Living Testimonies
Living Testimonies is a faith-based podcast sharing real stories of transformation, healing, and hope. Each episode features powerful conversations with guests who open up about the challenges they’ve faced and how their faith in God has shaped their journey.
Whether you’re looking for encouragement, spiritual insight, or a reminder that you’re not alone, this podcast will uplift and inspire you. These are stories of redemption that point to one truth: God is still moving.
Your story, His Glory!
Living Testimonies
The Beauty in Brokenness: A Testimony of Hope and Healing - Lilia Klaczynski
Join me for an inspiring conversation with Lilia Klaczynski, a remarkable woman who has overcome incredible adversity to become a beacon of hope and joy. Born in Moldova, Lilia was abandoned at birth and spent her early years in an orphanage, facing numerous challenges and hardships.
Despite these difficulties, Lilia's love for nature, art, and music flourished, providing her with a sense of sanctuary and purpose. As she shares her story, Lilia reveals the pivotal moments that led her to embrace her faith and discover her passion for writing.
through her journey, Lilia acknowledges the goodness of God and the transformative power of faith. Her story is a testament to hope, healing, and redemption, inspiring listeners to find joy and purpose in the midst of adversity.
Tune in to hear Lilia's remarkable story, marked by compassion, forgiveness, and an unwavering optimism that will uplift and inspire you.
Links to connect with Lilia Klaczynski:
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Your Story, His Glory!
Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. I'm grateful for your support and for being part of this community. If you've been enjoying the podcast so far, I'd love it if you could take a minute to leave a review. Your feedback helps me reach more people and share these inspiring stories with others. Let's spread the word. Please share this podcast with your friends and family. And if you haven't already, be sure to like and subscribe for new episodes. To stay connected and up to date on all the latest news, updates, and exclusive content, head over to my Facebook page, Living Testimonies. While you're there, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter. The link is on the page. Thanks again for listening, and I'll catch you in the next episode. Welcome to Living Testimony, Stories of Faith and Redemption. I'm your host, Israel Caminero, and I hope everyone that's listening is blessed and doing well. With me today, I have my sister in Christ. Her name is Lilia Klaczynski. And Lilia was here before. We've been trying to finish the podcast and do it all over again. And she finally we're finally able to do this today, and we're gonna get to hear her story that was intended to come out a while ago, but things happen in life and we weren't able to do it. But here we are. Lilia, can you say a little bit about yourself to everyone?
Lilia Klaczynski:Sure. Hi, Israel. Thank you for having me so much. And uh my name is Lilia Klaczynski, and uh just a brief thing about me. I actually grew up in the former Soviet Union uh in a small country called Moldova, and uh I was raised in the orphanage of about 800 children. From there on, I was uh adopted at age 15. I had come to US. Uh here I am today. I'm married to my husband of 20 years and four children, and then I'd be more than happy to share some details along the way.
Israel Caminero:That's right. And that's what she's here for, to share her testimony of where she was and where she's at now. And as you heard, she was an orphanage, so she's got a story to tell. But before we start, I'd like to pray over us and I'd like to say, Dear God, I lift up Lilia to you as she prepares to share her voice and story on the podcast. Give her confidence, clarity, and courage to speak from her heart. May her words be infused with your wisdom, love, and truth. Help her relax, be herself, and enjoy the conversation. May this opportunity be a blessing to her and to all who listen. May you be glorified through her words and testimony. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. So, Lilia, you said it. You were in the orphanage, we want to hear about it. Platforms are yours. Can you share your testimony with my audience, please?
Lilia Klaczynski:Sure, sure. Um, so I grew up with about, like I said, about 800 children. I was born premature at about four pounds, two ounces. Uh, and in that time, when it comes to medical, it's pretty much non-existent. So, in some ways or another, I am considered somewhat of a miracle baby uh because the male nourishment was very, very common in that time. Uh, they didn't have all the equipment that we have today in order to help a child grow and um overcome early birth uh difficulties and whatnot. And so I was transported to uh it was a former Soviet, it was a former uh World War II bunkers area and military grounds. And apart from 800 children in this particular orphanage, uh, Moldova was actually housing a lot of orphanages. It was known, it had gained its nickname for dumping grounds uh from one of my old world vets. Uh he was a World War II vet that uh was telling us the stories of the large influx of children coming in and uh back in uh after the World War II, about the 50s and the 60s. And uh what had happened, he explained, was that there was less men and more women, procreation still continued, but there was no fathers to care for the children. And so the 12 countries uh in that time of the Soviet Union had decided that Moldova was going to be the country that was going to house all these children coming from all these countries, and so the government had had it that way established, and that's how it gained its nickname, the dumping grounds. So, I mean, even 12 kilometers down the road, even five kilometers down the road, there was another orphanage. This particular orphanage that I was in housed for the most part all physically able children. Majority of the children were just mentally incapable, and a lot of them had, I would say a good 80% or more had alcohol fetal syndrome, which comes in many different uh many different levels. Uh, and then with that, of course, side effects of schizophrenia and other things that came with that as well. So I was actually considered one of the normal children. Um blessings be to that. So I did get to skip school a lot. It was pretty much my uh reward not to have to sit in the classroom all day long. Going back to the ear to the earlier times, we had no concept of God in the orphanage where the only thing that was ruled over us in that time, Israel, was um red flag with image of Lenin on it. So it was the way that's the way it was set up. It was a closed system. Uh inside that orphanage, it was as if like nobody could leave, but nobody could come in. It's the way it was. So we didn't get missionaries until the fall of the communism. The fall of the communism created a whole other new dynamic of struggles that we had to overcome as well. So during the fall of the communism, uh before the fall of the communism, we had still experienced things like three meals a day. Um, there was some sort of a discipline, discipline in uh in place and things like that. There was about 40 kids per disciplinarian in that time. And after the fall of the communism, everything stopped. It was a drop. It was just, it was just so immediate, so quick, that what had caused it caused for us to go into that starvation mode. There was the storages that were under the ground, which were all the escape uh routes for military in that time. They used them as storages after the World War II. Uh, they became empty. There was no more foods in there, there was no more clothes. The only coat that I had, I had to hold on to it for my dear life, even though the even though the sleeves would go up to my elbows because I was growing and the coat couldn't grow with me. It's just like whatever we had was what we kept, and it was very, very challenging, especially in the times of the fall of the communism.
