Our Staff

Since we began ministry in the Societ Union/Former Soviet Union in 1990, we made it our mission to raise up nationals to do the work of the Lord in their own countries, to their own people. We are abundantly blessed to have a staff and leaders who have come to Christ and who have been discipled through New Life Ministries, and blessed to have such continuity as well.

GREGORY P. GULLEY, SR.
GREGORY P. GULLEY, SR.

Snovsk village orphanage, Ukraine

GREGORY P. GULLEY, SR.

Greg is founder and Executive Director of New Life Ministries which was established in 1977.

Since 1990, New Life’s focus has been on evangelism and discipleship in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Greg has a Master of Arts degree in Slavic Languages and Literature from Duke University with certification in Slavic, Eurasian and East European studies from Duke University’s Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies Center. His graduate work at Duke allowed him to focus on the history of child abandonment, orphans and orphanages in the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. His thesis “Lofty Slogans and Harsh Realities: Stalin Era Portrayal of Bezprizornye, Orphans and Orphanages Propagandized in Film and Literature,” is in the field of Soviet history, film, culture, and literature with focus on Soviet propaganda, family law and state-run institutions for abandoned children and orphans. During his graduate work at Duke, he had been awarded a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship for three consecutive years, 2001-2004, through Duke’s Center for Slavic, Eurasion & East European Studies.

Since 1990, Greg has worked extensively on projects throughout the countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, including schools, youth camps, and orphanages. His travels have taken him from Perm to Saratov, Russia, and throughout Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltics, Romania, Hungary and former Yugoslavia.

In developing the five-year ‘Life Skills’ curriculum, he has been able to utilize his contacts and relationships to assemble an international team of experts from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as well as orphanage professionals from Ukraine and Latvia.

In the early 1990s, Greg began developing an extensive discipleship program called ‘Building the Disciple’s House’ that has been used since in both the summer camps and also in the monthly outreaches our Orphanage Ministry teams lead in the state-run orphanages with which we serve. The Disciple’s House program is a topical study, showcasing a key scripture passage for each topic, and utilizes music, drama, puppet theater, and crafts that are keyed into the topic that day.

 

Svet Baranova
Sveta Baranova
Sveta Baranova
Sveta Baranova

17 Years with NLM

Sveta Baranova

Sveta is 39 years old and has been associated with New Life Ministries going on 21 years. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree having attended Chernigov University from 2001-2006. The focus of her studies was English language and foreign literature. She is married and has two boys, Bogdan, 11 and Miroslav, 9.

Sveta remembers, “I first got acquainted with New Life Ministries when I was 18 as I was invited to one of their Bible camps organized in Crimea, This is when I opened my heart to Jesus.

“These camps at the time were organized for both ‘family kids,’ and orphans as well.

“Soon, a team was created to travel to and do outreaches at Crimean orphanages, and I was very happy to be accepted as part of this team.

“In 2014, when Russia illegally invaded and annexed Crimea, we had to stop visiting the orphanages there, and this was really heartbreaking for us as we loved those kids with whom we had built great relationships.”

In 2015, we began ministering in orphanages in the Chernigov region where Sveta and her family lives. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, we have begun to help 16 orphanages in Chernigov, Kiev, Zhtomir, Odessa and Ternopil regions of Ukraine.

Vanya Okhlopkov
Vanya Okhlopkov
Vanya Okhlopkov

21 Years with NLM

VANYA OKHLOPKOV

Vanya is from and lives in Kiev, Ukraine with his wife Zhenya and 5 year old son, Maxim.

In 2005, he graduated from St. James Bible College in Kiev with a Bachelor’s degree, and then in 2007, received a second diploma, graduating from Kiev Bible Institute.

Vanya shares, “At the age of 14, I first met Greg Gulley, New Life Ministries’ Executive Director, at their Christian camp in 1998. It was there that I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

“Since then, I continued to participate every year in the summer camps, and today, as a staff member, I am one of the assistants who help organize and conduct these camps.”

