans” program. Following Christ’s example, Catholic Charities recognizes the dignity of all people and serves our neighbors. Learn more at: https://cctenn.org.
Transcript:
Lindy Wynne (00:01.763)
Welcome to Mamas in Spirit, a podcast pointing you towards God in everything you are and everything you do. I'm Lindy Wynne and it's a blessing to be with you. Hello everyone and happy Easter. Welcome to our Easter series and our final Easter podcast for this year, the year of 2025 and season seven of Mamas in Spirit of this mini retreat in a podcast.
And I am so delighted because I live in the Nashville, Tennessee area and I have been hoping and hoping and hoping to have a guest on from Catholic Charities, from our local Catholic Charities. And I am here with Valeriia Cherodnychenko. Valeriia, thank you so much for joining us.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (00:49.592)
Thank you for having me.
Lindy Wynne (00:51.533)
Valeriia, how did I do with your last name there?
Valeriia Cherednychenko (00:54.265)
Wonderful. Perfect.
Lindy Wynne (00:55.971)
Valeriia and I, we did a lesson before and I wanted to know every single syllable because you are a precious blessing, Valeriia. You are a gift of life and God has called you by name and I want to get your name right. So thank you so much for being here. And so everybody knows Catholic Charities is incredibly, incredibly inspiring and
I had the blessing of recently meeting with their executive director, Judy Orr, who I'm hoping to have on soon as well, and also go to a recent fundraiser for them. And I know another one is coming up, Valeriia, that you can share about. But just so everybody knows, Catholic Charities really strives to honor and to live out our Catholic social teachings. And it says, day after day, the staff and volunteers at Catholic Charities perform acts of love, goodwill, and kindness.
to make life better for the poor and unemployed, the young and old, for individuals and families and for strangers in a new land. And that is what we're told to do in scripture. That is the gospel right there and what Christ tells us to do and the Acts of the Apostles and beyond. So praise God for that, Valeriia. And that last part about strangers in a new land really touches my heart because I know, Valeriia, that's gonna be something you're gonna be talking about today, huh?
Valeriia Cherednychenko (02:18.179)
Yes.
Lindy Wynne (02:19.017)
Yes, praise God. So before you start your story, Valeriia, I would love for you to share a little bit about kaleidoscope so everybody knows and anybody local can attend and then also open us in prayer.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (02:33.838)
Kaleidoscope is a one-day event that brings together diverse cultures and communities that live in Nashville, but we may not know about each other. Last year we had our first event and it was such a fun time. My husband came and my kids came. They had a lot of fun. The youngest
played around, the oldest helped me with a booth where we told people about Ukraine and we had our food available for anyone who would like to try. We enjoyed learning about other cultures, about other countries, their values and there was so much great food available.
Lindy Wynne (03:16.738)
Praise God and alleluiah in the Easter spirit. How beautiful and what day is it on?
Valeriia Cherednychenko (03:31.822)
So our next event is coming up really soon. It's going to be Saturday June 14th from 10 a.m. To 3 p.m. And it's going to be here at Catholic Pastoral Center The address is 2800 McEvec Pike
Lindy Wynne (03:48.853)
Wonderful. Thank you so much, Valeriia. And I wanted to share you to share that at the beginning of the podcast and also because I love how it is celebrating diversity and educating and learning and connecting and growing all of us because that is one of the hopes of Moms in Spirit. We are a human family made in the image of God and called to be deeply in communion in Christ with one another. So that is such a blessing. And can you please open us in prayer?
Valeriia Cherednychenko (04:19.128)
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time and we are asking you to please enrich our lives through this conversation. Please fill our hearts with peace and joy and give us hope for every day. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lindy Wynne (04:40.667)
Amen. Thank you for that beautiful prayer, Valeriia. And I would love for you to start at the beginning of your story.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (04:51.065)
So a little over three years ago, my husband and I lived in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. We have four daughters. They are now the oldest is 17 and the youngest is 10. My husband and I were both working in college ministry.
we were working with college students and international students. Eventually we started working with refugees too. It just sort of happened when college students brought, international college students in Ukraine brought refugees from their communities with them to our
education center. And we were really enjoying our lives until, as you all know, more than three years ago, the war started. Russia started the full scale invasion on Ukraine. We did not expect this to happen at all.
