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Limitless Spirit
Feeling stuck in the daily grind? Longing for a spiritually rich and meaningful life? Limitless Spirit with Helen Todd is for those who crave a deeper faith, a greater purpose, and opportunities to serve beyond themselves. Through powerful stories and real conversations, this podcast explores how stepping out in faith—whether through mission trips, discipleship, or simply saying ‘yes’ to God—can change your life from surviving to thriving.
Limitless Spirit
Conceived in Pain, Redeemed for Purpose: A Redemption Story
Have you ever felt like your past was too broken to redeem?
Tetyana Zabroda's story is proof that God can turn even the darkest beginnings into something beautiful. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Tetyana from the very young age became aware that she was a product of rape and her biologocal father was a terrible man. Her mother chose not to have an abortion and tried to give her a good life while carrying the burden of the traumatic past. Tetyana's grandmother was the only one who welcomed her birth.
But her story doesn’t end with struggle—it’s about transformation. During the stillness of the 2020 lockdowns, Tatiana experienced a spiritual awakening that completely changed the course of her life - she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. A mission trip to Greece became a defining moment where she saw God’s plans unfold in ways she never imagined. Watching the redemption of Galina, a Ukrainian refugee, whose story mirrored her own, ignited a boldness in Tetyana to share her faith and bring hope to others.
This episode isn’t just about one woman’s journey—it’s about all of us who have wondered if our past defines our future. If you’ve ever doubted God’s ability to heal and redeem, Tetyana’s story will remind you that nothing is beyond His reach.
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Welcome to Limitless Spirit, a weekly podcast with host Helen Todd, where she interviews guests about pursuing spiritual growth, discovering life's purpose through serving others and developing a deeper faith in Christ.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Limitless Spirit, where we explore the incredible ways God transforms our lives and connects us to His greater purpose. I'm your host, helen Todd. Today's episode tells a story of redemption so powerful it could only be written by God Himself. Imagine starting your life as a product of someone else's sin, born into a world that might call your existence a mistake. Yet through this darkness, god's light shines even brighter. Our guest today is living proof that no pain is too deep, no evil too great for God to redeem. She is a woman whose mother made a courageous choice not to abort her after she was conceived in rape. It's a story of heartbreak and healing, of finding Christ and discovering the joy of sharing him with others. Get ready to be inspired by a testimony that shows how God can take what was meant for harm and use it for good, and use it for good.
Speaker 3:How are you today? I'm doing well. Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 2:So our paths crossed in Greece, but we actually share our background, coming from Slavic countries. It was really a pleasure to get to know you during our mission in Greece, and I was so touched by your story, so we're going to dive straight into this. Let's talk about your story. Where were you born, tatiana?
Speaker 3:I was born in Kiev, ukraine, and I came to Canada in 2000.
Speaker 2:How old were you when you came to Canada? 15. 15 years old, so in Kiev. What kind of family were you growing up in?
Speaker 3:I was raised in a family with just my mother and my grandmother. My mother was a single parent and I don't have any other siblings, so it was just me. As I mentioned before in Greece, it was a bit of a non-typical kind of situation with my family, because my father he was very much alive but I was a product of rape, so it was kind of something that shaped my family a little bit different. But otherwise my childhood was just like everybody else's there.
Speaker 2:Well, and that's a very touching part of your testimony. On so many levels, tanya, it's. You know, we don't choose the way that we come into life and we don't choose circumstances, especially like this one. Were you aware?
Speaker 3:even in your childhood that this is what happened to your mom. I don't remember how old I was exactly the first time I was told about it. I feel like I was still very young, maybe six or seven but I frequently remember, you know, my grandmother and my mother still talking about my father in not such nice terms and understandably why. And one day my mother and I were walking on a street not far from our house and we actually saw him walking alone. At that point he was looking like 80-year-old man. I don't know exactly what happened to him. I've heard that he got beaten up by the people that he hurt before and my mother just kind of casually pointed at him and said hey, that's your father. And at that point I didn't actually feel any emotions towards him because I've already heard so much about the kind of person that he was that it was just like, ok, sure, I mean, it doesn't matter, but it was definitely a strange experience to see him that way?
