You may have seen Inna Iurtseva walking around Regent’s campus, you may have had a class or two with her and you may even have had conversations with her: but I promise, there’s so much more to this psychology major than meets the eye. At 25, she may be older than most freshmen, but that’s because she has been on the amazing journey that God has set up for her life. Born and raised in Ukraine, Inna has had experiences with Orphans Promise, YWAM’s Missionary School, and worked with orphanages in Ukraine, all before coming to America two years ago. I had the opportunity to hear her amazing story this week.
Her Campus (HC): So Inna is your first name. Is that short for anything?
Inna Iurtseva (II): No, it’s my whole name. Like in Facebook I have Inessa, which is kind of a nickname; in Ukrain we don’t have middle names so we just use our first name, our last name, and the name of our father. So it’s really official if you use the entire thing.
HC: What did Orphan’s Promise do for you exactly?
II: Well, it’s an association, but they have small projects in major cities, and it’s actually all around the world, so there are a lot of them. So in Ukraine, in my area, they have a small project. This couple from there basically adopted me, so I lived with their family for about 11 years. They helped me with my work and raised me as their child, but we don’t actually have that many foster families in Ukraine, it’s not common. We just have orphanages. So when you become older, they can let you go so you can do whatever and no one controls you.
So anyways, they took me in and I was their child, but I was not official, you know? And it’s actually how I got to know God because I knew about God all my life, but I never became close with God. I was like meh: since I had this bad life and thought probably God caused it. He doesn’t really care about me, so that’s why I don’t care about him. So that was my attitude until I met these people. I had never seen people who lived according to what they preached. Because where I’m from, people call themselves Christian, but for me it was hard to see how they were Christian because they never lived like a Christian. So I was like, “Yeah, Christian. I know about that. I’ve heard.”
But this family never forced me to believe in God. They were never like, “Oh you have to repent or we’re not going to talk with you!” They just showed me that they cared about me and they loved me no matter what because I did mess up…like a lot. Because, you know, I was a teenager. Anyways. They just showed me things that I had never seen before that made me think, “Why are you doing this?” Because it’s really something different when people do something without expecting anything. They were just like, “You know just because we love you. Just because we care about you.”
And in my hometown, no one does that. Even my mom, she always kind of expected something. Because it’s kind of part of our culture, it’s hard to explain. Like my mom was great, she raised me as well as she could; she raised me and my brothers alone. But she always had an expectation that she’s raising someone to treat like a servant. So when I grew up I could do all the stuff and she could just chill, you know? It’s kind of like the love and care was conditional. “I’ll do this for you but you have to do this for me.”
So when the family treated me the way they did, I was like, “Really?…No, there’s something wrong here.” But eventually I learned that they meant what they were doing and saying. So when they told me about God without pushing him on me, I was like, “Wow, I’ve never heard about God like that…” There’s something really special about unconditional love and how no matter how much I messed up God will never leave my side. For me, it was just overwhelming. That’s something that I’m still wondering: How can God love people without conditions?
HC: So what happened after you were adopted by them? What did you do afterwards?
II: Well, after high school, I worked with them for 5 years in orphanages. That’s really how God changed a lot in me. He changed be from being selfish, because it’s probably the orphan mindset like, “I’m a poor orphan so everyone has to help me. It’s all about me.” And then God showed me all these kids like, “Do you see why I brought you here?” Through all of this stuff like me being in an orphanage. He was like, “That’s why.” And I was like, “Woah.” Each of those kids, I can see myself in at one point or another. They’re just broken and alone, and really just need someone to care for them and love them.
It was really one of the reasons why I chose psychology, my major, because I love the idea of healing the souls of people. I’d like to do counseling and therapy because it’s usually a lot of orphans that have traumas in their lives and it really stops them from being themselves and fulfilling their potential. Because we’re closed in our little world and it’s hard to see beyond that to reach something more. And they usually don’t believe in themselves. I mean, even the fact that I’m at Regent is a miracle for me. When I tell people now that I’m studying in the US, they’re like, “Yeah, right, nah,” because it’s something that’s really beyond our understanding. Even people in my village right now don’t believe that I’m here studying.
