The first church they repaired had been badly damaged by a missile. One would expect the congregation members to share a story of despair, fear and pain. Yet the building team was met with the joyful witness of how amazingly God had intervened. The missile had hit the church roof and sped out through a wall, hitting the ground outside the church and destroying the fence. “Not one person died, and no one was injured! God is Great!” was the testimony they heard. 

During their visit, the team expected to be mainly busy with construction work, but when inquisitive young children started to hang around the building site in one town, hearts started melting.  

Before long, tea breaks turned into trips to the small local store for sweets and cookies for the children. Soon the construction workers' hearts were touched by the desperate situation of these so-called children of the war. They started sharing with them – not only sweets and tea – but hope, joy and the attention which they crave. The result of this trip was much more than churches being able to meet in their buildings again.

Back home in the west of Ukraine, the construction workers could not let the experience stay a once-in-a-lifetime good deed trip. They went back to their congregations, shared about their experiences and rallied their churches to make plans to go again.  Their hearts were filled by the plight of the suffering in the east of Ukraine, as compared to their own prosperity. They cannot wait for the next trip. They are ready to raise funds for projects within Ukraine and to take others with them, so that more hearts can be ignited for the cause of Christ in the war torn areas of Ukraine.

One of the outreach days got started in less than desirable conditions as the weather was—according to the team—"horrible, overcast and windy”. It started to drizzle. The children’s program took place outside, and the team had expected that not very many children would come because of the cold weather.

“More than 70 children came!” OM’s Hensie van der Merwe exclaimed. “It tells me about them being curious and somewhat deprived from normal childhood activities—but it also means they are hungry for God.”

The children were greeted by a pirate, welcoming them aboard a ship. The children were asked to help the pirate find an answer to the question, "What is the right way to live?" There were crafts, sports activities, popcorn and trampolines. As the children were participating in the activities, it became clear that very few of them had any basic knowledge about Christianity.

“I have been working with children for twenty years, and I’m always surprised when they have no knowledge of the gospel,” Hensie said. “Ukraine professes to be an Orthodox Christian nation, and yet the children didn’t know what the Bible was.”

‘You can’t read if you can’t see’

After several days of children’s outreach, Bus4Life drove to the biggest town in the area, and partnered with a local Christian organisation called Clear Vision, setting up an eye clinic in three different locations. Volunteer opticians saw about 80 people per day and gave out over 300 glasses to those needing them. The organisation partners with churches on one condition: they only give out glasses if on-going active evangelism takes place while they work.

“Their ministry really works well with Bus4Life and the literature ministry,” Hensie said. “After all, you can’t read if you can’t see.”

New Testaments and Christian literature, including children’s Bibles, magazines for teenagers and George Verwer’s books (in Ukrainian) were handed out. A local pastor talked with people.

An unreached area

Nine days of ministry with Bus4Life impacted the local OM team, opening their eyes to the needs of the northern parts of the Odessa province. With Bus4Life gone, the team returned to the area for a day of prayer. Connecting again with the local believers, the team made a decision to start focusing their church planting efforts to this area.

“We did some research and found out that there are over 60 villages in this particular area but only four churches,” Hensie said. “People live in small villages where the internet connection is notoriously bad. Some villages do not even have cell phone connection. They don’t have access to a church, and they don’t have access to the gospel. They are isolated and cut off from the larger society. Literature ministry in the city may not be seen as useful, but in the villages,  it is the source of information.”

Hensie admitted that without the Bus4Life outreach, the team may not have gotten excited about church planting in the northern Odessa province.

“We saw the reality hands on and realised the potential the bus has because of all the things it offers: shelves, movie theatre, sound system, storage, electricity, a tent—which was an amazing discovery—and it’s all mobile! All these things are so useful when you are out in the villages and don’t know if you will even have electricity.”

The big, colourful bus draws attention. “There is no way people won’t know it’s there,” Hensie said and added, “Of course, we can go to the villages without Bus4Life and do children’s ministry, but it takes a lot of logistics to do that. With the bus, everything we need is already there, and people don’t have to ask where the outreach is taking place. And it’s not just children’s ministry! If we are creative, we can use the bus for so many things: mobilising, church planting, things we have not seen in Ukraine yet. I’m really looking forward to seeing what God can do with Bus4Life."

