Guest blogger Linda Bunk lives with both high functioning autism and bipolar disorder. Linda is a gifted photographer, and now serves with SALT as a frequent missionary to Ukraine. This is the last of three posts showing how God has uniquely equipped Linda to minister effectively in Ukraine.
God called me to Ukraine. I never thought I would ever serve abroad. It is extremely difficult to live out of your comfort zone when you have Asperger’s. God showed how my story prepared me to live on mission.
Childhood: As a toddler, I was evaluated, and the director advised my parents to institutionalize me because they thought I would never be able to be educated. Thankfully, my parents did not listen to this advice. In Ukraine, parents of special needs children are also steered towards institutionalizing their children. Ukrainian institutions are much worse than in the US. Many children are left to waste away and used for human organ trade. God has shown me many reasons why He made me to live on mission in Ukraine.
Hospitalizations: God showed me how my time in a psychiatric hospital could be used for His glory, which is what prepared me to sleep at the state-run orphanages’ guest rooms. The psychiatric hospital and orphanages are pretty similar.
Photography: Also, He showed me how photography could be used to build His Kingdom. Many people take pictures on mission trips, but I was the only one to give them back to those I served. I gave out many photo albums to the children and the elderly. They loved them. They loved sharing them with their friends. These photographs softened their hearts to hear His Word of Grace through Jesus Christ. This was God’s plan for me. Since 2010, I have been on twenty plus mission trips to Ukraine.
In 2020, God called me to live on full-time mission with SALT, which is a missions organization that glorifies God by training leaders to plant churches to serve the nations, starting in Ukraine. Several years ago, SALT’s founder, Timofey Dovgalyuk, met a young disabled man with a talent for singing at a music camp. His mother was delighted with the camp. Timofey found that she and her son were not welcomed at any church. God is on the move in Ukraine through families impacted by Wings of Faith (SALT’s local partner), as they serve families with autistic children through a preschool and family Bible Study and fellowship. These families face many difficulties, including not being welcomed at church. SALT’s values are centered on Jesus and the gospel:
Prayer is our main resource
Every person matters
Pastors are present
Deed first, then Word
Center stage worthy (all individuals)
Every person is worthy to be center stage in God’s eyes. He made all of us wonderfully in His image. (Psalm 139: 14; Genesis 1:27). SALT is working to plant churches that serve all in the community. I will be equipping pastors and leaders to serve, walk alongside, and encourage those afflicted with mental illness and autism.
Why is there an urgent need in Ukraine?
Ukraine has made steps to move away from the Soviet-style approach to mental health treatment by establishing Public Health Institutes under the Ministry of Health. Unfortunately, Ukraine has not been able to build an infrastructure to support the country’s mental health needs. They have no laws protecting people with mental illness, no services to support families, no caregiver advocacy groups, no financial support by their national healthcare for mental illness, no day hospitals for mental health, and very few psychiatric hospitals.
In Ukraine, there are only 4,363 mental health professionals and only 339 who specialize in treating children. The Ukrainian population is 41.98 million people, and their suicide rate is 14th highest in the world. There is no national suicide hotline, only Odessa and L’viv have a regional crisis centers. Ukraine has an urgent need for godly people to lead in caring for and serving mentally ill people. The Church is the central component to help care for these afflicted people.
I will help equip the local SALT pastors to serve the mentally ill. Also, I want to encourage Ukrainian Christians to not only serve, but train as mental health care providers. With God’s blessing, SALT Centers will be a shining light in a dark world of suffering. SALT is sending me to equip pastors and others to meet the urgent needs, but also spiritual needs of the mentally ill.
“I want to be a part of a people who are fearlessly holding on to God’s Word while selflessly sacrificing to share and show God’s love amid urgent needs in our world.”
Linda’s previous two blog posts are linked here and here. To view more of her work or connect with her, visit her photography website, wholelotofbunk.org, read her photography bio, and visit her ministry website, abnormalmissionary.org.