Even though the media, the Western media, Western intelligence were giving warnings and there were so many news articles about Russia preparing an attack on Ukraine. All of us just thought, well, this is crazy. Like there could not be a full scale invasion, a full scale war in the 21st century. That's just insane.
It's probably just a show of power and nothing else. So we were not really prepared for anything. Even though there were instructions available as to how to prepare, you know, a bag and just in case what foods to have available just in case.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (07:10.986)
Neither us nor our relatives nor our friends, nobody prepared anything because we all of us believe this is not going to happen. This is just crazy.
So, on one February morning we woke up hearing explosions outside, we just thought this is... We could not believe this was really happening. My husband woke me up, we quickly woke up our daughters and this was happening really close to us. We could see...
When I was waking up my girls from their bedroom windows, we could see the missiles exploding outside. So we brought everyone downstairs and we were holed in the bathroom because that's the only, you know, they were telling you about the rule of having two walls on each side. Kind of like what you do during a tornado, you know. The same thing. That's how you are hiding from missile attacks.
So we were holed up in our bathroom for a day and a half.
and listening to the radio, trying to make sense of what's happening, what's going on.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (08:34.548)
being completely at a loss because we had no idea what we had no plans. We had no idea what we should do. Should we stay? Should we go? What way would be the safest way to go? And even though we were not prepared looking back, we understand that God was actually preparing us for the situation.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (09:09.395)
sometime before the war started.
We have a lot of friends in the US and my husband had a former classmate who was really worried that a war could start in Ukraine. they just in case they introduced my husband to an ex-soldier, a retired soldier who was living in Germany. And they connected.
over email, but did not really, we did not really give any attention to this connection until the war started. then this man, his name is Jason. He started messaging my husband and asking what's going on, if we need any help. And we were texting back and forth.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (10:16.557)
and describing the situation, he was following what was happening on the news. And so at some point we asked for his advice what we should do and he told us you should go, wait for a break in between missile attacks and go. And that was on the second day of the war. There were already reports about Russian tanks breaking through into Kiev, the capital, and we had no idea when we go.
You know, when we're on a main road, what are we going to see there? Are the Russian tanks going to be there? Can we pass? Can we go? We had no idea. So it was really scary. But Jason said it's only going to get worse. He told us what to bring with us. He told us where to go because there were reports of
Lindy Wynne (11:05.502)
.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (11:15.522)
traffic jams on the, well, the equivalent of an interstate. It was completely blocked by cars with people trying to leave the city. And it was really scary with the missile attacks because we had no idea if we get there, we're just stuck there with no food, no water, not much gas. It's just a very dangerous place to be in.
But Jason told us not to go there, try to go south instead. Because everyone was going west. Russia was attacking from the north, the east, the south. So the only way was to go west. So he told us to try to go south first. And another blessing in disguise was that my husband loves biking. before the war started, he...
with some other cyclists in the city, he would get together on the weekends and he would bike for hours. So he knew all the back roads around Kiev. And so that really helped us to, when we were trying to get out of the city, we didn't take the main roads where there were crazy traffic jams. We went around and he knew where to go.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (12:47.754)
Also drove together with my sister-in-law, my husband's sister and her family. There was nowhere to buy gas. Thankfully, we got a full tank the day before the war started. They were not as lucky, so we had to stop in different places to try to get gas, and they would only allow to buy a little. The lines were crazy. The stores were closed. There was...
no way to buy more food or get more water. So it took us... When we were leaving Kiev, we had no certain plan. We didn't know where we're going. We certainly didn't have a plan to leave the country. We just wanted to get away from Kiev.
