Ukraine Appeal — Small Congregations, Large Footprint
In the opening days of the war in Ukraine, Pastor Valeriy Milinin and his family were in their home listening to air raid sirens, but there was no bomb shelter in the village. Their village is in Chernihiv Oblast (region), an area 90 miles north of Kyiv and 50 miles south of the Belarusian border. It was among the areas first attacked by Russian troops. Suddenly a missile exploded between their home, the church he was pastoring, and a neighbor’s home killing several people. Since that tragic day, life has changed significantly for Valeriy and his family who now are among the seven million internally displaced people in Ukraine.
Like many small church pastors, Valeriy’s congregation numbered less than 25 at the time of the attack. After seeing his church and home destroyed, Valeriy was completely disenchanted and thought his days of being a pastor were over. Now he is serving over 100 and feeding hundreds of people per week. Sam, one of our mission contacts in the region, commented, “It’s ironic. Many pastors thought the war was the end of their ministry when in fact God was about to open a massive door and we are seeing the harvest from their obedience.” Valeriy is just one pastor among many whose lives have been turned upside down through this war. Yet because they have opened themselves up to the opportunity God has brought to them, the country is experiencing a spiritual revival unlike anything before.
For Valeriy, as with so many small church pastors, the priority has been to organize the existing congregation to serve the needs of the Chernihiv area villages. They relocated to a small shed-like building with no power (though Outreach recently sent the $400 needed to connect the building to power). The congregation meets weekly for Bible Study, prayer, worship, and preparing hot meals for delivery in the villages. Funds come from the few congregation members and the Ukrainian Evangelical Church, which The Outreach Foundation supports.
However, if we speak only about humanitarian relief we would be missing the larger picture. Typical of what we are hearing across Ukraine, Pastor Valeriy and his wife devote their time to meeting with other displaced individuals to provide basic trauma counseling and prayer. They rally people to support one another in the rebuilding of neighborhood homes. They are putting people to work with community clean-up projects. Pictured here is a recent clean-up event outside Lviv, in which a small church pastor in the Ukrainian Evangelical Church and his congregation of displaced people rallied their neighbors to beautify a filthy quarry lake. The geese were the first to return! With summer approaching, many of these churches are working with Mission Eurasia or other networks to provide summer camps for war-affected children.
Although stretched thin by staying present as the face of Jesus during a war and helping meet their own members’ spiritual needs, most of these small church pastors lead Alpha courses. The result is that many are becoming followers of Christ. Pastor Andrey from Donbas remarked, “If we are not drafted into the army then this is our way to fight in this war.” Another pastor, Sergei who relocated to Lviv from Cherniv remarked, “We are burying many people, but we are seeing many more who will be raised again in the resurrection because they have found Jesus.” Pictured here are several Alpha graduates from a small congregation formed out of displaced people with a displaced pastor. Their baptism occurred on the first Sunday of May. The Outreach Foundation is hearing stories like this from all over Ukraine. Way to go!
THE OPPORTUNITY
Pray that small church pastors like Andrey, Valeriy, and Sergei will be able to experience the gift of strength to carry on with their ministry. As the summer approaches and children are out of school, we celebrate their desire to provide camps so pray for the war-affected children who will be attending and the many volunteers who will provide meaningful experiences. Pray for the robust witness of Christ’s presence through the church and that people will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
The Outreach Foundation is sending financial resources to the Ukrainian Evangelical Church to assist their small church pastors’ ministry. Their work depends on resources from the global church. Gifts of any size are appreciated. You may make a gift HERE or by sending a check to our office.