Speaker 2:Well, not a lot of times, but people often cite rape as something that can justify an abortion, and your mom chose not to abort you. So was she a woman of faith? What was behind her decision to do that?
Speaker 3:Actually, unfortunately it was not based on faith. I mean, she was actually very stressed and she has considered abortion. But in my particular case my father was actually a chief of district police and when he found out that she was pregnant he pressured her to have an abortion and when later on she said no, he actually tried to have somebody follow her and then kill her and he definitely had connections to make that happen. But in Kiev a lot of it may seem like a big city but in a lot of ways it's like a small town mentality, because everybody knows everybody and very few things go unnoticed, at least in the days when I was growing up. So the people that lived in our apartment block noticed that somebody was following my mother and they said to my father, passed along the message that basically, hey, if something happens to her, we know who did it. So he had to call it off. But my mother actually did consider an abortion, but I don't know who exactly told her that if she has an abortion she's not going to have kids anymore. Maybe the person was trying to scare her, but deep down they were a Christian.
Speaker 3:I don't know exactly how that conversation went, but my mother was very stressed out when my grandmother did find out that she was pregnant because, for whatever reason, I was so small that it took a long time for her to even show that she was pregnant. So my grandmother didn't know for a long time and when she did find out she was actually the one who was happy to have a granddaughter. She didn't care how I came to be, she just wanted a grandchild and she was looking forward to me and maybe for that reason we actually look more alike than my mother. A lot of people confuse that and things that my grandmother is. My mother was many times on. You know I would take her to an appointment, say, oh, that's your mother's like, and I correct them and they, oh, but you look so alike. But no, my mother came to faith later on. I know she had Christian beliefs, but it wasn't based on understanding of scriptures that she decided not to go through with it. Well, thank.
Speaker 2:God for whoever persuaded your mom not to have an abortion, because here you are, just a beautiful, beautiful child of God. And so how did that impact your and your mom's relationship?
Speaker 3:Well, she was very protective of me and my grandmother. She loved both of us, but I think her love was a little bit different because she showed love by way of providing us with all of the necessities, but there was definitely an emotional distance in some ways. I can't imagine what was going through her head. Looking at me every time and, you know, recognizing that maybe some of my features look like the person who violated her and I mean I don't think there were such things, as you know, a psychological counseling in early 1980s for her to, you know, get help or anything like that.
Speaker 3:So I mean, many times when I was growing up, I think some of my temper was actually more like my father. So you know, if I misbehaved or like, oh, you're just like your father and you know it does get to you after a while because it's like you understand, from one part, that you know it's like I didn't choose to be the way that I am but on the other hand, like you know, it is who I am. And, yeah, it did create for some tense moments but for the most part she cared for me and she gave me a good life and I don't feel like I was at a disadvantage in any way as an you know other families who had a father.
Speaker 2:Have you had any thoughts about your father. How were you processing this knowledge as a child?
Speaker 3:I can say that I thought much about him per se. I do know that he had another wife before he met my mother and they had a son together. So somewhere in this world I apparently have a half brother. I don't know his name or more details about him. I just know that my biological father was not very kind to his first wife and in a way I'm glad that he was not a part of my life because I didn't want, you know, that kind of treatment for my own mother. She was a good person and I think you know our family dynamics worked well without his presence.
Speaker 3:It did influence some of my early thinking.
Speaker 3:You know about my relationship with you know trying to find a partner in life, or even you know about my relationship with you know trying to find a partner in life, or even you know just trust towards people in general, because you know when you hear so much about what my mother went through, what a horrible person my father was, it does kind of build your walls up and makes it difficult for you to trust people.
Speaker 3:And it took a long time for me to realize that there is evil in the world. But just because somebody committed it, it doesn't mean that everybody is evil and I shouldn't be brushing everybody with the same paintbrush, so to speak. It was a process and in a way I think some of it is still with me and maybe it is a good defense mechanism to have, you know, to view the world from that maybe a little bit more extreme lens of what is possible. But yeah, otherwise I can't say that I thought about him much back then, but now that I, you know, I read the Bible, I do wonder if he ever came to repent, if he's even alive, if he's been saved where you know what happened to him. But yeah, it's a little bit different now.