But as we were driving west, we realized that nowhere was safe. Missile attacks were continuing to happen all over Ukraine.
And as time went by, we decided to cross the border. Again, there was no plan as to where to go. Ukraine borders on several countries. Our girls' passports expired right before the war started. We applied for new ones, but of course never had the time to receive them.
Slovakia and Poland were the two countries that announced they would receive Ukrainian refugees with no documents. And we were hearing reports that the lines to get into Poland were so long, people waited for days. So we decided to go to Slovakia instead. When you know one in Slovakia.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (14:52.263)
No one at all.
So as we were, as we, it took us two days to get to the border because again, there were so many people who were trying to escape from so many places in Ukraine. The road signs were down because there was concern that Russian soldiers would be able to use them.
So.
It was a really confusing situation.
As we were getting closer west, I was impressed by what I saw. You know, I already mentioned that the stores were closed and there was, I was really worried that we would run out of food, we would run out of water. As we were getting closer to the Ukrainian border, more and more people, local people who lived in those areas came out into the streets.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (16:04.172)
bringing out water and making tea. And they would stop the cars and give out like sandwiches and snacks and hot tea to people. When we got to the border with Slovakia, the line was so long. It took us another two days just to get to the border. And the area there is just in the middle of the woods.
There is No place to get out and buy anything. And again, we were so worried that how can we afford to just stay here in the middle of the woods with nothing to eat. As we got a little bit closer to the border, there was this big clearing in the woods.
And I have a picture of my husband just crying in the car because there were hundreds of volunteers there. We had no idea this would happen, that we would find this happening. Volunteers from different Christian churches. There were volunteers from
Orthodox churches, Catholic churches, Protestant churches, they all united and people were bringing groceries, were bringing food. People were making fires and they were preparing hot food outside. And there were some that even prepared food for babies. And they went from car to car offering this food, water.
tea to everyone who was in the slime for days. It was just, I was completely touched by what was happening there.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (18:20.28)
as we...
spent this time waiting for turn to get through the border. Again, we had no idea what we were going to do once we found ourselves in Slovakia. We had no one there. I did not even think about that. My biggest concern was to get out of Ukraine and get my kids to safety. But a friend messaged me asking
Do you know anyone there? What are you going to do? Where are you going to stand? I said, I have no idea. And she's like, okay, I may know someone. So she started reaching out to people who reached out to other people. And they actually found this family who lived at the border with Ukraine.
And that family opened their doors to Ukrainian refugees. They would accept anyone who would come.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (19:36.596)
This was an elderly couple in their 70s. They had a big house and they opened their doors. They welcomed everyone. Their three sons were pastors of different churches and their daughter was married to another pastor. And all of these people united together again and they accepted Ukrainian refugees.
a local school prepared meals for us every day.
People, locals would drive to the border all the time and see if anyone needed help, if anyone needed transportation somewhere where they were trying to get, if they needed a place to stay. And they would bring total strangers to their homes.
So, thinking back to this, I just can't believe how gracious God is working through people to help those who are in the crisis, those who are in need. So, we continued staying in Slovakia for three months, trying to help other refugees.
ourselves, but as time went on, we realized that we would have to think of something else. We can't just stay in Slovakia for a long time because our children need to go to school somewhere. We have a friend in Nashville who
Valeriia Cherednychenko (21:32.948)
invited us to come here once Ukrainian humanitarian program started. And that's how we found ourselves in Nashville almost exactly three years ago. When we came here, Catholic Charities was one of the organizations offering assistance to Ukrainian refugees.
This was a completely new program. This was a new crisis in the world. So Catholic Charities staff didn't really know themselves what to do at that point. But I think we the second family who were clients at Catholic Charities. So this was a completely new thing to them, but they did their best to help us in any way possible.
They kept us in their minds because when we received our work authorizations and started looking for jobs, a position of an assistant was offered to me here. And I think it's just amazing that...
