Every so often, God allows us to see the deeper fruit of patient discipleship — not just in numbers, but in lives awakened, healed, and released into leadership. Anya’s story is one of those moments.  What you’re about to read is not simply a testimony. It’s a window into the kind of formation that happens when people are seen, honored, and empowered rather than controlled — and into the kind of leaders God is raising up through this work.

Anya’s Story In Her Own Words

My path to ministry began with profound healing. For most of my life, I carried a distorted image of a tormentor God, imposed on me in childhood. The religious environment I later encountered only deepened the wounds, offering rules instead of relationship and judgment instead of love. I was spiritually broken, yet my heart held an unquenchable thirst—to know the real God and to find a meaning that transcended career or family.

Lyle showed me a different reality. He didn’t see an inconvenient girl; he saw a potential leader. He didn’t dismiss my questions; he patiently and respectfully answered every single one, even when they were born from my defensiveness and pain. He was the first leader who didn’t try to fit me into a religious mold but confirmed that my yearning for a loving Father was the truest thing about me.

He saw the people God had placed around me and recognized the influence I carried, and he chose to bless it rather than control it.

Lyle had a supernatural grace to “carry” me through my mess. When other leaders would have told me to avoid a difficult situation, he would say, “You can do this. Talk to God about it. Love them anyway.” This unwavering belief — and his refusal to let me take an easier, lesser path — taught me what true discipleship looks like. It empowers rather than enables.

Even before my healing was complete, God began awakening the leadership gift He had placed in me since childhood. Lyle and the Novo team didn’t just support it — they blessed and directed it. They saw my “inconvenient” curiosity and passion not as a threat, but as potential for influence.

They entrusted me with responsibility, began to train me, and for the first time, I felt that my desire to lead people could be used by God rather than suppressed by a religious system.

It was through Novo that I was first introduced to Disciple-Making Movements (DMM), which gave language and structure to the multiplication I felt God calling me toward.

Today, that calling has become a concrete ministry. I now lead a growing movement centered on Discovery Bible Studies (DBS), a core tool for starting DMMs. Our goal is not to gather people into one group, but to equip spiritual parents who can start their own simple, reproducible groups.

We are currently connected with over 160 people in our main chat group, and already about 25 young and emerging leaders from cities across Russia have begun facilitating their own DBS groups. We are seeing the first fruits of a movement.

By the end of 2026, our faith goal is to see 200 trained leaders actively facilitating groups and creating multiple generations of disciples. To move toward this, we are developing digital outreach, culturally relevant training resources, and a support structure for emerging leaders.

My own journey — from a wounded seeker to a movement leader — reflects God’s heart to see every person, regardless of their past, become a catalyst for His Kingdom.

Next: Starting fires all over the Russian-speaking world Anya is clearly a key player in what God is igniting — but she is not meant to be the only one. She is the first of many catalysts God desires to raise up. As we look toward 2026, our vision reaches beyond meaningful work in Russia alone. The tools, insights, and relational practices being formed in these challenging mission environments are just as needed here at home — in our churches, our families, and our everyday lives. Serving in a hard place has continually driven us back to first things: listening, obedience, deep relationships, and authentic community. These are the very foundations so many are longing for again in the Church today.