Speaker 2:So how did your journey to God begin?
Speaker 3:Well, it was not in Ukraine, it was only when I came to Canada. But in Ukraine I did grow up in Eastern Orthodox Christian environment. I've been exposed to some of the biblical teachings. When I was in school I remember we had the New Testament brought into our classroom and we had some teachings on the Bible. But Eastern Orthodoxy is a little bit different and more closer biblical Christianity that I'm exposed to in Canada right now Because for us myself personally, I never went to church, but my mother would only go to church on big holidays like Easter and Christmas, which we celebrated in the first week of January.
Speaker 3:So it was more like following religious traditions Religious traditions, but I've never read the Bible prior to that. I had a very vague understanding of God. I didn't really know his personalities. So when my mother died from cancer in 1999, my father sorry, my uncle, my mother's brother brought me and my grandmother to Canada, just had Jehovah's Witnesses show up at our doorstep and they happened to be from the same city that my grandmother and I were from and that created an instant connection for my grandmother and I didn't really mind it. I didn't really understand what Jehovah's Witnesses were. They just seemed like nice people and I just wanted my grandmother to have, you know, somebody to talk to, but it was through them that I first got a copy of a full Bible.
Speaker 3:But it was only my grandmother who was actually seriously studying and unfortunately she was not the most graceful teacher. She only focused on the wrath of God and, you know, criticizing my involvement in yoga and trying to scare me was, you know, more like a hellfire preacher kind of approach. So I was very dismissive of anything that she was trying to teach to me. But I still drove her to those Jehovah's Witnesses meetings and, of course, just by sitting there I did learn some things. But in my mindset of that time I was still more focused on picking apart the doctrine than actually trying to understand it. Like if I found a loophole I would go after it. It's like, oh see, right there, this is where you're on. And that kind of mentality was what I brought in when I first decided I want to read the Bible, just so I can prove my grandmother wrong.
Speaker 3:And the Bible sat on my coffee table for about a year and it was only during the lockdowns I think it was early 2020, that all of my hobbies were taken away my yoga teaching. I got laid off from the gym along with all of the other instructors. My martial arts hobby got put on hold indefinitely and it just felt like everything that defined me before was taken away and I was wondering who am I was without all of those things and, uh, oddly enough, when everything was happening, with the lockdowns, with the pandemic, I came across some of the YouTube videos comparing the events with, you know, book of Revelations. So I just randomly picked up Book of Revelations probably not the easiest book to start your Christian journey with, but that's what I started with. It intrigued me, but I still haven't read the whole thing. Haven't read the whole thing.
Speaker 3:And one day I was listening to Joe Rogan podcast and it was actually talking about a book that Steve Jobs was particularly interested in. It was called Autobiography of a Yogi and it's about an Indian boy who was desperately seeking to find God Hindu God, of course, but he was looking for a guru and the journey took him on you know, different adventures and in the process he did find a guru, but I was inspired by, you know, how deeply he wanted to know God and I felt this conviction thinking well, look at this, you know Indian yogi man. He's so passionate about God and here I am calling myself a Christian, but I've never read the Bible. Do I really even know who God is? So I said, okay, well, let me seriously read the Bible.
Speaker 3:So I started with the New Testament, because Genesis was, you know, very difficult to understand. I didn't feel like I understood anything at all, but as I was reading the New Testament, it felt like a veil was being lifted from my mind and when I got to the point where Jesus was praying to God the Father in Gethsemane, I literally felt that breaking of the Holy Spirit in the heart. It did feel like a way of lifting off my mind. It was like, oh, this is who God is. What a beautiful being and he wants to save me and to have, you know, this close relationship with me. And it was just astonishing and I couldn't believe that. You know, I went all of these years. I think at that point I was 36 years old and only at that point I was finding out who God is. So, yeah, it was, in a way. I'm grateful for the lockdowns, because it stripped me away of all the noise and faced me with, you know, the good things that I was missing all this, all this years.