The staff here was thinking about us and helped us so much. So I started working as an assistant here and within six months I grew.
into becoming a program manager. And this was such a blessing because this is work with refugees, what we did before in Ukraine and what we experienced being ourselves. And that completely changed my view on this work.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (23:54.772)
So this is my story.
Lindy Wynne (23:58.304)
God bless you, Valeriia. God bless you and your beautiful family. I want to start really with your small p passion, with your Lent and with the unexpectedness of the war you started by saying that y'all didn't pack any bags or anything of the sort because it seemed unfathomable. And I don't know about everybody listening
That's very large scale war. I know that there's been a number of times in my life I've thought, gosh, how could somebody really do that? Like, how could somebody really do that? And then it's like taking that on a very small scale and having that impact other humans and families, children, elderly, parents, adults, everybody.
on the largest kind of scale. How could this ever happen? It seemed unfathomable. Like how could something so catastrophic, so evil, so terrible, so devastating actually happen? And it does, and it did. And it's heartbreaking to think about how, like many of us, we think, that will never happen until it does, until it does. And I think about Jesus walking
through the passion and thinking, I imagine, I don't know, but that many people thought, how could that ever happen? How could anybody ever put like a crown of thorns on him? Or how could anybody whip him? Or how could anybody expect him to carry something like that? How could anybody ever kill him? And yet, it happened. And I'm reminded, and I teared up four times in your story and I noticed because,
It was the four times that I was reminded of Simon of Cyrene, of Simon of Cyrene helping Jesus carry the cross. Because you landed in this situation and I'd like to know more Valeriia about your internal experience because I cannot imagine being a mother with four girls in that situation. I can't imagine being a father with four girls and you, his precious wife.
Lindy Wynne (26:19.932)
in that situation. And you even talked about in the line that volunteers were making food for babies. And that one sentence you said painted such a picture of vulnerability. There were babies there too. And so you first talked of Jason.
and how the Lord was still preparing you and generous, is, shows your beautiful heart, Valeriia, that you can see these hidden blessings. And then the second was the people coming out of their homes, which they were in the Ukraine, right? These were Ukrainian citizens that were staying and were still in, they were still threatened themselves. And yet even in their vulnerability, they're making tea, bringing water, making food.
and bringing it to you all while you were all in this very long line and headed to really this two day stay in the forest as you were trying to cross the border. And then I think of all those volunteers that you spoke of, crowds of people coming to be the hands of feet of Jesus. And then you crossing the border and staying with that couple in their seventies.
While we cannot control all of the terrible things that brought you to that circumstance in that situation, it is deeply moving to see your eyes, because we're on YouTube, everybody too, to see your eyes light up when you talk about the people that reached out and helped you when you didn't have basic necessities. You didn't have the very bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. You didn't have
food, you didn't have water, you didn't have housing, you didn't have safety, you had none of it. And other people chose to come into that situation in their own free will and to walk with you to help carry your crosses. Very, very beautiful. And it's also very beautiful that you and your husband have done work with refugees and that you continue to do it. And that's the other one is that
Lindy Wynne (28:38.12)
the thought of you moving out here so vulnerable and then once you got your work visas or whatever the legal documentation is called, that Catholic charities reached out to you. The mindfulness in that and the sensitivity in that, the awareness in that, the empathy and compassion. So all of these things remind me of the two feet of justice, which I don't know if everyone's really familiar with. And so the first is to help person in the day, like whatever's unfolding.
in that day. So it's like you give the person food, you give the person shelter, you give the person whatever those needs are. And then the other foot of justice is the thing like giving somebody employment so that person is able to, in a sense, gain that provision whenever possible for themselves and their loved ones. And so that's really beautiful, Valeriia. So I'd love to know first, because I just said a lot.