Israel Caminero:Sounds very challenging. I can't even imagine. You weren't eating, you didn't have clothes to wear. It sounds very challenging.
Lilia Klaczynski:Yes. So we had we still had showers per se. We had it was like one time a month for like five minutes. And even during the communist times, coal was hard to get by to get at all. Coal, black coal was the only way they would heat our orphanage and the water. So if they didn't have coal, they didn't have hot water.
Israel Caminero:Oh gotcha.
Lilia Klaczynski:And uh it wasn't just us trying to, you know, you know, 40 to 60 girls trying to get under 10 spigots, and five of them would have all been working, it was uh the teachers. There would be three or four teachers of ladies who would also try to get in there. So there were many times where not even a drop of water would get on top of me when we were there. Also, we had villager, uh we saw our village or Moldova in general, we didn't have stores like Walmart that we have here, and we have boxed items here and things like that. Uh, where I grew up, we only had like a dairy guy, a butcher, and um bread, meat, and milk.
Israel Caminero:Okay.
Lilia Klaczynski:That's all that was served. Anything else that came fresh from the garden is what we would receive. So, you know, like potatoes and cabbages and things like that. Even after the fall of the communism, during the fall of the communism, electricity was controlled. It would only come on once a day approximately. And once those lights were on for that short minute, it's as if like the cooks already knew how to get things moving, and they already had a huge pot on the stove going right away with all the potatoes, trying to feed the entire orphanage.
Israel Caminero:That's gotta be a tough task trying to uh feed 800 people.
Lilia Klaczynski:You could say that, yeah, it was. And you should see the size of these pots. It was pretty. I mean, it was my norm that I grew up in, but I have not seen those big pots since I've left the orphanage. Like, wow, it was definitely unique, unique setup for sure. The villagers outside, after the fall of the communism, we had trash being thrown into our dumpsters. And you better believe it. We I was like the first one in line. We knew when they were coming, it's like we had a time perfectly because we were in starvation mode. We would run up to those dumpsters and pull those bags apart. Whatever we found is what we found. And so unfortunately, with all with that also came a lot of other risks, and for us it was food poisoning to the point of where, you know, some of those experiences were near death experiences as well. The only way to revive us in that time, that the only best way they knew how was lukewarm water. You would have two individuals hold you or hold you down, one opens up your mouth and the other one pours water down your throat. And she would take the two longest fingers, shove them as far as she could in there, you would basically end up throwing it all back out. Wow. That was the only way they knew how to get our stomach uh rinsed out again. And in you know how today you have IVs that do the work for you and things like that?
Israel Caminero:Yes.
Lilia Klaczynski:No, not not in those times. The fastest way to get it out of your stomach before it it uh processes any further was water down your throat and two fingers.
Israel Caminero:Interesting. I I don't I don't know whether I would want that done or not.
Lilia Klaczynski:No, it wasn't uh it was not pleasant.
Israel Caminero:Yeah, but I guess you didn't have a choice, so yeah, it was difficult.
Lilia Klaczynski:We also had, I mean, we were exposed to all kinds of epidemics and things like that. So, like we if if the flu broke out, it broke out and it was like wildfire, everybody would be sick and we would be sick for weeks on end. The entire orphanage would shut down because I mean obviously there's so many of us and they're trying to keep it quarantined. They would even make the disciplinarians that were on duty at that time, they would stay there for that whole three-week period because they didn't want anything getting out.
Israel Caminero:So, did you see a lot of kids not make it?
Lilia Klaczynski:A lot of times, if I didn't see kids not making it, I almost saw kids just disappearing more than anything. I remember seeing kids and then where was where is the space again? I haven't seen them in a long time and things like that. So I can't say if they would not make it or not, but it's very possible, very possible.