Speaker 2:That's an incredible story, and I always love hearing the testimony, when you discover God just by reading the word of God, because the Bible is not another book. It is inspired by the spirit and so it's alive and it's life-giving, and so I just love this part of your testimony. Well, my next favorite thing is that you were literally volunteered by someone to go on a mission trip. You had no intentions of going on a mission trip and your friend just talked you into an adventure. Is that right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I thought about missions, but I never saw myself as somebody who would be going on one of those trips, because you always talk yourself out of it. It's like, oh, I'm still too early in the phase, do I really know enough to be of any use in that field? And it was this friend from church I will mention her name, krisha, and I don't remember how long we knew each other before that point, but she came from Calgary to our church and I don't think we've known each other for that long. Before I agreed to accompany her on that trip. She said you know, here's a link to the trip that I'm thinking of joining. Would you like to go? And she said you know, it's Greece and we get to visit the sites that Paul was preaching at.
Speaker 3:And for me it was like, oh, I want to go to see where Paul was preaching. It was, you know, a little bit of selfishness initially, but then, as the date got closer and closer, it's like, ok, this is not about me. There is, you know, bigger picture here, but of course, uh, for me to walk in places where paul and I mean he wrote majority of the new testament. So it was a surreal experience. But uh, yeah, I was uh talked into it. Fortunately, it was very easy to talk into joining the strip.
Speaker 2:it was well I found out, you like to travel and here's an opportunity to visit the places where Apostle Paul preached. You know, it sounds like a good idea, a good opportunity, right? Little did you know?
Speaker 3:what's going to happen? Yeah, and I was questioning her because you know she's a nurse and I'm a tax accountant what use can I possibly be on a mission field? But I, you know, I'm glad that she convinced me that there is, you know, need for different skills and it was definitely an eye-opening experience. I'm glad I was a part of it.
Speaker 2:So I have to ask for me personally. It was so beautiful to watch you and you shared with me at the very beginning of the trip your reason for being there that you were just invited by a friend. And you're here to figure out what's up, what's going on, and then watch you through the course of the trip, really discover that joy and specialness of being used by God. That was really one of my highlights of the trip. So I have to ask you what was your most favorite moment, or maybe most life-changing moment of that trip?
Speaker 3:life-changing moment of that trip.
Speaker 3:I mean the whole experience was great. But I think when we had that family day at the camp and we prayed for one of the Russian-speaking ladies, galina, and to see how she was when she first came in, you know there was timididness, like you could feel, there was some heaviness on her heart and then her transformation, even just from those few hours that we spent together and you know to have, uh, people pray for her and it like it was just so beautiful to see what impact prayer and you, you know, word of God can have on somebody. And I followed up with her a few days later to see how she's doing and it was like talking to a different person and I know that the change that God has done in me, I remember how I was before and how I am now and maybe people who see me from the outside may, you know, notice different things, but to see the transformation happen in somebody else, that makes it more real in a way. And yeah, it was just incredible to see that you know how God can change somebody.
Speaker 2:Well, and to fill our listeners in a little bit. You know, little did we know going to Greece that we will have the opportunity to minister to people who speak the same language that we do, which is Russian? That, honestly, when God called us to Greece on a mission, that never crossed my mind that we will be ministering to people from all different parts of the world, including Ukraine and Russia, and so. But God knew so. When your friend lightheartedly invited you to join this mission, god already had all of this in mind. He already had in mind your experience of being transformed by the Word of God and how that, uniquely, is going to speak to Galena.
Speaker 2:It just blows my mind to think how beautiful God's plan is and how incredibly intricate is the design of how our lives fit into someone else's story. To be able to draw them to God and so to work with the refugees who fled to Greece from their countries seeking peace and safety, and then for God to send a group of missionaries from Canada and the United States and connect them at the right place at the right time. That was absolutely incredible. Well, you have discovered the joy of sharing Christ with others while on this mission trip. So what's next for you in that respect?