If there's anything that struck you most from what I said that you want to share. And then also, I'd love to know more about your internal experience and what you felt. If you could name any feelings that you felt during this journey.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (30:01.288)
as if talking about feelings
You know, when all of this happened, I think there was such a great adrenaline rush that we did not even understand what has just happened. All we were thinking about was how to get out, how to get our kids to safety. But once we found ourselves in that place of safety,
That's when we felt an immense feeling of grief for the loss of not only our house and our things and the safety of it all, but also friends and relatives. You know, I have not seen my parents in three years.
All that we have is just talking to them on the phone. My father-in-law still lives in the occupied area. We hear from him once a week and it's gotten better in the past half a year, I think. But before then, the phone lines, the cell phones lines are down.
where he lives. We were not able to connect with him. He would only try to call us once a month. So we never knew if he was still alive, if he's okay, the house where my husband grew up, if it's still standing or not. All our friends are spread out.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (32:04.059)
the globe basically right now. was...
Our kids were facing such a difficult time because they lost their friends. Also, they lost the stability of going to school every day, of seeing their teachers.
spending time with our friends. Everything was new. When we came here, they hardly spoke any English. Our oldest daughter was much better. Our youngest only knew a couple of words. So...
This feeling of loss was just tremendous. With time and with the help of so many people who reached out and who were willing to share this grief and this feeling of loss with us, we healed, of course.
not fully, but to a degree where we can function, we can live, we can enjoy our day-to-day life, we can in our turn reach out to others and offer them the help.
Lindy Wynne (33:39.378)
Yes, thank you for sharing all of that. It's so deeply moving and it shows like you articulate so beautifully the layers of it all and that deep grief that is really the loss that's at the heart of it and that it sounds like at first the trauma and the shock and then just that natural inclination for survival by the grace of God, the adrenaline that you talked about that that really propelled you forward.
and to safety. And then it's the being with and processing and recognizing, sitting with the reality with and grieving what unfolded and all the loss. That is really, my heart goes out to you and your family and everybody. That is so tremendous. And Valeriia, I imagine that that is part of many, many stories of
immigration when people are as vulnerable as you, your family was, and so many others during that time. Thank you so much for sharing all that. And Valeriia, can you share with us how you talked about like how you saw God preparing you looking back, and then also like God revealing God's self to you through other people during your experience. What about like God's provision?
Did you experience like in the intimacy of your heart or prayer, like was there a way that through this experience that you've experienced God in a particular way or even a new way?
Valeriia Cherednychenko (35:24.75)
As I mentioned, think that God was preparing you, taking care of us even when we were not realizing it, we were not preparing ourselves, we could not believe that something would happen, we did not expect it, but He already was planning something for us. It's just we didn't know.
that that was going to happen. It wasn't like in our time of greatest need, greatest need. He came to us and he provided for us, which was true. That's what happened. But also that he was already preparing something for us to help us, to keep us safe.
to provide for us really, even as I mentioned, it was impossible to get gas anywhere in Kiev. But for some reason, I have no idea why my husband, I don't even remember, decided to get gas the day before, just the night before all of this happened. Had he not gone to the gas station,
We would not be able to get out. We were, we lived on the outskirts of Kiev on the Northern part, which is from where Russia was attacking. So when we were, I don't think I mentioned this when we were making a run for it. And we finally drove out into the main street.
we realized we were already past the Ukrainian line of defense. So this was a really great time for us to get out, but had we not been able to, I honestly don't know what would happen to us and our children.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (37:34.508)
That takes care of us even when we don't realize it and we don't know what's... We're not expecting something to happen in our lives. He's already preparing a way for us. And a lot of times we forget about that.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (37:59.694)
I am really thankful for this opportunity to just go back and to remember what happened and to realize how even in my life God was faithful to us.
Lindy Wynne (38:16.418)
It's deeply moving listening to Valeriia and you have such a contrite and beautiful heart. You have such a beautiful heart and that really shows in your sharing. And I'm so grateful that you're here with us. And Valeriia, two things. One is with your work now with Catholic Charities, what is it like for you to help other refugees? And
Is there any stories or moments from Catholic charities where you encountered someone that maybe, I don't know, maybe you could see how God had prepared you to help them or like you could see yourself in them or just any meaningful experiences that you've had there.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (39:11.694)
A lot of times, many times, when...
