About Us
Faith-based, evidence-driven, community-rooted
Meet Our Team
Lyudmyla Bryn
Executive Director
Lyudmyla was a member of the first Ukrainian team to complete the specialized training at Petra College for Children’s Ministry in South Africa. She holds a master’s degree in higher education (specialization: Christian Education) and has 25+ years of experience in non-formal adult education and children’s program development. She oversees all training programs and has mentored almost 80 volunteer trainers across Ukraine. Lyudmila specializes in developing curricula for adult trainings. She also serves as an expert for checking children’s programs, books and materials for child-friendliness (e.g. with OneHope International, East-European Humanitarian Mission Charity Fund).
Nataliya Ignatieva
Deputy Director, National Training Coordinator for Ukraine
Nataliya was one of the first Children Mission trainees back in 1999. She has no formal training in education studies, but has acquired a wealth of hands-on experience over the years. She started as a volunteer trainer, became a lead trainer, and subsequently a program developer. She has over 25 years of experience in ministry to children and teenagers, and over 20 years of experience in children’s camp curriculum development. She oversees the development of adult training programs and writes therapeutic Bible lessons.
Anastasiya Bohdan
Online Training Coordinator
Anastasiya received a music teacher education. She was initially trained by Children Mission in 2004. Later, in 2006, she was trained as a trainer and, since then, has joined the team for Basic courses. Anastasiya holds a master’s degree in higher education (specialization: Christian education) and has over 20 years of experience in non-formal adult education and camp program development.
Olena Miata
National Coordinator for Emotional Healing Trainings
Olena has worked with children of all ages in Sunday school since 1998. She holds a master’s degree in higher education (specialization: Christian education) and has been a lead trainer for "Helping Children in Emotional Healing" course for adult trainees for over 16 years. Olena also conducts trauma-awareness trainings for teachers, volunteers, and parents. She participates in the development of therapeutic programs for children and writes therapeutic stories. Olena uses art therapy, sand therapy, and fairy tale therapy in the psychological counseling of children of different ages. She is certified in Hibuki therapy for working with childhood war trauma.
Victoriya Panfilova
Trainer for Emotional Healing Trainings
Victoriya grew from a trainee back in 2002 to a trainer in 2005, and since 2009, she has specialized in Trauma Care training. She is certified in art therapy, crisis intervention, and emergency psychological aid. She has considerable counselling experience with children and teenagers. Since the start of the full-fledged war, she has served as a chaplain visiting military hospitals and spending time with families who lost their loved ones during the war.
Kateryna Borodova
National Coordinator for OpSAFE Trauma Care Program
Kateryna has been interested in both child psychology and health care since she was 16. She is a certified nurse and health care administrator, and she also holds a master’s degree in psychology. She started as a trainee in 2003 and became a trainer in both the Basic training and Walking With Wounded Children training. Kateryna has over 20 years of experience in non-formal adult education with a particular interest in resilience and post-traumatic growth, especially during childhood.
Tetiana Konukhova
Administrative Manager, Trainer for Basic Trainings
Tetiana holds a master’s degree in pre-school education and a master’s degree in higher education (specialization: Christian Education). She was trained by Children Mission while she was still a student. Tetiana testifies that the knowledge and skills she acquired back then in 2007 helped her as she worked in a kindergarten for 12 years. She is the newest member of the team (joined in 2021) and is actively involved in trainings and the administration of different educational processes.
Working Safely With Children
Our safeguarding policy is under development and will be published shortly.
Network Memberships and Partnerships
Children Mission is a learning organization. We share knowledge with others and learn from their experience through active participation in professional networks.
We belong to these networks:
- Europe Without Orphans
- Reaching Europe’s Children
- Global Children’s Forum
- 4-14 Window Movement
We actively work with these organizations:
Our History
Children Mission was founded in 1999 when four Ukrainians completed specialized training at Petra College for Children’s Ministry in South Africa. From the beginning, we recognized that sustainable impact requires equipping local practitioners to lead in their own communities rather than creating dependency on external experts.
With guidance from Bernard Joubert, a children’s worker from South Africa, we began training practitioners across Ukraine. As the network grew, our work expanded to Russia and Moldova in 2003, and Armenia in 2006.
Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, we have concentrated exclusively on Ukraine, focusing our expertise on helping communities respond to war trauma while maintaining informal relationships with initiatives established in other countries.