Israel Caminero:Okay.
Lilia Klaczynski:Um, but because we had so many near death experiences, I wouldn't be surprised. A lot of times, in in because if they if uh from what my understanding, if they did, they probably would, you know, quiet, everything was in the quiet.
Israel Caminero:Yeah, they probably wouldn't let you guys know anyways, right?
Lilia Klaczynski:Yes, yes. Although I did, I mean I did witness a couple of deaths in my life uh in that time. One of them was was I watched death, and the other one was I found death. Uh one of them was so that with that change of the communism falling, we also there was a huge turnover in the orphanage. There was new teachers, uh new director, things like that were happening. This new director came in, he was just a vibrant young gentleman, and uh some of us girls felt like we could trust him because what had happened uh during the fall of the communism we had, and then even before then, in the nighttime, you would have drunken men would come in and buy out the individual that was supposed to be washing over the orphanage. They would buy them out with a bottle of vodka, and then what goes goes afterwards. So they would help themselves into the girls' rooms and did as they pleased.
Israel Caminero:Oh no.
Lilia Klaczynski:And one of those instances, well, actually, it was more than one instance, uh, with me and my class classmates as well. In my earliest age was about seven or eight years old. So I was in first grade.
Israel Caminero:Wow. Sorry to hear.
Lilia Klaczynski:Um that's okay, thank you. And then from there, we were um uh because there was less disciplinarians because there was no more pay for them. The only way the the government was able to pay them now was with a bag of potatoes or with a bag of carrots and things like that. There was no monetary, so there was less teachers in the orphanage working, and so it forced the system to incorporate older boys to watch over a lot of the classrooms. And so, and yes, there was that going on as well, where older boys would come in and take advantage of the little girls. They would call us into places and fear ruled, let's just put it that way. And fear was instilled at the very, very young age, especially for me in particular, because my earliest form of fear that was employed was uh around three years old when I had just arrived to the orphanage from the uh from the hospital there I was staying at for the first two and a half years of my life or so. Baba Yaga is a translation for a witch. And uh a lady in the nighttime dressed up as a witch, and she came and uh we were not asleep. If somebody was not asleep, she pulled the covers back and asked us to follow her down the hall. She would give us uh brushes of some sort to scrub down the bathroom areas. Our bathrooms were not toilets that you see today that we all are able to sit on. Our bathrooms consisted of holes in the ground, and they were pretty decent-sized holes, enough for a small child to be to fall in. They were pretty good-sized holes for a child to fall in, and because we were so malnourished, we were all just a teeny tiny little things.
Israel Caminero:Gotcha.
Lilia Klaczynski:And so, yeah, one of them had fallen in when um that was one of my first experiences I remember, where there was shuffling in a room, it was pitch black, it was just one of those times. I write in the first of my couple of my chapters of my book, Open Fields and Iron Curtains. That was the first form of fear that I remember ever experiencing for the first time. And so um I didn't want that for anybody else, but that's how it all began. And then from there on, when they moved us to first grade, second grade, there were other things that were happening to older kids, and uh and we were just uh forced to oblige. And if we didn't, we would get punished severely. In many cases, our punishment consisted of walking on dry corn on our knees, like a dock walk, basically, if you can imagine, with hands behind our head. Uh, one of the other punishments was uh bringing in a fresh green stick. And I would bring in the greenest one because you know I'm going out there to enjoy the nature and I'm bringing in the fresh, beautiful green sticks. I didn't know what that was punishment was all about just yet. What had happened is there was a bunch of fingers pointing at me, accusing me of stealing something from the teacher's purse. And when you have 20 fingers pointing you out of 60 kids, there was no the system did not have the time to uh sit and pick apart who did it and who didn't. There was no, and there was no room for me to be able to say I didn't do it. There's no justification of any sort. So I got punished for that. And a lot of times that's exactly how the system worked. One would get punished, and most times uh they didn't even do it. And so, yes, I would bring in those fresh green sticks for the first time, only to realize they were the most painful ones, and they would hit you where it may land, and that's how that's how they operated. And then, of course, Israel, I got really smart. I saw the older boys bring in the big, big, ugly sticks for their punishment, and then I got and I was like, oh, that's less painful.
Israel Caminero:Wow.
Lilia Klaczynski:So form of punishment. Um, I mean, one of the things I would say the discipline when it comes to like having a daily routine was good, but the discipline where there was uh physical abuse applied, uh, of course, with that came emotional, uh, psychological abuse. Uh that was brutal in those times. Whether they were lacking the amount of teachers to provide, whether they were lacking whatever it is, what it was, unfortunately, we got to suffer those consequences.
Israel Caminero:That's incredible. I mean, you you got taken to a orphanage since you were born practically. You suffered abuse, you know, not only physical, but the other type of abuse also were malnourished and everything else that you could probably imagine. They didn't follow any type of Christ, as you said. What made you not give up? I'm sure some people in your shoes would have gave up and just tried doing anything to probably get in trouble, get run away, or anything like that. Like what kept you going on a day-to-day basis?