Our clients are very new arrivals to the US. Everything seems so different and so difficult for them.
You know, the US is a great country, but in Ukraine, we have a saying, don't confuse tourism with immigration. So my husband and I have been to the US many times before. were both of us were exchange students in high school. So we stayed here for a year. But when we moved
here as Ukrainian refugees, it was a completely different story. We were facing challenges that we were not expecting, like bureaucracy with getting our work permits or applying for housing because, you know, you have to have credit history, you have to have rental history. Being new to the US, we didn't have any of that.
You know, even you have the money to pay for rent, can't really rent a place to live here. So all of these challenges can be really overwhelming. So when our new clients come to us and very often we have conversations with them and they are overwhelmed with everyday challenges. We have clients who
Valeriia Cherednychenko (41:01.326)
have advanced degrees in their countries, but they may not speak English. So they cannot get a job that they're used to doing in their country. just last week, I had a conversation with a client who was crying, a grown man with a...
with a bachelor's degree crying in our office because he is disappointed with the challenges that he's facing. He's overwhelmed.
I feel it's very valuable that I can relate, that I can tell them don't lose hope. You just have to persevere. You just have to wait a little bit. All of these challenges will get, will go away. You will get a job eventually. You will build that credit history. Eventually you will have a good rental history. Eventually you can get, you can learn English. You can get a better job in the future. All of this just...
takes time, but.
You can build a better life. There is hope at the end of the tunnel, basically.
Lindy Wynne (42:24.183)
Well, and I think it is different when someone says that that's been through it and that understands. I imagine that there's a level of consolation there that's untouchable by someone who hasn't been through it. For you to have had the experience that you had and to be able to look in someone's someone's eyes who's vulnerable and suffering and say that, it's real and it's true and you're proof of that.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (42:29.326)
Mm-hmm.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (42:55.48)
hopefully.
Lindy Wynne (42:56.62)
Yeah, I love your humility. You have a beautiful humility. Valeriia, listening to you talk about immigration, especially in these kinds of circumstances, it just reminds me of vulnerability on top of vulnerability on top of vulnerability and the perseverance that's required by the grace of God. Because I think about someone like in your situation, that first, there's the threat of your lives and war. And then there's
the escaping the country or getting out of the country safely and getting basic needs met like food and water for you and your children. Then you need housing after you leave your country. And then you get to the United States and then getting a lot of the things and working and building a life. There's a lot of difficulties to have all of that happen. And so
It says a lot about how the grace of God will pour in and pour in and is like, there's a beautiful scripture passage, my grace is sufficient. I just think it's really important to say that.
God's grace is sufficient yet that does not mean like the suffering and the agony and the reality of the moment to moment daily walk in those situations is not utterly agonizing. It reminds me of, okay, so I used to think about writing this book. This was like a number of years ago. I was like out running one morning and this title came to me and I've never written it everybody and it's kind of.
Interesting that I'm sharing this with you now, but I'm going to share it with you I've thought about how like when Jesus is on the cross He's literally like has nothing left and I've thought about like the moments in my life where I felt like I was stripped and that would be the title like stripped of everything Where it's like there is nothing left that I can depend on other than the Lord and other than the grace of God And I imagine for everyone listening albeit it may be in a different situation
Lindy Wynne (45:09.567)
that many people have possibly experienced that. And I've heard of this in many, many retreats in a podcast because people face things like their child facing life or death or their own, or just circumstances that are so incredibly threatening and difficult. And yet, this is an Easter podcast, but we're called to be Easter people, God's grace pours in and God's provision.
yet it requires an Easter perspective. And that's what I'm seeing in you, Valeriia. Like the older that I get and the more that I live, the more that I am taught by other beautiful souls, like how much our perception matters, our attitude matters, the way that we see things. And that comes from the heart, the center of our interior lives. And so Valeriia, your heart is so beautiful.