In autumn 2017, the official 'creative team' in charge of writing theatrical evangelistic camp programs for children from orphanages started to pray about the following year's summer camps. During many meetings, hours on our knees and doing research about our target populations, the Lord placed a story for the background of our camp in the heart of OM worker Nikolai Niuniaiev. The team polished it, added to it, and we watched it grow. We had faith that this was the story that the Lord gave us to impact the lives of the orphans, the story into which the gospel was woven for the children to live during ten days of camp.

In Ukraine, the life expectancy of orphans is no higher than 24 years of age. The statistics are horrific. Most of these children end up caught in a criminal life style, addicts, in prostitution; many even take their own lives. We wanted to give the children a look into what their future could hold, as well as showing them how the grace of God could change their ‘predicted’ futures.  

Our background story was about children arriving at Camp LELA in Mexican California in the 1880s from Spain to become new citizens. Here they met a couple of orphans who made the trip with them, excited about starting their new life together. They lived together but were not married. They ignored the invitation of the pastor of a local church to make their lives right with God. The young man then fell for a fake advertisement on a social network from a pretty girl needing his help and ended up trapped as a courier in a drugs ring. The girl got pregnant, but the young man left her for his virtual girlfriend—who did not even exist. Both the girl and the young man got hooked on drugs; the girl attempted an abortion and then attempted suicide. A very dark story, we agree. If not soaked in prayer, we would have chickened out from telling it.

The story did not end there, though. There was a happy ending. 

As the time for the camp to start drew near, we experienced an array of issues that we felt were attacks from our enemy. Up until the children arrived, we were unsure of their age groups. There was a point where we were considering running the programme completely without the theatrical part, as we could not find actors. However, Nikolai was absolutely certain that the Lord would supply all our needs, since He was the one who had placed this programme's story so strongly on our hearts. 

By the time the children arrived, we were already tired but so blessed as we had a responsible person in every role. A man from the UK, a short-term volunteer, had pitched in and finished the decor on the camp grounds and on stage perfectly, professionally and on time. We were ready. 

Ten children and teens accepted Jesus as their personal Saviour on Day Eight of the camp—fruit enough, I would have thought, if I had not already lived through so many miracles during the outreach! 

By Day Two, I realised that the girl who played the main role in our theatre program was an unbeliever. I had the incredible privilege to coach her not only as theatre director, but as team leader, through her spiritual struggle. She struggled with the fact that the little children we were working with suffered so much every day, and how God could let that happen. She struggled with the reason the character she played would even think of forgiving the young man who left her pregnant and alone. “Maybe she can forgive, but never reconcile!” was her outcry. This young woman accepted Jesus as her personal Saviour a week after the camp ended.

Every morning, the theatre team would share and pray, and every day one member of the team shared their story with the team. One morning, it was the turn of the young man who played the male lead: the scoundrel who leaves the pregnant girl, giving her money for an abortion. With a smile, he told us that he was playing a role of a guy who basically did exactly what his father did to his mother. I was shocked. His father did not suggest an abortion, though. God used this opportunity to play this role in his life in an unexpected way, bringing healing.

Somewhere in the middle of the camp, the same short-termer from the UK I mentioned earlier, shared his story with me, tears rolling down his cheeks. He came to camp LELA because he grew up without a father, and he wanted to share something of his story with the campers, letting them know about our heavenly Father. He shared that watching the theatre story was like watching his own story. He found it so unexpected that God would choose to bring him to Ukraine not only to be a blessing to others, but also to bring healing to his own heart. 

I learnt through this experience that God is always busy on so many levels, and that we will have to wait until we are in heaven to hear and see all that He has done through our obedience to go.

The first ‘out of the box’ idea was to use green waste like grass, leaves and food waste to create biogas to heat the church. Then came the ideas of biodiesel from used french-fry oil and cultivating mushrooms, which the team started off growing in the church basement! Wayne Zschech, who is now the field leader of OM Ukraine, recalls, “We had mushrooms coming out of our ears!” As a side activity, they bought a couple of little push lawnmowers and a whipper-snipper (line trimmer) to mow unkempt grassy and weedy areas in town. That idea was met with mixed bewilderment and approval, inspiring the town’s mayor to present the church with an award publicly and then personally investing in the proposed town beautification.