Lilia Klaczynski:Sure. And that existed. I mean, running away did exist, actually. It was quite common. Most of us were pretty fed up. Uh, just like in any system, there is a bully, and there's like a hierarchy that exists. And I will go back to witnessing of the deaths. Um I I know I skipped over that part, but I'll I'll add that later on. So in this particular case, I was about age 10 and we were at a camp setting where that's a new territory for the first time. But I am being beaten to the point of it was it was an ambush set up set up. I was supposed we were supposed to be trading amongst ourselves on whatever items we had stolen from the villagers or from the city nearby or from the orchards nearby. Uh instead, I got beaten really, really hard because I refused to want to submit to the individuals, uh, the the girl that was bullying um over us in the orphanage. I started, I wanted to run. Everyone went for breakfast. I ran through that forest that was nearby. I ran right through it, and then I fell down the hill, which is was very, very steep. Little did I know I was gonna end up in a huge thick pond. I started to fight for my life. I started to try to swim up and trying to get out of it. But because the wall was so straight up, I couldn't, there was nothing to grab onto. There was no way to get out of it. So I did find myself in the place where I was I had let go and I was uh reaching to the bottom basically, and it was just so pitch black at the bottom of that pond, and I couldn't hear the earth's sounds anymore when uh suddenly out of nowhere, there was just this power came out of absolutely nowhere and lifted me up, pushed me up from under my feet, and brought me back on the surface. But this time I was already on the other side of the pond. I must have shifted, and I was on the I was able to pull myself up and landed on the water's edge. Um, that was for the first time I experienced where I looked at the sky and the open vastness around me and the fields, and I just noticed it's as if like I've seen it for the very first time in my life, and I was laying there for the rest of my day trying to figure out what was beyond those skies. What was this great power that existed? Again, the concept of God did not exist. Uh, so I never had the right words to describe it, and I described it like that in my book because that's the only best way I could describe it was the great power uh that saved me that day. So to this day, one of my biggest faith that I have, it does depend a lot on what had happened that day in that time. Uh I can I can face anytime, anything, anywhere, and I know that whatever it is, it has my back. I am I am in good hands. You know what I mean? I was I knew that they good that great power existed, and uh it I I'm without words, Israel, as I as I take the time to reflect on that again.
Israel Caminero:So that was the first time you experienced God?
Lilia Klaczynski:Well, that was the first time I experienced the great power that I didn't know the name to put to yet in that age at that time. Because it wasn't until we were 14 uh that the missionaries, and it wasn't until I was 14, uh finally they opened up the gates to the orphanage and they were able to let uh missionaries start to come in for the first time. And so that's when we were hearing about Christ and like uh I'm hearing about Jesus Christ, I'm hearing the stories. I mean, apart from them bringing food for us, clothes, uh by the way, our clothes only consisted in like prime neutral colors like brown and dark navy and black, and they started to bring in from all the different countries the aid came, humanitarian aid. It was the first time I've seen vibrant colors. Uh, and then of course, apart from that, when they brought the stories of Christ with them, it gave me hope. I I I was really in shock in that time remembering hearing like did that did was there really a man that existed that was capable of loving unconditionally? That for me was a big one because love unconditionally, I didn't even know, I couldn't even comprehend on what that would even be, because we were lacking in the nurturing aspect, even in the physical touch uh for the only physical of relation I could have is a sexual relation because there's so much going on of that. But these missionaries came and when they're when they're putting your arm around you and their smiles, you look at them as if like you saw the light of Christ in them.
Israel Caminero:Right. And yes. No, I just said amen.
Lilia Klaczynski:Yes, amen. I mean, it's as if like they they were like the light, they came, they were like the light in the darkest places, and uh they did bring the hope of Christ, Christ stories with them. Of course, for majority of us, the light would dim away and it would just it would be short-lived because as soon as they leave, as soon as they like get us all excited about Christ and all the wonderful things that He did, we would forget you know the next day, only because we were back to reality. We would need to we were needing to survive again. So with within me, that lived within me for a short time. It wasn't till my early 20s when I really came to know Christ. But before I go there, I wanted to share the the couple of instances of so one of the things that kept my heart soft though in that time in the orphanage was um one of the older boys that did take advantage of us. When the new director took over, you become an adult at age 16, not 18, like it is here. For us orphans, when we were to leave the orphanage, it they give you your pillow blanket and toothbrush, if any, at all, if anything, and you're pretty much you go out the gate and you're on your own. Where do they go next? Well, most times boys were becoming drug traffickers, and girls were sex uh used for sex trafficking.
Israel Caminero:Okay.
