More About the Brynza Family

Alexei Brynza served as a Baptist pastor in the Khortitsa Baptist Church near the city of Zaporozhe from 1975 to 1990.  In 1975, he was named senior pastor for the Zaporozhe region, overseeing over 30 churches.

Alexei and his wife, Valentina, had four children, Yakov, Viktor, Lena, and Veniamin. In spite of pressure from school government officials, they brought their children up in the church, even during the years it was illegal to do so.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Alexei Brynza was asked to be the first president of a new seminary to train Baptist and Evangelical Christian pastors and Christian education workers, to be located in Irpin, a suburb of Kiev. He served in that role from 1990 to 2008, resigning only a few months before his death.  His son-in-law, Igor Yaremchuk, now serves as president of the Irpin Biblical Seminary.

All four of the Brynza children came to know Jesus as their savior.  Beyond the Rapids tells of their struggles and triumphs, and how these faithful parents were able to defeat the efforts of the government to prevent them from passing on their faith to their children.  All of Alexei and Valentina’s children are currently serving in ministry.