Beginning to end

His story

His obituary gave us the dates. Everything else here came from the people who loved him.

Before we begin

Why this page exists

This page was created to honor the amazing life and legacy of our father. He was our hero, and we hope his story impacts you just as it did us.

The heart behind the project

Nikolay's life was full of miracles, testimonies and stories, and every one of them pointed back to Jesus. He never failed to share them when he spoke with friends and family, because to him they were never about himself. We share them here with you to inspire and encourage you, and so that the One he lived for gets the credit.

1964 to 1978

Frankopil

Born on 1 September 1964, in Ukraine, in the village of Frankopil in the Rivne region, to Hryhorii and Feodosiia Yarmoshik.

His childhood and his young years passed in that village, where he attended the local church. Frankopil was a small place in the countryside of the Rivne region, and in the Yarmoshik house the church was the centre of everything. His parents raised their children in the faith. His older brothers, Volodya and Valik, went ahead of him and refused the Soviet army oath when their turn came, which cost them, and which he watched.

At the age of fourteen he was baptised in the Holy Spirit. From then on the faith was his own, not only his parents', and it would be tested before he was twenty.

1 more photograph from these years1964 to 1978
1978 to 1986

The diploma he never got

After finishing school he studied at a trade college. Because he was a believer, he was not given his diploma.

From 1983 to 1985 he served in the army in the city of Severomorsk. Those two years were not easy ones for a young Christian: beatings, contempt and humiliation. The Lord helped him stay faithful.

After returning from the army, in 1986, he accepted holy water baptism, and was a member of the church in Novohrad-Volynskyi.

Years later, after the Soviet Union collapsed, he went back and found the people who had taught him. The diploma he had been refused was finally put in his hands, a long time after he had earned it. It is in the photographs here.

The Lord helped Nikolay stay faithful to Him.

Svetlana Novorok, his sister

How they took Mykola into the army

After the eighth grade Mykola studied in Rivne, and that is where he was on the military register. But because they would not give him his diploma, he was a believer, he moved back to Frankopil and registered in the district office in Korets. In Rivne nobody had troubled him and he had not yet been taken into the army, though he was already 19.

Read the whole story
3 more photographs from these years1978 to 1986
1986 to 1992

Lyubov

On 30 August 1992 he married Lyubov, and moved to the village of Zarichchia in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

They would be married twenty-nine years. It began with a photograph he saw at her sister's, and two years of friendship before the wedding.

He saw a photograph of her and said this girl would be his wife.

Lyubov Yarmoshik, his wife

“This girl will be my wife”

My husband and I met through a photograph he saw at my sister's, and he said this girl would be his wife. Some time later we met, and a fondness for each other appeared. We were friends for two years; he was attentive and sincere with me. So we came to love each other and decided to marry. I was happy with him, because I always saw his care and love for me and for our children. He had firm faith in God.

Read the whole story
1 more photograph from these years1986 to 1992
1992 to 1999

The deacon

In 1998 Nikolay was ordained to the ministry of deacon. The spiritual work took place in the local church and in the neighbouring villages.

He sincerely loved the Lord and he loved people. God gave him a wide heart, wide enough to hold everyone.

A deacon's work in a village church is practical work: visiting the sick, sitting with families in trouble, going out to the neighbouring villages that had no minister of their own. Their house in Zarichchia was open to whoever came to the door, and these were the years the children arrived.

Together he and Lyubov had and raised two daughters, Kvitoslava and Solomiya, and a son, Michael.

God gave him a wide heart, wide enough to hold everyone.

10 more photographs from these years1992 to 1999
1999 to 2021

America

In 1999 the family emigrated to the United States. From then on he was a member of SGC.

For several years he sang in the church choir. He loved to pray.

He was an attentive, kind and loving husband, father and grandfather. In the way he lived his Christian life, he managed to reflect Jesus.

In the way he lived, he managed to reflect Jesus.

Lyubov Yarmoshik, his wife

How God healed his eyes

We arrived on 8 December 1999 and thought about how to get on our feet. We borrowed 500 dollars and bought a car, a Toyota. Papa went to an auction, his first auction, he did not even know what it was, and won that car straight away. It ran; one fender was a little dented. But it was very reliable: we sold it later and they could not kill it. It was blessed, papa would polish it, sand it, paint it there by the apartments. With a spray can. What else was there to do? To go to a body shop you needed money.

Read the whole story
15 more photographs from these years1999 to 2021

Added by his son, from his father's own photos

The builder

For most of his American years he was a finish carpenter. Handrails were his favorite thing to build, especially curved ones, and he was known for how he designed them. Risers and steps, casing, shiplap. By his own count he built over 160 staircases and handrails.

He built for his own family too. The sunroom with the big table is almost all his work, part of the foundation, the electrical, the flooring, the two skylights. The outdoor swing chair he put together is still in use today.

10 more photographs from these yearsHis work
See all the photographs
2021

The second of September

On 2 September 2021, at the age of fifty-seven, he passed suddenly into eternity, one day after his birthday.

He left behind, in sorrow, his wife, two daughters, a son, a son-in-law and three grandchildren.

Two weeks earlier he had celebrated his birthday with all of them at Lake Chelan, holding a cake with candles on a balcony above the water.

He lived fifty-seven years and one day.

Michael Yarmoshik, his son

The boat at Chelan

Right around the 16th of August we went on vacation with the family to Chelan, the earliest picture I can find is from the 16th. We had some fun there. We celebrated my dad's birthday. The last picture I have of him full of energy is on a pedal machine by the lake. He was already a little sick by then. Our last day there was around August 19th, and then we headed home.

Read the whole story
11 more photographs from these years2021
After

What he left

Nikolay left behind a wife, children, and grandchildren. They live on to tell the story of his life.

This page is not finished, and it never will be. There are more stories than can be told at once, so it keeps growing, one memory at a time.

1 more photograph from these yearsAfter

What he left

NikolayandLyubovYarmoshik

KvitoslavaYarmoshik

Daughter

  • Olivia

SolomiyaandArthurTormozov

Daughter

  • Jesse
  • Levi
  • Emilia
  • Adeline

MichaelandAlexaYarmoshik

Son

His obituary counted 3 grandchildren. There are 5 now.

1 September 19642 September 2021