Lilia Klaczynski:So those were the primary things, those that was the most common way. Uh so in this particular case, uh, some of us girls got really courageous and went to the director to tell him that older boys had been taking advantage of us for a long time. The word came around really fast that they were all gonna go to prison. And I don't know if anybody's listening, if you don't know what those Russian prisons are like, uh let you do your own research on that in that time and how horrible they were. But that was the last thing a young boy wanted, you know, at age 16. So when I was leaving one of the buildings from behind of the sleeping building, uh I saw an object fall from the third floor. And as I got closer, it was a body lady form there. And you could tell there was a small deer of cigarettes and a bottle of vodka nearby, and uh I knew he was he was gone. And so I just knew he was gone. And then one of the individuals that taught us music, the music teacher, was walking, and he was like, Hey, why are you standing there? Go get help. But I was in such a state of shock I couldn't even move. So I just basically I was I was stuck. But as the crowd grew bigger and bigger, um, the ambulance came by, they confirmed that he was dead. All of a sudden they were shouting. I could hear an exclamation of like, finally, finally, he's dead. We're excited he is dead. And in that time, of course, I couldn't show that I was crying or anything like that, but I had felt deep, deep, deep sadness for this individual, recognizing that his life just ended and how precious life is. He would not be able to go and continue living. And so within that time, I I it it's it's as if like the comparison of him abusing me for a long time, for years, in comparison to recognizing how short his life was, uh my that compassion just grew within me. And it was just like it was just there. My heart was able to remain soft and able to come to a place of forgiving.
Israel Caminero:Wow.
Lilia Klaczynski:And uh to this day, that's how my heart has remained to be able to know how to forgive my abusers. That's actually one of the powerful testimonies I share with a lot of churches. I have been granted that wonderful blessing.
Israel Caminero:So that's good. That's good because forgiveness is key.
Lilia Klaczynski:Forgiveness is the main key, and that's uh by far the hardest one. Coming to U.S. wasn't exactly a fairy tale either, though, Israel. Uh again, the abuses continued actually here.
Israel Caminero:In the US.
Lilia Klaczynski:In the U.S. mm-hmm.
Israel Caminero:With with uh so you got adopted and came to the U.S.
Lilia Klaczynski:Yes, my adopted family. And so that unfortunately continued, and uh it's not exactly a fairy tale story, but I will say this, and I'm not uh undermining or talking anybody down or up, but I wanted to encourage that I I'm looking at a greater blessing from from this as well, because if it wasn't for God bring bringing me to this place, I wouldn't have a story to tell. I knew leaving the orphanage and I knew what I was going to be facing. And uh that adoption came like a blessing, and it came to the last minute basically. Uh so I was in the orphanage steps scraping away the ice when um the cars were very rare, by the way. We had horse and buggy, was the most common way of going or getting about. And so if you see a car, you knew it was coming from a city nearby about 45 minutes away. And so this car pulled in, and everybody is in the classroom setting, and because I had great grades, I got to skip the classroom, but instead we were given chores, and I was perfectly fine with that. So I was like a hall monitor for the day, and I was scraping the ice and things like that. So this lady comes out with a couple of bodyguards and a translator, and you could tell I my eyes are just staring at this lady. I'm like, she is not from around here. I mean, she wore the biggest snowsuit. I was like, what is it she's wearing? She resembled like an Eskimo. She was so well dressed, and I was like, whatever it is, wherever she's coming from, I would sure would love to be in her shoes right about now. So uh literally in her shoes. So I ran up to her and uh the bodyguard pushed me away. In that time, it was very common for anybody coming from a different country traveling with a bodyguard because it was the food was so scarce, things were scarce, and so there was a lot of crime going on too. The translator looked at me and and I said, and I said, take me, take me, because I knew she was there to adopt. The translator looked at me, she says, No, she's here for meek, meek as in like small child translates to from Romanian.
Israel Caminero:Gotcha.
Lilia Klaczynski:And I said, Of course, I mean I'm 14 years old, who's gonna want me now at this point? I was in the adoption list for many years, and I was considered one of the normal children when it comes to psych uh mentally. But the potential, the potential parents have always ex you know, said she's too tall, she's too skinny, her eyes are too big, the skin is not the right color. So I had pretty much accepted that I just wasn't good enough. This one was exactly exactly that. I'm now at this point, I'm just too big. Who's gonna want me? By the end of that day, actually, uh day um, it was like 10 o'clock at night, and we were all headed back to our corpus to sleep. The the kids were like, Lily, Lily, they're calling you in the office. Come, come. And I thought for sure I was in trouble. But as I made my way in there, uh the director of the orphanage looked at me and said, Lilia, how would you like to go to America? And I I was in such a state of shock, Israel. I literally passed out. He he caught me in his arms because I just was in disbelief. I was in, I was like, there's no way. No way.
Israel Caminero:So was it the same lady that came?
Lilia Klaczynski:It was the same lady. She was still there. She says, Hey, I need to make a phone call. This was in 1996, okay? So most form of communication back then was by facts. And so, you know, with a seven, eight-hour difference from US, I mean, it was very difficult to get a hold of whomever you needed it. But anyway, to make a long story short, she says, I need to get a hold of my husband to confirm that he'd be okay with this. And for me, it just felt like four forever because they asked me to wait out in the hallway for that phone call to be made. But talk about God's God's hand on this, let me tell you, He can use He can use the most interesting um aspects of your journey, uh, of how you come to where you come to in your life today, in order for you to be able to um come to a place of acknowledging his graces over your life.