Speaker 3:Well, I'm always keeping an open eyes and mind as to what God has in store for me. Next, it was first when I came back from the trip. I just felt like I couldn't stop, you know, looking for opportunities to, you know, speak about the Bible to people, and I felt this, you know, level of boldness that I didn't have before. But since then, you know, life kind of came back to the more usual and, you know, weather is getting colder so I don't have any travel plans coming up. So I think my mission field will be, you know, the local city area.
Speaker 3:But yeah, I'm just keeping an open mind. I am involved in the outreach group with my church so we plan different events throughout the year to engage with the community. There was two barbecue events that I helped out with and we actually, even, before Greece, we did a little bit of street preaching. So I think the timing of it was well-placed again and if the opportunity arises, I wouldn't mind going out with people from my church and do that again. But yeah, I'm keeping an open mind. See what else God has for me.
Speaker 3:So, in conclusion, as our time is getting towards the end of our interview and you don't know if your dad is still alive, and you don't know if your dad is still alive, but if God would cross your paths one day and you would meet with him face to face, what would be the most important thing that you think you would want to tell him?
Speaker 3:At this point I no longer have any kind of resentment or hate. I mean, the Holy Spirit does transform the heart, so I don't feel the hate towards him anymore and I realize that he's just another mortal man that made a terrible choice and I do hope that he had an opportunity to repent of what he did and I forgive him. But I'm more interested to see if he sought forgiveness from God, because at the end of the day, it's not about my feelings, it's the bigger picture. Is he right in the eyes of god? And I do wish that him and anybody else who has done things they regret in the past, they would know that uh, uh, there is forgiveness and, uh, it is important to see god and have that burden lifted of the heart, because, uh, it's not the end, and I just hope that he had the same transformative experience in knowing Jesus that I did.
Speaker 2:Well, and I want to ask one more question what about your grandmother? Is she still a Jehovah Witness?
Speaker 3:Well she's. Actually I don't think she was fully committed to being Jehovah's Witnesses because she noticed a lot of inconsistencies in their teachings. But her first exposure to the Bible it was just through them, so she never really fully got on board with some of their beliefs about who Jesus is. I think she fully understands that Jesus is God and salvation is only through him, but unfortunately she is now in a nursing home and she has dementia so I don't really have the opportunity to speak to her on a deeper theological issue. But I know that she believes in salvation only through Jesus, so I am not worried about her soul.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much, Tanya, for sharing your story. I'm blessed every time I hear it, and I believe that your journey in being used by God has just begun and there is so much more ahead of you, so many lives that you can touch just with your heart, you know, and your love for Jesus, and so I look forward to maybe more adventures with you on the mission field.
Speaker 3:You never know, we may cross paths on another mission. For sure, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:What an amazing reminder that God's power to redeem isn't just theoretical. It's deeply personal and life-changing. Tatiana's story is a testament how God can turn even the greatest evil into a platform for his glory. Tatiana's journey from rejection to redemption and from pain to purpose is a reminder to all of us that God can use our deepest wounds as a way to display his incredible love and grace, and her passion for missions shows how that redemption doesn't stop with us. It's meant to be shared, lighting up the lives of others who desperately need to know the hope we have found in Christ. Thank you for joining us on Limitless Spirit. If this story touched your heart, share it with someone who needs to be reminded of God's redeeming love. If you have a story, it can change someone's life. At World Missions Alliance, we say change lives, change lives. Perhaps God is calling you to share his love and redemption in the nations. Check out our website, rfwmaorg. We're here to help you fulfill this call to the Great Commission. Again, the website is rfwmaorg.
Speaker 1:Until next time, remember God's grace knows no limits and His love is always reaching out to meet us right where we are. You are equipped to help others experience this transformation. Christ called his followers to make disciples across the world. World Missions Alliance gives you an opportunity to do this through short-term missions in over 32 countries across the globe. If you want to help those who are hurting and hopeless and discover your greater purpose in serving, check out our website rfwmaorg and find out how to get involved.