Life Changing

As a first-year university student, Ryanna intended to follow the traditional path of doing a summer business internship. However, God led her down an entirely different path, one that led her to Poland for two months, where she served at a church plant, worked at youth camps, and taught English.

A Servant's Heart

Ryanna arrived in Poland with a servant’s heart. She jumped into the ministry and served wherever she was needed, which was noticed by those she worked with. Her musical ability blessed the church plant and the camps where she ministered. Ryanna used her videography gifts to advertise new camps. Additionally, she was instrumental in deepening relationships with people like Wiktoria, with whom missionaries had formed a friendship. To this day, Ryanna and Wiktoria regularly speak and text each other.

Serving cross-culturally brought some unexpected challenges. Initially, Ryanna lived on her own. Her first task was to clean the vacated church apartments, often by herself. When she ventured out and crossed paths with others, no one spoke English. It didn’t take long for loneliness to set in. Then, homesickness hit Ryanna like a tidal wave. This unfamiliar feeling caught her off guard and left her confused and overwhelmed.

The loneliness and homesickness forced Ryanna to earnestly pray and dive deeply into God’s word, and experience His love and presence. Ryanna came to the realization that she was not alone; God was with her. And He was using these challenges to transform her into a better servant, teaching her valuable lessons about resilience, courage, and perseverance.

Ryanna, a hard worker, has always been driven to excel and accomplish tasks with excellence. She approached her ministry in Poland with the same mindset. However, when the fruit of her first week in Poland consisted of fleeting conversations with a few people and cleaning one room a day, Ryanna began to feel that she was not being a good missionary because she was not constantly sharing the gospel. 

Ryanna began to realize that church planting often takes a lot of behind the scenes work and requires long-term commitment that demands perseverance. Ryanna went to Poland hoping to impact lives spiritually, which she did! As she embraced God’s plan, the greatest transformation happened within her. It is no wonder that upon returning to Ontario, Ryanna declared that her trip was a “life-changing experience”!