Israel Caminero:You know what I mean? Amen. Amen to that. So, what happened once you got adopted and came to the U.S.? You said you, you know, the abuse continued.
Lilia Klaczynski:So I had left home early. I was about 17 and a half, I was already living on my own. They I they got divorced, uh, she was living with someone else. He was still raising the other two little girls that were adopted. I was basically uh met a youth group, talk about another, I mean, there's so many graces in my life that I recognize God's goodness is over me. It's unbelievable, unbelievable, Israel, as I take the time to reflect. But uh talk about perfect timing. He and uh God's way of introducing me to a random uh Russian youth group um in Michigan was uh was something divine as well. And um I was able to meet with them. I became part of their uh clique, and uh we would travel to all the different states, and so my calling was when we were at the Russian youth group conference in Chicago, and it was one of those times where they were calling um whoever wants to accept Christ into their heart. I can't remember what it's called.
Israel Caminero:Altar call.
Lilia Klaczynski:Altar call, thank you. And so it was one of those times when when I had my eyes closed, everybody was in the prayerful state, and all of a sudden I just followed the lights. But little did I realize I was already on stage in that time, uh, as the hand, someone's hand touched me and they started praying over me when I realized how did I end up here? So in my early 20s is when I accepted Christ into my life, and so combining my orphanage's experience and especially there was another miracle, so a couple of these miracles, it really propelled my Christian life uh in a way where I would have never imagined. It it just it just made it even more amplified in my in my growing. And so since then, for the last 20, well, almost 30 years I've been in the US, and for the last 20 years, I have been married and I have four children, and I have just recently published a book, Israel.
Israel Caminero:Amen.
Lilia Klaczynski:Yes, so it's been a lot of growing. Yes, and I do sing. I'm not saying that I can sing or I know how to sing, but I do sing.
Israel Caminero:She she does worship.
Lilia Klaczynski:Yes.
Israel Caminero:She does worship at the church she attends, the church you attend, correct?
Lilia Klaczynski:Yes. I actually I attend many churches. I have a lot of churches that just invite me to speak, to share my story, my testimonies. I have the ability to sing if they would like to see hear me sing as well. So I I don't have a particular denomination I'm tied down to. The one that I'm a part of is a non-denominational, but in my community and all the cities nearby, I do get to speak at a lot of them, and it's been it's been such a blessing. You know, most people are interested in these stories because, you know, like things like you know, having snacks, that's that was a non-existent for us. Just having uh uh socks or gloves or hats or scarves, it was pretty much non-existent for us. So there is, and people want to hear stories like the way we dealt with lice uh when it overtook us in the orphanage, it was such a bad epidemic where they had to shave our heads. The infestations were so bad, Israel, that it was they were crawling and under our skin. The queens were living underneath there already at this point on on our skulls. And so we would scratch ourselves, and we didn't have just thousands of eggs in our hair. We had the queens already embedded themselves in there. So we would scratch ourselves to the point of where we would bleed. The only way they knew how to deal with it in that time was to pour kerosene on our heads. So you would have all of us lining up, they would shave our heads and then pour kerosene on our heads. And let me tell you, that pain was absolutely.
Israel Caminero:That was your concept of God, but I can see throughout your story the the little bits that you shared that God was there with you the whole time, even though you didn't know that.
Lilia Klaczynski:Isn't that something? I am, and especially in the times when um we didn't have anybody to stand up for us. We didn't have anybody to protect us. And so that particular instance that saved me at the bottom of that pond, it was one of those instances that I recognized God's grace, uh, unimaginable. Um, obviously in my 20s, Israel is how long it took me to put that name to that, to that great power that saved me in that time. But that but that followed me my whole lot, my whole life. It followed me as in like my faith is super strong today. It it won't matter what can happen. I know that whatever happens, I know that God does exist, that great power exists, and it's unimaginable. We can't comprehend it to the degree of his goodness. And I mean, it's an instance like that, but then I also have a lot of small instances in between. So as I took the time to write my book, I began um because of so many traumas in my life, Israel, I had so many traumas. Uh, I had to um undergo a very, very extensive emotional health uh journey. Uh, started six years ago. And uh it's taken me to a place where I was able to pretty much lay everything out. So I had it all on the floor, all my traumas, all of my bad events that happened in that time. But with that also came the healing process. A lot more forgiveness came with that. The uh emotional trauma uh program that I went through is called Murray Method. It focuses on the emotional growth, though we have four main pillars about us emotional, spiritual, physical, and intellectual. This particular program focuses on the emotional aspect because that is where I was lacking a great deal. I had spiritual because that's one thing no one could take away from me. Uh, but when it came to dealing with uh day-to-day things and how things triggered me, I could not place a finger in that. I couldn't figure out how things came about, why is this happening, why is that happening. This particular program helped me to be able to deal with all of that under the surface, come out at the top. And so what had happened is I had wanted to write this book 30 years ago almost when I came to US in 1996, okay? Because the stories were so intriguing, they were so different. For me, it was the way of life. But anytime somebody heard my stories, they were in shock. They were in like, how is this possible? Did this really happen? Right?
