Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Vasileuskaya.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hello, my name is Dana and I am from… Belarus! If you don’t know about the location of this country, it’s in Eastern Europe, right between Russia and Ukraine, yes. All of my life, I’ve been passionate about music and wanted to be a songwriter, and music teacher and basically be a professional in this sphere.
At the age of 15, my life was radically changed. My friend invited me to church and I met God there. I realized how real God is and this realization naturally led me to the dedication of my life and my dreams to Jesus. When my perspective was changed, I started to serve God through music and my voice.
Three years ago, God put into my heart a desire to go to the US and study music in a Christian college. But if you don’t know a lot about Belarus and the post-Soviet Union area in general you can’t get the point. First of all, this area of the world doesn’t have such thing as music and Christian education at the same time at the same establishment.
All the more so it can’t be verified as an official accredited way of education. Second, it’s incredibly difficult to get to the US if you’re from Belarus. It’s not affordable, and the chance of getting a visa is very low too.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The most difficult things happened after a year. Belarus is currently under a dictatorship and it’s ruled by a president who illegally captured his position. So in 2021, my nation went through a revolution after which a lot of people were persecuted, sent to prison, and abused and that’s why a lot of them fled the country.
But I still had that dream in my heart and mind, I knew that I needed to go. But I had no money, the US embassy was closed after all these incidents and my parents told me that I’m crazy. But in February 2021, I started to connect with Visible music college in Memphis, TN. And this place seemed perfect for me, they had a strong Christian foundation and a high level of music education at the same time.
Long story short, this college helped me to cover all of my financial issues. And US embassy was opened just for a month and worked only with particular cases like mine. Isn’t it a miracle! Now, I live in Memphis almost for a year, I love my college and community there with all my heart, I love the city and I’m trying to serve it and share what I have with people here.
Four months ago the war started in Ukraine and my heart was in despair about that. But I decided that I want to be the voice of the truth here and share about other realities that people might have in the different parts of the world.
Now, I see that I’m here at the right time and with purpose. And I’m incredibly grateful that god and my college brought me here in the time of war. I think that they truly saved me in this terrifying time.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a believer, student, singer, songwriter, minister, and a girl who’s telling the truth.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @danavasileuskaya
Image Credits
Rachel Bennett