Today, Vanya serves as a key staff member in Ukraine, overseeing outreach and work with many of the 16 state-run orphanages with which we are engaged in helping. He is responsible for buying materials the orphanages need, arranging delivery and installation.

VIKOTIRA STRYBAN
VIKOTIRA STRYBAN

VIKOTIRA STRYBAN

Viktoria Stryban is 32 years old and lives in Ternopil, Ukraine with her husband and son. Viktoria first joined us as a volunteer in the summer of 2022, leading our Ternopil region orphanage team, and later became a staff member.

Her team goes to Nove Selo orphanage every week, an orphanage for 88 orphans with special needs, a mentoring program in another where 16 children reside, and has started working with 12 orphans who have ‘aged out’ of the system and now reside in a social hostel.

She is also currently a student in the Teachers University majoring in Social Work. In her own words, “This study and degree will certainly help me to work more effectively with orphans in the future. I believe that God has a future, a plan and purpose for every child.”

LAURA GAIGALNIECE
LAURA GAIGALNIECE
LAURA GAIGALNIECE
LAURA GAIGALNIECE

LAURA GAIGALNIECE, REZEKNE, LATVIA

Laura Gaigalniece is from Rezekne, Latvia (former Soviet Union), a city that lies one hour from the Russian border. Laura and her sister Ieva, lived in an orphanage since she was 7 years old and Ieva 8.

Laura now serves on our staff helping to supervise our Fresh Start program for adult orphans who have been ‘aged out’ of the system, and is responsible for continuing the development of our Life Skills curriculum. Laura has converted this curriculum into a power point presentation she uses to present the lessons to younger orphans at our summer camps.

Currently, Laura is a graduate student at the Medical University in the Latvian capital of Riga, working to receive her degree as a Dental hygienist.

Laura’s story is quite incredible, and as an orphan herself, when she was 16 years old, she and her sister were ‘aged out’ of the orphanage system and were basically homeless. It was 2010 when we invited Laura and Ieva to attend our Bible Camp for Orphans, which, at the time, took place in the Crimea.

There, both sisters opened their hearts to Christ, grew tremendously through the time at the camp, and returned home to become participants in our Fresh Start program. In that program, we provided them with an apartment, providing funds for food, utilities, school and personal expenses.

In two years, Laura graduated from high school second in her class, was accepted at the university, and in five years received her bachelor’s degree. Soon, she was accepted into the Medical University to study dental assisting. Only 25 applicants were accepted out of 125 who applied. She received that degree and now studies there to become a hygienist while working in a dental practice in Rezekne.

Laura and Ieva’s stories are quite remarkable and now she is an amazing positive role model of hope for all the younger orphans she is able to share with and teach.

TATIANA DIDKOVSKAYA
TATIANA DIDKOVSKAYA
TATIANA DIDKOVSKAYA
TATIANA DIDKOVSKAYA

TATIANA DIDKOVSKAYA

Tanya is a key volunteer along with her two twin daughters, Anya and Tanya, 15 years old. Tanya, her husband Yuri, and their children live in Kiev.

Tanya and her twins have been volunteering faithfully on orphanages outreaches and at our summer camps since 2018, when Anya and Tanya were just 9 years old.

From their home in Kiev, they travel the distance, even during this war, to our Chernigov orphanages to help, and Vyshevichi orphanage southwest of Kiev.

When asked WHY she is going to the orphanages with our team, she responded: “We care about abandoned children, deprived of attention and deprived of love. I want to bring them our love and the love of Jesus. It’s a great work and such a joy for us!”

“At first, I was so surprised at the orphans’ reactions during the Bible lessons at camp. I was surprised at how they readily took to heart the things we were sharing.

“What is special, too, is when we have craft time and the children come to us and share their secrets and thoughts as they consider us to be their true friends and someone they can trust. It’s truly amazing to me!”