From Beauty Queen to Media Missionary

Lika Roman never dreamed she would be a beauty queen. Since she gave her life to the Lord at age eight, she wanted to be a missionary.

But God has used Roman’s platform as Miss Ukraine 2007 to share the gospel in ways she never imagined. Her opportunities have expanded as she began partnering with Back to God Ministries International to create Christian video messages.

Several years ago, Roman was working in a beauty shop while studying at the local university. One day a woman came to the salon for an appointment.

A former Miss Ukraine, the woman told Roman she should be a model.

 “I always gave my testimony to all my customers,” said Roman. “As I worked, this woman pressed me about my values and what I believed.”

But Roman didn’t think more about the modeling suggestion until two weeks later when the woman, who was scouting talent for the beauty pageant, again contacted Roman and asked her to participate. “I saw your beauty inside and out,” the woman told her.

Roman didn’t think she would win any title, but saw it as another opportunity to witness for the Lord.

“This was never my dream, but I prayed about it, talked with my pastor, and had peace in my heart. It was never about me, but it was God’s work from the first moment.”

After she was crowned Miss Ukraine 2007, numerous doors opened for her to travel around the country to speak publicly and share her faith and values.

But after two years of non-stop traveling, she was exhausted. So she began to pray about the idea of media evangelism. “I shared my thoughts on Twitter about making gospel videos and asked my friends to pray about how I could do this.”

One of Roman’s followers forwarded the Twitter post to Rev. Sergei Sosedkin, Russian media ministry leader for BTGMI.

After viewing some of her testimonies on YouTube, he contacted Roman and outlined Back to God’s vision for reaching people through media to make an impact on society.

“Lika’s tweet really came at the right moment,” recalls Rev. Sosedkin. “We were actively looking for someone to expand into online video outreach to reach the younger audiences.”

Lika Roman also sensed this was God’s answer to prayer. In partnership with Back to God Ministries and several churches in Ukraine, she began producing the video messages.

Along with several volunteers, they have produced 20 full-length videos, and several shorter videos.

“We take great care in writing, filming and editing the videos,” explains Roman. “They need to be interesting and professionally produced to reach our audience, mostly unbelievers.”

Besides participating in TV and radio broadcasts and producing videos and other media materials on BTGMI's behalf, Roman is still actively involved with public speaking in various settings.

Schools, local churches and civic organizations invite her to speak to younger people and women's audiences on various current issues. But regardless of the topic, she always finds ways to witness of God's love in Jesus Christ.

“The public TV stations wouldn’t interview pastors, but they accept me as a former Miss Ukraine,” Roman says.

“That gives me opportunities to share my values, and tell the audience about our programs, and give information about local churches where we are speaking.”

The videos have been broadcast on three national TV stations in Eastern Europe, one satellite network, and one cable network. They are also available on YouTube and several other social networks, and produced as DVDs for churches to use in local outreach.