Israel Caminero:Right.
Lilia Klaczynski:And so, um, so but in that time, language was a main concern, main barrier. So I had to shelve that temporarily during that time until I could form a sentence, learn how to form a sentence, and then So 20 years ago I met my husband for the reason of him helping me to write my book, but instead we got married and had four kids. Had a bunch of kids, so it got put aside again.
Israel Caminero:That's right. God works in mysterious ways.
Lilia Klaczynski:Let me tell you, and this third time prompting was absolutely like none other. But the uniqueness of this prompting uh led me to, first of all, the emotional care that I've been doing in the last six years, three years ago, it led me to discovering my biological family.
Israel Caminero:Oh wow.
Lilia Klaczynski:Um, that I actually do belong to somebody in this world by blood. And that to me, and I found that out at age 40, and it was a state of shock. That the DNA process and everything else was just absolutely amazing how the whole process went. And so, but with that also came an opportunity last year, and actually, I'm sorry, 2024 was last year. Oh, we're in 25 already.
Israel Caminero:Yes.
Lilia Klaczynski:So 2023 of October, we had an opportunity to travel, my husband and I and our four kids to travel back to Moldova. And this time I got a chance to meet with my biological family face to face, not just on the video call. Granted, I'm thankful for the technology, but I actually we got to meet them face to face. My my grandmother is still alive. And so when we were gone and we came back, it was November 5th. I had a strong call in that morning after I did my morning devotional and prayers. I found myself in the place of that strong promising. It is time to write your book. But this time I was just, I was so uh I was almost throwing curveballs at God. And I don't mean it. I don't, I'm not wanting listeners to start doing it. Please don't. It's not a actually, it's not it's not a good place to be in when when you hear the calling, you hear the calling. You just gotta go with it.
Israel Caminero:That's right. I know exactly what you mean, and I'm sure some of the listeners know exactly what you mean too. Because sometimes God speaks to us and you're like, What? No, I don't want to do that. Why are you saying this?
Lilia Klaczynski:But my stubborn self, my stubborn self was like, no, I don't want to go through this. I knew that it was gonna require of diving back in and uh writing the book was not gonna be an easy concept. I would I was reliving, uh, reliving the moment. So I said, no, God, I I mean, first of all, I have a lot of insecurities. Is it possible? Uh could I ask maybe perhaps for a Christian female editor to come into my life? I mean, so and sure enough, two days later, Christian female editor came into my life. It was by God's divine intervention there. Uh, one of the my one of my friends says, Lily, I have a perfect person for you. You definitely need to connect with her. And then uh the other one was something about apart from the two major miracles that I had, I didn't know what to fill the rest of the pages with in that time. Um, you know, all these horrific stories, but I still didn't really know how to form it or anything like that. So that voice was direct and clear, and it said, write. So I began to write. And um here we are today. It took me three months to put my book together from start to finish. When everybody asks me, How did you come up with the stories? I say, I have already lived them. There was not that's why it took me so quickly to write everything down. But the emotional health healing journey helped me to be able to put this book in the format of balance, Israel, where uh when I was working on this emotional health, after I overcame a lot of my traumas, it allowed me to go back and revisit all of those events that were bad that happened in those times. And my counselor encouraged me to look through in between the lines to relive those emotionally again and mentally, and recognize the times where how is it that I overcame that in that time? And what she likes to call them God highlight moments. So I kind of adopted that to for myself.
Israel Caminero:That's right.
Lilia Klaczynski:So my book does have that wonderful balance of highlighting the good, the bad, and the ugly, and it's in this wonderful, balanced way where you are going to grow, it's actually in a visceral experience, like so the reader is going to be growing with me in a mental way, uh, right from birth, from crib to age 15. And you're going to experience everything under the sun. Like I said, the good, the bad, and the ugly. But if one takes the time to read and sees, uh, there was there's are going to be ever there's so many highlights there, God highlight moments that help me to propel, help me to overcome, help me to endure, help me to forgive. I mean, just so many different examples, and I'm almost sure every reader can relate to one of those stories one way or another.
Israel Caminero:That's right. And what was the name of the book again?
Lilia Klaczynski:The name of the book is Open Fields and Iron Curtains.
Israel Caminero:Open Fields and Iron Curtains. And I'll have links to that book on the description of the podcast too, if any of the listeners want to go and buy it and read it and support Lilia. And I also have the link to her website on the description of the podcast, also. What an incredible story that you have. You know, I can tell in your voice, just telling the story. You saying that you forgave the people and just the way you tell the story, and you know, I'm sure it's not an easy situation to laugh at and you know, things like that, and you're like actually saying it with joy, even though I'm sure through life it wasn't joyous to go all through these things that you went through. So that just goes to show how God's in your heart right now, just the forgiveness of people, just the way that you're able to tell your story on the on my podcast. I love it. That's all I can say is I can see how God has worked through you through all these bad things, and look at the person that you are today.