However, it certainly has not been plain sailing. The mushroom enterprise was booming after moving operations to an old vegetable warehouse, where ten tons of mushrooms were harvested every month. Plus, 25 people–half of whom were believers in Jesus–were employed there. Sadly, the company making mushroom substrate started cutting corners and supplying a poorly prepared product. Button mushrooms compete very poorly with other organisms, making the enterprise unprofitable. With the supplier refusing to take any responsibility for the bad batches, the writing was on the wall and the business went broke. For the workers, this was simply devastating. They had finally been receiving regular income and, against hope, had begun to have hope for the future.  

The next victim was the biodiesel enterprise. It had grown to 35 tonnes per month and was making good profits. Everyone in the town knew about the diesel trucks and tractors that smelt like fried chicken! However, in the fallout after the 2014 “Revolution of Dignity”, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the ensuing war in the east of the country, Ukraine once again fell into deep economic financial crisis and this innovative endeavour also closed.

More than three years later, Wayne can still feel the pain of that time, but has not given up his belief in community transformation through Christian enterprise and workplace discipleship. The revolution became a catalyst to dig deep and find an innovative way to harness the abundance of local resources (in this case waste) and create something useful and marketable from it. The project is called, “Clean Soul – Clean City.” The initial stages use a zero-waste approach to turn the green waste into a rich organic fertilizer for fields and gardens using grinders, composting and worms. A long-term goal would be to get all the local townsfolk on board to eliminate the burning of waste and reduce air pollution. What is really exciting is that other organic processes, like oyster mushroom cultivation, green houses and aquaponics can be seamlessly dovetailed into this project, creating new jobs and income streams. That is the vision for the future and OM Ukraine is looking for someone to champion this green initiative.   

By far the biggest undertaking is the pyrolysis project. Garbage is a huge problem in Ukraine where there are almost zero processing facilities for the entire country. It is common practise to see piles of uncollected household rubbish as well as mixed piles of leaves and litter. These piles in the streets often aren’t collected but instead simply get burnt. When there are plastics in them, the toxic smoke is unbearable. Locals complain, but there aren’t any available alternatives.

Pyrolysis is an effective and safe way to deal with environmentally troublesome, often odorous, waste. Rather, this process involves heating waste in the absence of oxygen to produce combustible gases, liquid and solid fuel. Converting plastics to liquid fuel is a viable way to deal with end-of-life mixed waste plastics streams. “This project has been more than three years in the making. We constructed our first prototype in 2015, and over the course of a year, we modified it 46 times! Then we set to work on creating the commercial unit,” said Wayne, “It continues to be a real journey of faith, but, every month, God has somehow been supplying the finances to somehow keep things moving forward… and we are nearly there!”

The team wants to inspire locals by example to generate income that will holistically impact communities, and enable them to disciple others into missions. Their project to install solar panels on part of the church property is one such example, where a 21kW PV solar array has been installed. This saves considerable money for the local church during the with winter months and, from early spring till mid fall, it generates much needed income. “We still need 36 more panels to complete the project,” reported Wayne. “Solar is a mature technology that does not need much maintenance. This is a great opportunity for creating sustainable passive income, which the church can convert into finance for ministry and missions in Ukraine.”

By becoming practical catalysts for transformation in the community, using a holistic, faith-based approach, sustainable missions could be one step closer for believers in Ukraine, as well as providing a strong witness for Christ to the least reached in the community.

Watch more about the pyrolysis project here

“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” – John 9:4 (NIV)

God had reminded me several times of this Scripture before I went to Ukraine for a missions trip from 5 March to 15 April. Jesus had limited time to do the work when He was in the world. During the trip, I also felt the urgency of doing God’s work, as we also have limited time. Limitations might be due to changes in the environment or the shortness of human life.

Ukraine has many orphans. One of OM’s ministries in Ukraine is to visit orphanages to share God’s love with the children. When I joined the team in Odessa to visit an orphanage and saw the lovely kids, I felt God’s mercy to them. They do not experience love from their parents or families, but God loves them and nurtures them by His workers and many volunteers. The team works with 17 churches who visit 18 orphanages regularly. However, because of government policy, religious entities cannot visit orphanages; thus, OM partners with a local charity in order to gain access. Although Ukraine has religious freedom, the opportunity of reaching people does not necessarily always present itself. Hence, Christians should grasp opportunities to serve God and share His love with others.

