MOSES LAKE - It has been more than 10 years since Mariya Radchishina and Lyubov Konovalchuk arrived in Grant County from Ukraine.

The women didn't know each other back home.

They lived about 500 miles apart on opposite ends of the Eastern European country.

Radchishina resided in Kyznetsovsk, a city of about 48,000, and Konovalchuk lived in Melitopol, a town of about 200,000.

They left Ukraine for many of the same reasons: to have better opportunities for their children and to be free from religious persecution Christians experienced during the Communists' rule, they said.

Even with the end of the Communist regime in 1991, they decided to leave because they heard from relatives that life was good in America.

They later met at Big Bend Community College's Learning Center in Moses Lake, where they work together today.

They are among nine Ukrainians working at the learning center and all are Christians, Konovalchuk, 43, says.

She described their situation as that of refugees.

In Ukraine, she recalls the Communist government closing many Christian churches, drastically reducing the number down to two churches for the entire country.

"We lost a lot of Christian churches," she said. Churches were later rebuilt and now her hometown has 10 churches.

But in the 1960s, government officials threatened parents with fines at church doors for bringing their children inside, they said.

The fines came to half a month's wage. Those who could afford it paid the fine to worship with their children.

Konovalchuk said the fine wasn't enforced in every town. She supposes it was charged when the government needed money.

Radchishina remembers a day when her children weren't given permission to go inside the church. She felt sad when many of the churches were closed and converted into clinics and hospitals.

Some Christians decided to worship in their homes.

In Ukraine, Konovalchuk was a teacher, but as a Christian, was prevented from teaching in the public school system where she could receive a salary.

It was feared Christians, like her, would teach the younger generation about Christianity.

Instead she taught children in her church as a volunteer and worked for wages in an auto factory. She is married and now has two children, ages 16 and 9.

Radchishina, 59, worked as a seamstress in the Ukraine, sewing men's and women's clothing.

Her husband, Peter, worked in the construction industry and now is employed as a janitor at Big Bend. They have nine children, ages 18-36, and 11 grandchildren. All of their children graduated from college.

At Big Bend, she is a classroom assistant and has worked in both the baby and toddler rooms.

Her favorite classroom is the baby room because the babies have no trouble understanding her English. She did this interview with the help of a translator, Konovalchuk.

"They are so sweet," she said. "I love kids. I really love babies. Kids are my life."

Even so, she knows some English and enjoys singing to the kids, playing with them and teaching them letters and colors.

She enjoys living in America because people are smiling and happy and there are more opportunities.

She likes her job and says there were not many opportunities for Christians in Ukraine.

Life was more difficult financially, socially and emotionally for Christians, Konovalchuk said.

Today Konovalchuk hears from her brother, who is still in Ukraine, that life is better there for Christians. Christianity can be discussed more openly and Christians can teach in public schools.

Even with the Communists out of power, they don't plan on returning to Ukraine permanently.

Radchishina said there was a nuclear plant near her home there and some people were experiencing health problems. She also lived about 100 miles from Chernobyl.

She likes the rural atmosphere of Grant County, as does Konovalchuk.

It is quiet and calm here, not as busy as Ukraine, where she lived on the seventh floor of an apartment building, Radchishina said.