What Young Life is doing to save marriages.
Prior to 2022, Ukraine consistently ranked among the countries with the highest divorce rates in the world.
This was before the war.
In the past year, divorce rates have jumped up by another 50%.* Today, separation rates are staggering, fueled by military draft, economic hardship, trauma, and substance abuse. Marriage is hard enough in peacetime. In war, the pressure is crushing.
When the war began, Olexii, the younger brother of one of our longtime Young Life staff in Ukraine, went off to fight. Leaving his wife at home, he returned only to realize that the daily sight of death and destruction had changed him so deeply that he couldn’t imagine “normal life” afterward.
He asked her for a divorce. His story is heartbreaking, and it is far from rare.
Do It Boldly, Do It Now
That’s why Young Life leadership in Ukraine insisted on doing something boldly. And doing it now, in the middle of the war.
In November 2025, nearly 40 young men and women (and some children!) gathered in the city of Irpin (20 minutes northwest of Kyiv) for four days of teaching, workshops, prayer, and even renewal of vows. Rooted in Scripture, the sessions focused on strengthening trust, communication, respect, and emotional maturity, always pointing back to the way of Jesus.
Chris and Jamie Herb, former Young Life regional directors from Oregon, led the time and challenged the leaders to look deep into the nooks and crevices of their relationships with each other and with themselves.
Each participant received a Ukrainian translation of a Marriage Journal filled with guided reflection questions to use throughout the conference. (Fun Fact: When the Ukrainian team showed the journal to one of the local pastors, he immediately asked if he could get a whole case of them to share with his congregation!)
One of the leaders, Katya, attended the conference alone. Her husband had been drafted just months earlier. Still, she came.
While at the conference, Katya connected with her husband over FaceTime. It was remarkable to witness their desire to stay connected and grow together, even while reality forced their lives onto a path neither of them would have chosen.
Over 30 years ago, you could have said the same about Sasha and Ira Utkin, who have served as Ukraine’s regional directors since 2008.
Both grew up in broken, dysfunctional families and, as teenagers, met at a Young Life camp. Statistically, the odds of their relationship surviving were close to zero.
And yet, 31 years later, with six children (including four adopted), Sasha and Ira have now witnessed three generations of young men and women choose a different kind of life, with God firmly at the center of their relationships.
Unsurprisingly, most conference participants were former Young Life kids themselves, and about 80% had gone through the Developing Global Leaders program.
Changing Generations
This is the long game of discipleship: not just kids coming to club, but kids growing up into leaders, leaders becoming spouses, spouses becoming parents, parents changing the atmosphere of a home, and homes reshaping a nation.
And here is one of the most beautiful parts: the single leaders were invited too, because relationships span far beyond marriage. Those who came on their own received nearly all of the same materials, as the principles focus on building healthy relationships and boundaries they can use immediately with other leaders, club kids, and the kids’ parents.
No one was left out. Everyone was welcome.
These Young Life staff and volunteers are intentional about rewriting the story they’ve inherited.
Intentional about following Jesus in every part of life.
Intentional about choosing a different route than the generations before them.
God is at work in Ukraine, changing one life, one relationship, and one marriage at a time. Senior Vice President of Young Life Middle EurAsia Marty Caldwell said, “Our staff have poured themselves out for kids, often at great personal cost. This gathering is a way to pour back into them.”
We continue to pray for Ukraine, for its people, for the staff, and we continue to pray for Olexii and his wife, and for every couple fighting to survive and stay faithful in the middle of war.
Learn more about the Young Life Ukraine ministry.
Where The Story Gets Rewritten
Slowing down and seeking a deeper reliance on God doesn’t require a crisis or a war. He longs for us to come to him, whether we feel like we are on top of the world or quietly struggling.
And so, as you reflect on your own life, ask the Holy Spirit to show you where he may be inviting you to go deeper.
Perhaps you will discover your own “bold move” to take — and take it now, without delay. Perhaps there are people around you who would be impacted by your willingness to say yes.
Because this is how God works: one step of obedience at a time, one relationship at a time, one life at a time.
And in ways we may not immediately see, those small, faithful steps begin to shape something far greater than ourselves … reaching further, lasting longer, and carrying his hope into places we may never even go.
And that is where the transformation begins, and the story gets rewritten.