Besides the kids, I also visited some Jewish families with another team of OM workers in Ukraine. Most of the people we visited are elderly, lonely and have experienced much hardship, such as war and starvation. Their children are living in other countries; some even have lost their spouses. I really want them to know Jesus and experience God’s love, especially because they have experienced many difficulties in their lives and are now such an old age. Nobody knows how much time they will have on earth; Christians should grasp the opportunity to lead them to the Lord.

The last thing that urges me to do God’s work is my sickness during the trip. I got pneumonia in Ukraine. It came so fast that it was less than two weeks from my first high temperature to the diagnosis of pneumonia. I was admitted into the intensive care unit of a local hospital and had to stay in hospital for a week. This illness reminded me that life is so fragile, and I cannot control the length of my life. Although doing missions requires paying a cost, there is a great cloud of witnesses who have run this way. Jesus has sacrificed himself, and many missionaries also risked their lives when they came to China more than a hundred years ago. They are role models of God’s servants. Hence, I should treasure the time that I have to serve the Lord.

Jesus has set an example to us; He did the work of Father as long as it is day. He also calls us to follow Him. So, let us work hard before night comes.

Secondly, Wayne began to introduce Ukrainians to the exotic sport of cricket. Soon the dream became to make Kaharlyk, a small town of less than 15,000 residents, the cricket capital of Ukraine.

Wayne approached the mayor to see if there was an open space he could make into a cricket field for young people and was met with no response. Undaunted, he continued to pray and believe, knowing that sports can be a powerful catalytic ministry in sharing Kingdom values, and introducing people to Jesus.

Some years later, as the town started to expand and new areas were being prepared to build houses, the same mayor contacted Wayne: would he still be interested in a sports field? Absolutely! Wayne replied. And so it began…

As of the beginning of 2018, the field is Ukraine’s only dedicated cricket field. Grassy and well-kept, with an Astroturf pitch, there is already a toilet block and plans for a clubhouse to be built one day. 

Strategically, at the church where Wayne is the pastor, there are fully enclosed batting cages, accommodations for visiting teams and even a bowling machine.

Last year, a couple tournaments were held on the field and used the church for accomodation. Wayne smiles recalling one Sunday morning, “Church members were hurrying into the building trying not to be late for the morning service and upon entering, got a huge shock. Firstly, they were hit by a thick aroma of curry and spices in the air that still hadn’t dissipated from the night before! And secondly, it was a big surprise, unexpectantly coming face-to-face with 49 cricket-mad Indian students living in our church building! For the Indian University students, the word is certainly getting around that this is the place to play cricket. Some of them travel up to 800 km in order to play on the field.”

Wayne’s enthusiasm is infectious. He chuckles, “God certainly has a sense of humour! The door for ministry is wide open to use our gifts. In my case, God is using my love for cricket to create relationships and influence people who have never heard the gospel or ever met a sold-out follower of Christ.”

Although cricket is an unknown sport amongst Ukrainians, Wayne is praying for a cricket missionary to come and work with the local to create Ukraine’s first youth and junior cricket team.

Cricket may well offer the possibility of meeting Ukraine’s next generation’s needs not only physically but spiritually – and that can only be a positive development.

A family of elderly Jews were happy to be visited by an international team. Short-term volunteers Anne from the UK and Peretz from Israel first visited this family with us to share the hope they have in Christ Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew).

What a surprise it was for us to hear that this wonderful couple speak perfect English! It was an amazing opportunity for Anne and Peretz to share the love of Christ with them directly, without the need of translation. An elderly man had a truly Jewish name: Jacob Moses. He was sick with cancer and was not able to walk. His wife Helen took care of him. They were so happy to see us, happy to meet foreigners from far away, to speak English with them. Jacob Moses was a radio amateur. On his desk was a radio station, a computer and lots of electronic devices. We were so exited to see how talented and intelligent this man was. He had many things to teach us, and we were amazed by his bright mind.

When he was healthy, he used to go to a synagogue. Usually those who go to a synagogue do not accept Yeshua as their Messiah. But when our foreign guests came, his heart was so open to receive the good news as never before.

A few months later, Jacob Moses passed away. His wife, Helen, couldn't stop crying. It was such a great loss for her.

