The Life of a Church Planter in Ukraine

In August of 2018, I took my first trip to Ukraine. I made the trip overseas and met a young church planter named Pasha through a friend’s connections. The church that I had planted seven years prior was looking for opportunities to start more churches and engage in foreign missions. 

 Pasha and his family live in the city of Uman. To give you some perspective, Ukraine is approximately the size of Texas, and Uman is right in the center. The city of Uman has 40,000 people but only six evangelical churches, the largest of which is 200 people. Uman is also a college town, with many students migrating to the city for learning. The fields were ripe for harvest. Pasha was a worker sent by the Lord of the Harvest. We knew we needed to be involved. So, in October of 2018, my church (Ignite) sent money, resources, and coaching to help Pasha start Reconciliation Church.
 
Over the past three years, Pasha and I became friends and co-laborers for the Gospel. Reconciliation Church saw fruit; people came to Christ, and disciples were made. They even started supporting and coaching other church plants throughout Ukraine. The work was multiplying, and the church was growing up! It was amazing to see all that God was doing. Then Russia invaded Ukraine. 
 
Reconciliation Church evacuated over a month ago because of the airstrikes on Uman. They found shelter up in the mountains, and there they live under the constant threat of war. All the plans Pasha and I made to visit each other, train more church planters together, and help our churches connect on a deeper level were undone. All I could do was watch in horror, cry, and pray for God to intervene.
 
Although I can’t do much, I can pray. Our church can pray, and our God can move. A pastor friend often says, “When we work, we work. When we pray, God works.” So we have prayed. Every Sunday before the message, we give an update and pray. And God works in Ukraine through Reconciliation Church. 
 
We are now getting reports from Pasha about what they are doing. Reconciliation started by making the three-hour drive to Kyiv to bring humanitarian aid and bring back refugees. They then bring the refugees to the border. Their church building in Uman becomes a rest stop filled with cots for people to rest. They feed and clothe them. They pray and talk about Jesus. People are open to the Gospel, and for that, we rejoice!
 
What started as a makeshift effort has become a vital ministry. The church has purchased a small bus and is trying to buy a semi-truck to multiply their efforts. “The church is not leaving,” says Pasha, “We will be here for our people. We will be a rest stop, and we will tell them about Jesus.”
 
For over a month, this has been the life of my friend. The journeys to Kyiv are dangerous. The Ukrainian people are fleeing by the millions. The death tolls continue to mount. But in the middle of it all stands a three-year-old church doing its part. Many more are doing the same. 
 
Jesus promised us in Matthew 16 that He would build His church, and the gates of hell would not prevail. Ukraine is experiencing hell on earth, yet Jesus is at work. People are more open to the Gospel. Lives are being transformed. People are being reconciled to the God of the universe. Jesus is building His church in the middle of the war, and He uses people like Pasha to do it. To God be the glory!