And I know there were people in my organization that knew this was a dream come true for me because I had always dreamed to come to the US to study and everyone was like, “Awwe. How sweet” as if it was something I was waiting for like Cinderella or something. They were really sorry for me that I had this dream, but now God fulfilled that and now they’re like, “Wait…Inna’s going to the US? What?” It was just something they couldn’t really believe.
That’s why the first step studying here was being in Montana this last year. And then God called me to Regent. I had heard about Regent, but I was like, “Nah. Not there.” I didn’t think I was that smart or that my English was that good for me to be here, but then God was like, “Go for it! I’ll be with you!” And I was like, “okay.” So yeah! So far, so good. I’m really glad God challenged me with stuff that was beyond my imagination. I remember one time I posted this status that said I live in a dream, because God has really done some miracles in my life.
HC: So tell me about the process of going through YWAM?
II: Oh ok. Yeah, they actually have different schools in YWAH. The first school is required for everyone, it’s called “Missionary school.” It’s for 6 months where you study evangelism, and for 2 months you go places. So I did this before I started working with orphanages. So after high school, I went through missionary school, I worked with orphans for 5 years, and then I went to Bible school in Ukraine because of my mission school I did in Ukraine.
HC: So then after Bible school you went from Montana to Regent?
II: Yeah basically I just transferred.
HC: Did you immediately know you wanted to do Psychology?
II: Well, during Bible school I was thinking about what my next step would be. And my friends were like, “Go to Regent! Go to Regent!” And I was like, “What??…Nooo!” Because for me, Regent was really serious stuff. It wasn’t a joke like, go to Regent, try it, if I fail then just go home, you know? I wanted to really know from God.
I was not only thinking about Psychology but also about Archeology. So I was wondering which one to choose, and God was like, “Ok. Just think critically: Which one will help people more?” So Archeology? Like just digging holes and stuff? I think it’s really fascinating but really not helping much for other people. But Psychology is something you can really do a lot especially with helping people and orphans.
I want to encourage and educate people about orphans: How to care about and adopt orphans because they’re really different. They have different needs and they need to understand their lives. I feel like people are not really aware of what they do when they adopt an orphan or even just interact with them. That’s the field that I want to do. I feel like I could really help people to understand what they are dealing with. I mean, I’m not saying orphans have some kind of disease, you know, but I realized that when you’ve been an orphan, you think that no one cares about you; in your brain, you start to think differently and it’s really hard to overcome.
So it’s really not enough to be nice to them for five minutes and then everything will be ok. It’s really tough work. People need to understand how to never give up on orphans, and street kids, and those from hard families. Usually people just kick them out or punish them when they’re teenagers because they think, “Oh he’s doing badly. He’s a bad kid. That’s it. We’re done.” Not many people go in deeper and understand why it’s happening, help them overcome, understand or forgive their mind. I just feel not many people are digging or trying to understand and educate themselves and others.
That’s my plan so far. I don’t really have bigger visions but it’s in my heart and its what I want to do with kids. We’ll see what’s going to happen in Regent.
HC: Do you have a question for the readers?
II: Do you feel unconditional love from God and from other people, or do you feel like you have to perform for other people to earn that love? That’s a question I’ve been wrestling with myself because I used to feel like I had to earn my friends’ love, my families’ love, I had to perform as well as possible. But then I was like, “Is God the same way? Is his love conditional or not? Can we make him love more or less?” I feel like it’s a life process to live feeling accepted and loved unconditionally. It’s good to be in a place where you can be yourself and do what God wants you to do. You don’t have to pretend in order to earn something.
The conversation continued on to the subjects of cultural differences, language idioms, and food preferences, but the questions above really show you Inna’s background and heart. She’s a sweet person, and if you have the opportunity, take a second and get to know her. You never know someone’s story until they tell you it themselves.
Photo Credt: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-boarding-the-train-250311/