Fraternal twins Elisabeth and Rebekah Dimov grew up in a Slavic household where their first language was Russian, and their parents frequently spoke Bulgarian. The students, better known as Lizzie and Becky, began their college careers this fall at Lancaster Bible College.

The twins’ parents were raised in Bulgrad, Ukraine, where they met, were married and began their family. As believers in a country dominated by the Soviet Union, they experienced subtle persecution in high school and were prevented from going to college because of their faith. Oftentimes, if students identified themselves as believers, they would fail in all their classes for that reason alone.

In 2000, the economy in Ukraine was plummeting, and the twins’ parents knew they wouldn’t make it with a family. Through church connections, they were able to move to the United States with the help of sponsors from churches in America who helped support them with a place to stay, food and supplies, and connected them with job opportunities.

Becky and Lizzie were born after their parents moved to the United States. With both of their parents strong and time-tested believers, the Christian faith was a central part of their atmosphere at home.

“Our parents loved the Lord and made sure that we had a relationship with Him,” said Becky (’28), a Business Administration major. “Every single night at seven o’ clock, our dad would get us all together in the living room, and we would worship and read the Bible.”

While faith was a familiar and welcomed concept in their home, sports, however, was not.

“In Slavic culture playing sports is very looked down on,” explained Becky.

“Especially as women,” added Lizzie (’27), a Criminal Justice major at LBC. “There have been so many times where we have been excluded from playing soccer with Slavic people because we are girls.”

Being surrounded by cousins who were athletic gave the twins motivation to get fit and learn sports to keep up with them. The twins spent years trying to convince their parents to allow them to participate in athletics.

“We had to explain that in America it’s different and sports are for everyone,” said Becky.

Their older cousin and an LBC alumnus, Dennis “Deny” Tarasov (’17), played an instrumental role in paving the pathway for the twins to get involved in and enjoy sports, as well as in their spiritual formation and college decision.

“Deny played soccer [at LBC] and he loved it,” said Lizzie. “He got us really into soccer and athletics. We also saw Deny every Sunday at church, and we got really close to him. He poured into us and was like the older brother we never had. He was the one who encouraged us to come to LBC.”

Participating in sports and juggling academics has been the life of the twins for several years. They played soccer for six years, ran track for four years and played tennis their senior year of high school. This has caused the twins to grow in learning how to prioritize their time, take initiative, and be disciplined in all areas of their lives.

“Being active in any way, shape or form gave me a disciple factor for everything else in my life,” Becky shared. “Being disciplined fitness-wise led to me being disciplined in my faith and in my schoolwork, and how I was spending my time.”

The twins are involved in a variety of athletics at LBC including indoor and outdoor track and field as well as tennis.

The twins had the opportunity to visit family in Ukraine at the age of 5.

While the twins grew up in the United States, many of their cousins and relatives remain in Ukraine. Becky and Lizzie had the opportunity to visit them when they were 5. Since the war, however, the family has been scattered.

“When the war started in Ukraine, it was hard and scary,” said Becky. “It was all super unknown, and we didn’t know what area they were going to attack next.”

Added Lizzie, “Our mom would Facetime our sister [in Ukraine] and ask, ‘How is the city looking?’ ‘How is your town looking?’  ‘Is everything in one piece?’ ‘Have you had any bombings around your area?’” And Becky recalled, “It was crazy, honestly, because we had connections like right there—super close.”

Over the past two years, the twins’ church, Charger athletic teams and the biblical foundation their parents instilled have served as a solid support system during the uncertainty of the war. Becky and Lizzie have held onto their faith as their foundation, hope and identity.

“In Slavic culture where nationalism has been so strong, we need to be reminded that our identity is in Christ and all we have is because of Him,” shared Lizzie. “We owe it all to Him. All glory belongs to Him, not us, not our nation, but to Christ. And He advocates for peace.”