Galina’s Story
Galina Loseva Messmer was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (formerly Leningrad) in 1962. Her parents survived the Stalin era of persecution and World War II and despite a society hostile towards people of faith, they raised Galina in an evangelical Christian home filled with resilience and hope. As a young woman Galina excelled in the European sport of handball and was offered an opportunity to train and play professionally. She chose instead to pursue a college degree and her dream to marry and raise a family. Her college career was abruptly terminated when she refused to join the communist party because of its requirement to promote atheism. She finished a technical degree instead and then moved to the beautiful Crimean city of Yalta, on the coast of the Black Sea, and became a professional photographer. She married and bore four sons. As a young mother Galina endured the epic collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the ensuing economic turmoil and hardship. In 1997 she immigrated to the United States with her late husband and children. After the tragic events of which she writes in her book ‘Galina’s Hope’ she remarried to Peter Messmer, an engineer and farmer. The couple reside in the sleepy little village of Interlaken, perched between Cayuga and Seneca Lakes in western New York State. Galina revels in the amphitheater of nature and loves a crashing water falls or a blazing sunset over one of the shimmering blue lakes. Galina and Peter are founders of Galina’s Hope, a ministry dedicated to sharing encouragement for anyone facing difficulties and tribulations with a special focus on women facing domestic violence.