When we came to visit her the next time, she so desperately needed to be comforted. This time we came to comfort Helen and brought a 73-year-old lady called Esther from the UK and a young girl called Ashley-Hope from Australia. Helen was excited to have guests from as far away as Australia. She had never had guests from such a far distance before. Helen said, "I remember when you last came to visit me, you told me about an Australian girl coming."

Ashley-Hope had an amazing talk with Helen and comforted her by telling her about God's love for her. Ashley-Hope started to read Scripture to Helen. Helen started to look for her old Russian Bible. When she found it, it was just a book of the four Gospels. But Ashley-Hope was reading verses from Ephesians.

Before Ashley-Hope arrived in Ukraine, she said God had told her to buy a new Bible. She was wondering why. When she discovered Helen didn't have the full Bible, Ashley-Hope offered her English Bible as a gift. Helen was so excited to receive such an amazing gift: God's precious Word from an Australian girl.

What a great joy and blessing to see how happy Helen was! Despite her loss, God didn't leave her or forsake her. He took care of her—a widow and a precious daughter of Israel.

Freedom to teach the next generation

OM started working in Vinnitsa in 1996, five years after the country received its independence from the Soviet Union. During the years of Soviet rule, teaching religion to children was prohibited by law. Independence in 1991 brought freedom for its inhabitants to express their Christian beliefs without opposition from the authorities. Reaching the next generation for Christ became a high priority for the churches, a vision the OM team shared.

OM was, in fact, the first group to start ‘Sunday’ schools on any given day of the week in Ukraine. The OM team worked with, and trained, local Christians; soon several churches were ready to start ‘Sunday’ schools. Today’s strategy still includes teaching children and teens the ways of Christ, but the outreach area has expanded to the numerous villages surrounding the city that can be easily reached by car from the city centre.

The next generation’s children

In general, the OM team helps a church start its own Sunday school and runs it for three years, including camps during school breaks over the summer, Christmas and Easter. When the three years are completed, the church normally takes over, while the OM team moves on to help another church. This year OM Vinnitsa ran Sunday Schools in three villages.

Camps and special events often include puppet shows, which are always popular with the children. The stories are recorded to allow foreigners on Global Challenge (short-term) teams to participate even if they do not speak a word of either Russian or Ukrainian.

OM team member Tanya Morgunova explains that each camp lasts for an entire week, starting with introducing the programme in church on Sunday. On Monday morning, the children are eagerly awaiting a fun-filled week. Although they sleep at home each night, they come back to the camp every morning; teens have their own programme in the evenings. “It is a full, somewhat exhausting, but very rewarding week,” laughs Tanya, “but we always emphasise that the camp belongs to the church. We support and train their leaders but in no way take over. The church also contributes by providing lunch for the children.”

An average camp normally expects to cater for between 30-60 children, but sometimes up to 100 turn up! At the end of the week, the parents are invited to come and see what campers have been up to as the children share what they have learnt.

Training leaders, providing materials

OM holds training seminars for Sunday school teachers, lasting up to four days, with the aim of inspiring and helping the churches to continue the Sunday school work themselves. The training also helps to build relationships between churches and the children’s workers, using newly-introduced and taught materials. Tanya has written most of the materials herself, as she is responsible for programme development for the whole year, and making it available to the churches.

At the time of writing, the OM team is quite small; the last foreigners returned home after finishing their commitment. Local volunteers do provide invaluable help; in fact, several of the full-time OM workers started as volunteers, and many volunteers met Christ through Sunday school. Several short-term foreigners are expected on the field over the next few months; and national Ukrainians would love to join full-time as OM workers, if they could raise sufficient support. For it has proven difficult to finance missions from national giving, partly because of long-held expectations that missions come from outside to contribute to the nation’s churches, and not the other way around.

Please pray for the OM team in Vinnitsa, and for the seeds sown through the Sunday schools to bear much fruit. Pray also for more team members to join, both nationally and from overseas.  Pray that God would reveal His strategy for future ministry, and provide for ministry and financial needs.

If you would like to join the team or contribute financially, please contact your local OM office.

In November 2013, thousands of Ukrainians gathered hopefully at the Maidan Square in what became known as the Kiev Maidan Revolution, watching, waiting, praying for days. In the months that followed, clashes resulted, killing approximately 130 people and wounding 1,100 others. The president fled to Russia, leaving the glorious riches of the palace displayed to the world, in stark contrast to the poverty many of his people experienced. Then the Russians moved in.