as you can see the movement and the work of the Lord that you have that Easter perspective. And that doesn't mean it's perfect all day long. I imagine you've had so many feelings and so many moments and you're human and we're all human. It's just that ultimately what is triumphant is Christ, Christ triumphant in your heart and in your life. Because the vulnerability that you're speaking to
in your own experience is the vulnerability of being human. We all could end up and are that vulnerable in life. We just might have a lot of distractions in certain moments or certain seasons or things of the sort. And that doesn't take away at all from your story, Valeriia, because your story is one of utmost devastation and utmost rebuild by the grace of God.
So I'm so thankful to you for coming on and sharing. Before we close, is there anything else you'd wanna share with everyone?
Valeriia Cherednychenko (47:18.83)
Just wanted to say that Catholic Charities is truly doing a great job in Nashville. once again, if anyone would like, everyone is welcome at our Kaleidoscope event. Please come and enjoy and learn about different cultures, about different communities. People that live in Nashville, your neighbors, our neighbors and
We're always looking for volunteers, so if anyone has it on their hearts to come and help and bring a little more hope and joy into people's lives, you are always welcome.
Lindy Wynne (48:04.009)
Yes, thank you for saying that, Valeriia. And that's the call by Christ. And Anna, it's a call that we're all beloved, profoundly beloved children of God, that we are adopted sons and daughters of the Lord. And this is how God calls us to come to the table and to be together. everyone doesn't live obviously in Tennessee or even in the Nashville area, but Catholic charities is across the country.
And so I encourage you to learn more about the Catholic Charities in your area. And if you are in the Nashville area and can go to that specific event of Kaleidoscope, I encourage you to do that. And if not, like Valeriia said, for you to learn more and reach out to potentially offer your time, talent, or treasure, whatever you are able to do, because this is the call. The call is to give our lives away and to be with one another and to live out the Catholic social teachings.
So Valeriia, do you know how people can learn more about Catholic charities in Nashville and get more acquainted?
Valeriia Cherednychenko (49:09.934)
You can visit our website and there are different opportunities. It talks about all the wonderful things that Catholic Charities are doing. It's a very large organization. So many programs.
Lindy Wynne (49:33.778)
Wonderful. So to learn about Catholic Charities at the Diocese of Nashville, it's CC, standing for Catholic Charities, CC10 for Tennessee T-E-N-N. So cctenn.org. And then to learn more about Catholic Charities in America, it's catholiccharitiesusa.org. Valeriia, thank you so much for being with us. And I just wish you and your family a blessed continued.
Easter and I'm so glad you're here and praise God that you are safe.
Valeriia Cherednychenko (50:07.65)
Thank you, Lindy.
Lindy Wynne (50:09.125)
And let us close in prayer in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Dearest Lord, first and foremost, I just want to thank you and praise you because I feel like you reveal yourself through these stories and you reveal yourself through the story of souls and this soul, this beautiful soul of Valeriia. We thank you Lord for that revelation and within it, Lord, I sense you drawing us near to you and also drawing us to
the kind of yes that you ask of us and that your beloved son Christ showed to us, Lord. So I pray for that for each one of us. I pray for any distractions that I have that we each have in our lives to be washed away and for the gaze of our hearts, the gaze of our souls to be fixed on you so that our lives, our actions are fixed on you. In your name we pray, amen. In the of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen.
I also lift up everyone who is struggling and facing immigration and facing these difficult types of circumstances. And I pray that we will all continue to pray for this and to engage in whichever way God is calling us. There are over 300 mini retreats in a podcast. I encourage you to go to mamasinspirit.com to listen to many more. Reach out at any time. If I can encourage you in your pilgrimage, in your journey,
to loving the Lord with all your heart and your soul and your life just as I hope to too. Can't wait to be together again next time. This is Lindy Wynne with Mamas in Spirit. May God bless you and yours always.