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\u201cI\u2019m very happy now,\u201d said Leanna, a native of Russia. \u201cI can\u2019t believe it happened.\u201d (Leanna Regheta, fifth from left, is being sworn in.)<\/p>\nCHICAGO, IL (October 7, 2008) \u2013 Covenant missionary Leanna Regheta officially became a United States citizen on Monday.
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\n\u201cI\u2019m very happy now,\u201d said Leanna, a native of Russia. \u201cI can\u2019t believe it happened.\u201d (Leanna Regheta, fifth from left, is being sworn in.)<\/p>\n
Regheta arrived in the United States in 2002 on a fianc\u00e9e visa before she married her husband, Leonid. She and Leonid have served as project missionaries in Russia. That country has made it more difficult for evangelicals to minister in that country, however, so the couple currently lives in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton.<\/p>\n
Regheta says she understands the value of American citizenship. \u201cIn Russia, the government did not care about people.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not realize the opportunities for people in the United States until she moved here. \u201cPeople in other countries don\u2019t understand how much better it is here,\u201d said Regheta, \u201cAfter living here for two years, my eyes were opened.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was one of 141 people from 45 countries who became citizens in the ceremony at the U.S. Federal Courthouse.<\/p>\n