Providing Ukraine Relief
Because of your generous support, God is transforming the hearts of many in Ukraine!
Pastor Sergei had two choices to make—escape to a safer location or stay, amidst the danger, in his beloved town where he had been pastoring for over 20 years. His tiny church of 30 had literally dwindled down to half: fifteen of his congregation members had fled their city, Zaporizhzhia, located in southeastern Ukraine.
Forced to do odd jobs just to survive, Pastor Sergei was beginning to wonder where his family’s next meal was going to come from. On the verge of leaving, he received a call from one of our workers who asked him, “If we could provide support, including groceries, for you, the church, and your community, would you stay?” Pastor Sergei responded, “Absolutely! We don’t want to leave.”
Pastor Sergei started distributing groceries all throughout his community. That very Sunday, 46 people attended the service with 15 of them choosing to be baptized in water!
And it gets even better. In just two months’ time, Pastor Sergei shared, “I have a good problem. My venue is too small!” After renting a bigger building, that first Sunday in August, Pastor Sergei reported that he baptized 30 out of 170 in attendance!
Pastor Sergei now preaches to a gathering of over 300 people who are eager to learn more about Jesus and be set free by the Spirit. What a testimony of God’s faithfulness! Pastor Sergei’s church isn’t the only one experiencing such tremendous growth. Other Ukrainian churches are growing just as quickly!
Putting into Practice What They Teach
At 90 years, Mrs. Iryna Vikhtynska is the oldest refugee who lives in L’viv Theological Seminary.
Mrs. Vikhtynska escaped the area where she was residing to live at the seminary that has opened its doors to as many Ukrainian refugees as they can.
Half of Mrs. Vikhtynska’s house was ruined by Russian missiles. She shares, “I live in the downtown of the city. It was completely destroyed. The bombing was constant, but I didn’t want to leave my home. I left after the third missile strike hit our apartment building.”
Fortunately, Mrs. Vikhtynska received much-needed assistance to make her way to the seminary.
She expresses her gratitude: “I want to say thank you to all the people who took care of me, gave me food, and provided me shelter.”
Bringing Beauty Out of the Ashes
God is using a warehouse that we partner with to not only provide vital humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians but also to bring about spiritual transformation in their lives.
Since the start of the war, the warehouse located in Poland has distributed over 600 tonnes of food and distributed over one million meals to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians.
One such person who repeatedly visited our warehouse was Vitaly. As a Ukrainian first responder, he saw the horrors of the war around him. From his own funds, he began to hand out as much food and supplies as he could to children who had lost their parents.
He then began driving regularly to the warehouse to pick up truckloads of food to feed hundreds of orphans.
After constantly interacting with the staff, one day Vitaly burst out, “What is it that you have that I don’t?!” Someone then shared the Good News of the gospel with him, and he responded, “I want that.” Vitaly’s life has now been forever changed!