Simon & Khrystyna
Khrystyna is Ukrainian. Her husband, Simon, is Uyghur. They live with their daughter around the corner from RILA, in Arlington VA.
Khrystyna says, “My husband worked near RILA, and every Sunday he saw a lot of nice people. My husband had asked me to visit the church several times. Then one day, I decided to visit Restoration Anglican Church for the first time for Easter with my baby, and it was a great experience.”
“After the war erupted in Ukraine in February, the U.S. government announced the Uniting for Ukraine program, which would allow my parents—who were by then stranded in a war-torn and conflict-ridden town of Ukraine—to come to the United States if we could find a sponsor. This was important because it was not safe for my parents to be in the middle of a war in their town. I decided to write a letter to RILA asking for assistance.”
“Fortunately, and with the mercy of God, a Restoration couple agreed to be sponsors. With their help, my parents were able to come and join us. We are very happy that my parents are safe now here in the U.S. with us. They lived in the most dangerous region of the country, the Donbas region. My parents are very happy right now with their granddaughter. They help us a lot.”
As we worked with Khrystyna, we learned that Simon had applied for asylum on his own and didn’t have an attorney to help him prepare for his upcoming hearing. Simon grew up in a region in Eastern China called Xinjiang, also known as East Turkestan. Simon left China to attend college in Turkey, and while he was studying, the Chinese government began to systematically oppress and persecute all Uyghurs living in China. His family members disappeared; he doesn’t know where they are or what happened to them.
A few months after Simon and Khrystyna were married, it became clear that Simon, as a Uyghur, was increasingly unsafe in Turkey. The Chinese and Turkish governments were working to locate and extradite Uyghurs back to China. There is now a formal extradition agreement between Turkey and China that streamlines the process of extraditing Uyghurs from Turkey to China.
Simon fled to the United States, and Khrystyna came a few months after him. He had a friend in Northern Virginia who offered the couple a place to stay until they could get on their feet. Just two months after they arrived in the United States, Russia invaded Ukraine, and neither Simon nor Khrystyna could return home. RILA now represents Simon in his asylum case, and Khyrstyna says it has opened doors.
“Adjusting to our new life here in Virginia was not easy at first. We had to start everything from square one, but now with the help of generous and kind-hearted American people and government, we feel at home now. We have big dreams for the future. I am planning to get my beauty license this year, so that I can open my own beauty salon. My husband is currently finishing up his IT courses and should be able to get a job in the IT industry.”
We are so thankful to be a place where Simon and Khrystyna can find help when they need it most, that Khrystyna’s parents are reunited with their daughter and granddaughter, and that Simon has a strong advocate for his asylum case. Although Simon and Khrystyna have both lost so much, and their grief is real and deep, together they are building something new.