Supporting Women Saves Lives

An advocate for women in crisis, founder and president, Nadia Gordynsky’s vision for Safe a Life International is changing the lives of women and children in the U.S. and Ukraine by providing crisis pregnancy support, violence and domestic abuse assistance, and humanitarian aid for mothers and their children. Nadia believes no woman should feel the need to abort her child simply because there was no one to offer her support. With a cause so important, Nadia has found encouragement and confidence through The Global Leadership Summit to expand her mission.

“The Summit helped me stop undermining myself,” said Nadia. “It helped me get rid of an inferior mindset. As an immigrant to the U.S. from Ukraine, I still had this mindset that I didn’t belong. But being at the Summit, the atmosphere liberated me from this way of thinking and gave me more confidence. The Summit changes your perception about your God-given gifts and your ability to lead and inspire others. I realized that through Christ I can lead because people ARE following my lead!”

The Summit helped me stop undermining myself.

Nadia’s calling to serve women and support them through crisis pregnancy was unexpected. Looking back on the abuse she experienced in childhood; she can now see how God used something painful from her past to provide empathy to women. “It’s interesting when you look at your life and see the turning points you didn’t realize at the time,” said Nadia. “Sometimes things happen that you don’t understand, and you grieve. But even though it was something horrible, later in life you see how it turned out to bring about something good.”

Starting Save a Life International began with a trip home to Ukraine and a tragedy of her own.

Nadia discovered almost 1M abortions are performed every year in Ukraine. Pregnant with her own child at the time, she realized she wanted to make a difference and turn the tide on abortion in her home country. Yet, she didn’t anticipate what would happen next.

Though Jonathan only lived for a short hour, he already accomplished his purpose on this earth, and I must carry it through.

At just 18 weeks pregnant, she lost her son. It was Nadia’s own experience with losing a child, who only lived for one hour after a premature birth, that led her to start Save a Life International seven years ago. “I saw his heart beating,” said Nadia. “I held him in the palm of my hand. Years later, it still brings back memories. When we gave him to God, we said goodbye and our lives drastically changed. Though Jonathan only lived for a short hour, he already accomplished his purpose on this earth, and I must carry it through. What he accomplished in an hour I continue to accomplish. The best feeling is when I see the peace of the mother with her child, knowing this child wouldn’t exist if God didn’t use me.”

Working through the death of her own child, and reflecting on the experiences women face, especially those in crisis, she began to form a new approach to saving lives that started with the perspective that you cannot save the life of a baby if you don’t first take care of women. “When I start working through the death of my child, I started this organization,” Nadia explained. “Originally, I thought I was saving the lives of babies, but then I realized God wanted me to help to change the lives of the women. My old painful memories of abuse came back to me, and I started understanding the experiences of women so much better. It was a burden on my heart, and I decided to follow God one step at a time.”

Facing opposition and getting caught between being told she is not pro-life enough or not pro-choice enough, Nadia has found confidence at the Summit not to give up. “I hate when people say ‘pro-choice’ and ‘pro-life,’” said Nadia. “It’s such a trick. To truly be pro-choice, the woman needs the opportunity to also choose life. Some people think I’m controversial—they say I’m not pro-life enough. But we cannot march against abortion—if a girl sees us march against abortion, do you think she’ll come to us for support? By marching, we automatically distance her from us—how can we love her if we push her away?”

No woman should feel the need to abort her child simply because there was no one to offer her support.

Nadia believes no woman should feel the need to abort her child simply because there was no one to offer her support. With this focus, she is serving women who experience abuse and domestic violence. However, with the war that continues to rage on in Ukraine, the support women need is only growing and now also includes those who have experienced trauma and abuse by invading soldiers, as well as supporting refugees. “We’re doing the same thing we were doing before, except we expanded because now we have women and children living in the shelters we created out of our centers,” Nadia explained. “We have five times more clients than in all the years at our centers in Ukraine.”

Save a Life International Women’s Shelter

“The Summit opened my eyes and helped me to get up and keep going,” said Nadia. “It reminded me that I have something to give. The Summit gives you a bigger picture. This gathering is absolutely crucial—it brings people together and empowers them to bring good into the world and go out and do it. I love it.”

Join Nadia and others at The Global Leadership Summit to find your encouragement to keep going on the mission God set before you. Learn more at GlobalLeadership.org/Summit.