Ukrainians have suffered painful events with losses to be mourned, especially those whose loved ones died, or who had to flee their homes in the East, or the non-Russian inhabitants in Crimea. Although the news media has moved on to other crises, in Ukraine things are still happening. Even more importantly, God is on the move.

“The churches are busier than ever,” says Oleg, the OM team leader and a pastor in Rivne. “Many people are seeking God. It is really a new day. Since the Kiev revolution, there is a new sense of freedom. There is also the awareness that in our time of need, our help did not come from Europe, not from USA, but from God himself. With our new president and people seeking God, we are excited to see what God will do. Please continue to pray for Ukraine, and for the new day dawning in our country.”

OM teams work with several churches in the cities of Odessa, Rivne, Vinnitsa and Kaharlyk. They often focus on children, through Sunday schools, clubs and camps. The teams also help IDPs from the war zone in the East, reach out to Jews, and create new business opportunities. OM welcomes short-term teams, especially during school holidays, when week-long camps for children sometimes run back-to-back for several weeks.

“In the past, the churches had no vision for mission, and the Ukrainians could not travel anywhere. This is now changing, and some students are ready to go on short-term mission outreaches. Some have gone for a few weeks, for instance to the war zone in the East or to a neighbour country. When they come back and share their experience with the church, it is changing the church!” Oleg rejoices.

The OM team praises God for what He is doing in Ukraine and asks for further prayer: for protection and an end to the war in the East, for the churches and OM teams to reach out in many different ways, and for even more people to turn to God and experience spiritual freedom.

Bus4Life in Ukraine

This summer, Bus4Life was in Ukraine for a total of four weeks in August and September and connected up with an outreach taking place in Vinnytsia, Western Ukraine. Its focus was literature. Ukrainians are very keen to get their hands on the books on the bus’s bookshelves. They long for God’s word and to be able to read it in their own language; yet sadly, easy access to Christian literature is very limited. The team saw how fervently people welcomed the opportunity to buy the Christian books and Bibles: approximately 1,700 Christian books and Bibles were sold from the bus in four weeks! Some titles were completely sold out in that time, so a drastic restocking was necessary before the next trip.

Even though the books and Bibles sold at Bus4Life are priced as low as possible, they are still an expensive item for the average Ukrainian’s weekly budget, where prices for commodities have risen significantly although salaries and pensions have remained the same. Yet Christian literature is so clearly an important priority for Ukrainian believers. Bus4Life also gave local Ukrainian fellowships the opportunity to buy books by driving through local towns and villages, in spite of the challenging road surfaces.

Bus4Life in Romania

The team then travelled on to a week-long trip to the Constanta region in Romania. The drive from Ukraine to Murfatlar by the Black Sea took longer than anticipated, so the bus stopped only briefly at OM Romania’s office to pick up books for the outreach and half of the outreach team. The rest of the team met them at their destination. Everyone was excited and motivated to be participating, as Bus4Life had visited Murfatlar for four consecutive years, and locals knew what to expect as soon as they saw the bus. This meant lots of visitors – and lots of conversations.

One of the conversations was with a man who talked to the team for over an hour, just happy to hear Bible stories and meet Christians. After talking and praying for him, a local volunteer invited the man to church. On the last day of the outreach the team attended a church service where they saw the man again, also attending the service.

The team also organised a children’s programme, attended by 40-50 children each day. Many parents came too and listened to the stories and songs. One local Christian family wanted to help by organising a free juice bar for the children, which attracted still more children from the neighbourhood.

The outreach in Romania was coordinated by OMer, Delia Luca, who expressed her enthusiasm: “I’m glad for the opportunity to serve the Lord through Bus4Life. I learnt many things and got to grow my faith out of my comfort zone. May God bless the Bus4Life ministry and all the people involved in it. Also, my prayer is that more people may hear about Jesus through this way of sharing the gospel and those who have heard to know Him more.”

A pro-life campaign in Hungary

Not only does the Bus4Life serve to promote Christian literature, it also acts as a means of helping people think through issues by displaying topical information from a Christian perspective.  As did the bus when, during the September outreach to Hungary, it provided an exhibition space about prenatal development. Through the bus’s presence, the team had the opportunity to discuss and share about the negative impacts of abortion.

Bus4Life not only brings faith to life through literature, but can help the generations decide how they might value the life Jesus came to save and liberate.

