Though I travel frequently to meet with mission partners, I also spend quite a bit of time building relationships online. This past month it has been a blessing to meet with two pastors who are serving Ukraine.
I met Alexis through my Serve Globally colleague Greg Fauss (right) who is based in Berlin. We scheduled a call together to get to know one another and explore how we can deepen our partnerships in Ukraine. There were already so many mutual friendships, through Greg in Germany, and through the IFFEC network of free churches.
Alexis took some time share with us his experiences in Ukraine these past five years. It has been an incredibly difficult road. I has involved relocating his parents whose city was under attack, searching for his missing brother, who he later found, delivering emergency supplies to Mariupol when it was under massive attack. And through all this he is continuing to pastor and study for his Master of Divinity degree through Ukrainian Baptist Seminary in Kiev. It was privilege to meet Alexis and to be able to pray together and hear a part of his story.
Pray for:
Alexis, and his family who are spread out in various parts of Ukraine and Europe.
Discernment as we seek to move with God’s leading in how we can encourage and support our brothers and sisters in Ukraine through the relationships that are developing.
Jacek Duda is from Poland and pastors a church on the eastern border at one of the major border crossings with Ukraine. Since the war began his church has been a hub for supporting Ukrainian refugees. Initially many church members received people in their homes, opened the church as temporary shelter, and have provided food and clothing. He said that a good number who have stayed in the city have joined their church, and are finding community. He also said that Poland as a nation is feeling a strain as it hosts nearly 1 million refugees from Ukraine.
Jacek is also leading groups from his church into the western part of Ukraine to support local churches and their outreach to Ukrainians fleeing from the east. He shared that many Ukrainians coming from the east of the country have no experience with the church or the Christian message. This part of the country was most heavily under the influence of the Soviet Union and churches were marginalized for many decades. As the local churches offer support and care for the arriving refugees they are experiencing that people’s hearts are open to learn more about the Gospel. When Jacek was growing up in communist Poland he learned Russian, even when many of his classmates refused. Looking back now he can see God’s hand in this as it has been so important in his outreach in Ukraine because many Ukrainians speak and understand Russian.
Pray for Jacek and his church as they continue to care for Ukrainian refugees and that as they build relationships and share the love of Christ their church will be energized and renewed..
Pray for Jacek’s regular outreach trips to Ukraine and his partnerships with local churches there. That in the midst of a terrible war, God’s grace will shine through his people and the message of his grace and love will touch and transform lives.