Lilia Klaczynski:Amen. And if it wasn't for God and what he has brought me through, I wouldn't be sitting here telling you the stories today.
Israel Caminero:That's absolutely right.
Lilia Klaczynski:His hand, his hand was definitely there, and I am immensely grateful for that. But I wanted to, Israel, may I add something to this, please?
Israel Caminero:Yes.
Lilia Klaczynski:I wanted to um encourage my readers and my listeners because one of the main questions everybody always well, it's not even the question, it's actually more like an objection. But yeah, but Lilia, you went through all of this, and I could see why you could be this way or that way, but I have nothing to complain about. I mean, I had it made, I had it good. Well, I wanted to encourage everybody out there that when you're reading my stories, I'm not sharing my stories for you to compare yourself to and then undermine your journey that you've been on as well. The whole point of sharing these stories is so that one can get in touch with their own inner selves and be able to take the time to reflect and acknowledge where God has been evident in their lives as well. And that is my number one encouragement to everybody listening and reading.
Israel Caminero:Amen. Amen. Thank you, Lillian.
Lilia Klaczynski:And with that, I want Israel. But with that, I also wanted to finish up with the Bible verse.
Israel Caminero:Actually, you know what? That's what I always have to- You have one too. No, no, no, no. I always have two qu I don't know if you listen to my podcast. I'm not gonna say you have, I'm not gonna say you haven't, but I always have two questions that I always ask my guests at the end of the podcast. And one of the questions, you're already there. One of the questions is do you have a Bible verse or a life verse that's stuck with you throughout this whole journey, or or even one that you can fall back on when you're having a bad day? And I usually ask what that Bible verse is and if you can share it and what it means to you.
Lilia Klaczynski:Yes, that would be a blessing. Thank you. Uh, so this one just comes to mind uh immediately, and it's um to grant to those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a feigned spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. Isaiah 61, 3. That one comes to mind because well, it says it all basically.
Israel Caminero:Yeah. So so how does that resonate with Lilia?
Lilia Klaczynski:It reminds me of no matter where I've been, no where no matter where I'm headed, God God exists and He his name is to be glorified no matter where we are.
Israel Caminero:Amen.
Lilia Klaczynski:And uh that I have that confidence in me that knows that we will be okay.
Israel Caminero:That's right. With God with you, everything is possible. Now we're going to my back to the past section of the podcast. My back to the past section basically is if the Lilia from today, knowing what she knows now that she didn't know when she was younger, can go back and talk to the younger Lilia, what would you say to the younger Lilia?
Lilia Klaczynski:I would say that what God would tell me, that you are genuinely loved.
Israel Caminero:That's right. Is that it?
Lilia Klaczynski:You are loved. Yes. Yes.
Israel Caminero:That's right.
Lilia Klaczynski:It's that simple.
Israel Caminero:It is that simple. It is. And the younger Lilia probably needed to hear that. And she probably didn't until the missionaries came in, as you said.
Lilia Klaczynski:Yes. And like just that simple touch and just that look on their face express that genuine love, that genuine care.
Israel Caminero:That's right. What an incredible testimony you have, Lilia. I'm glad that we were able to finally get together and record it. Because like I said earlier when we first started, we tried doing this months ago and it didn't work out because of obstacles in our lives, mostly mine, not yours. And I'm glad we were able to finally get together and do this. And for all you guys that are listening, look at where she was and look at where she is now. And that's because God brought her through all these hardships to where she's at now. And also, like I said, I'll have descriptions to her website, her book, on the description of this podcast. If you want to go and support her, send her a message of encouragement, anything you want to do. Before we close out, Lilia, do you think you can pray for us?
Lilia Klaczynski:Dear God, thank you so much for this wonderful, wonderful time we just had. Thank you so much, Lord, in your name Jesus I pray. Amen.
Israel Caminero:Amen. Thank you. Thank you for that prayer. Thank you for being here again. And thank you for sharing your story. And thank you for gracefully sharing your story. You know.
Lilia Klaczynski:Thank you, Israel. What a blessing it was to be here. I am often without words, and I just I just want to encourage others, and I just want to be an inspiration to others. No matter where you are in life, you can too overcome.
Israel Caminero:That's right. You can overcome. That's absolutely correct.
Lilia Klaczynski:You know, I Israel, and that's for you too.
Israel Caminero:Yes, yes, thank you for that.
Lilia Klaczynski:Encouragement.
Israel Caminero:I just want to say I just want to say thank you to all my listeners that have been supporting me throughout this podcast journey. I'm just the poem that God used to spread the word, his word, and glorify his name through people's stories. You know, everyone has a test, and that's why we call them testimonies, and everyone goes through them in different ways. And I'm glad people are stepping up and sharing these testimonies on the podcast. And if you haven't already, I'd like to ask you to leave a review on the podcast. It helps spread what I'm trying to do for God. When you leave a review, more people see it, more people engage, and more people want to listen. So that's why I ask if you could leave a review, that would be great. Until next time, blessings to all of you.
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