It was just the confirmation he needed, having prayed long for God to lead him, as he felt the time had come to leave his secular job and serve God full time. His previous experience of leading a children’s camp with the church felt like a fish in water! A mission trip to Russia had also deeply impressed him: “My soul was thirsty for missions,” Nikolay shared. “When the phone call came from Zaporozhe, asking me to consider helping with children who graduated from the orphanage, I felt God was answering my prayer.” Even his wife agreed without hesitation, as God had prepared both to receive orphans into their hearts.

Ukraine has numerous orphanages, 22 in the Odessa region alone. These accommodate almost 5,000 children, 860 of whom have no parents, while the rest are at risk at home due to mainly alcohol-related domestic issues. The orphanages are often located in small towns or remote areas, where the children receive their education on site until the age of 16, then have to move out to fend for themselves. Some have nowhere to go.

“Before God called us to help we were totally unaware this problem existed in the country; it changed our whole life,” Nikolay said. He and his wife underwent a brief training in orphan psychology, then accepted four boys into their home—the boys stayed until they graduated and left for college the following year.

Afterwards, Nikolay was asked to help at a summer camp. Not thinking this was for him, he hesitated, but when he understood the camp was for orphan boys, he realized it was part of what God wanted him to do. “My heart found its home,” Nikolay said, “and I have stayed with this mission ever since. When my old employer asked me to return, I knew I could never go back: I had found my place.”

He also identified what was living inside his heart resonated well with OM’s vision to mobilise others. He recognised that God is giving life to his vision: he and his wife Julia*, plus two young children, have worked with OM Ukraine full time for almost three years, regardless of regular financial support. God has recently blessed them with a little regular support that made it possible to rent a flat near to OM’s offices in Odessa. Even though income is rarely regular, Nikolay does not complain. “God challenged me into this,” he said, “to live in faith and trust Him for every day.”

Nikolay leads the program for up to eight week-long summer camps and two shorter winter camps for the children living in the orphanages, mainly from at risk families and from the war zone. OM gets volunteers to help build the camp: tents for sleeping and meeting, a kitchen tent and sanitary blocks. Nikolay arranges the program and leads the volunteers running it. The volunteers either come as international teams through OM or as local volunteers.

During the school year Nikolay also takes part in other events, like the “marathon of visits” to orphanages, outdoor hiking or rafting with orphanage boys.

Julia is mainly home-based, looking after their youngest child who just turned three; however, she does bring the children to the camps and helps mentor the leaders. It is Julia who makes most of the phone calls to individuals, pastors and churches, to help find enough volunteers.

There is no doubt that Nikolay loves what he is doing; it shines from him as he shares his heart. “First of all,” he said, “when kids accept Christ! Always the best, but also at the camp, when I get this feeling of standing on the sideline watching God at work. I am addicted to that feeling. And the orphans: seeing their joy and the change in them as we work with them over time, as they do when they get to acting out dramas like the Narnia story or the Treasure Island at the camps; it is like a gift.”

His intensely blue eyes light up as he starts listing his blessings and what motivates him to continue. He recognises there are so many opportunities and so many needs. He would love to organise a camp to serve the volunteers where they get to receive rather than always do the work. Although, he admitted, “when you work with volunteers who are not committed, and only want to have fun, that puts the brakes on everything.”

Each new season is a big step of faith: “We always start with nothing—no money, no volunteers—but knowing that God will be faithful,” Nikolay said. “We normally expect 800 children at the cost of 60 euros [about 71 USD] per child, and we also need to feed the volunteers who are not paid, but we supply the food. It is always such a joy to see it all come together, to see what God is doing.”

*Surname not included for security

To some, it may seem that this was just a short term mission trip without much impact, but after his previous visit, another evangelical church (whom OM has not worked with before) began to serve the aged as well.

One woman who was paralysed in a lying down position, was soon able to sit up again after Kevin prayed for her. The impact of short termers in Ukraine is like a new fire that ignites and inspires the church to serve!

Every Internally Displaced (IDP) family in Ukraine has a long story--each left their homes, their work, their belongings, their friends and many left their relatives. The aid brought by short termers, and their prayers for the families is like a fresh wind in their homes and souls.

During OM Ukraine's last STM campaign amongst IDP’s, one family from the U.S. and also one woman from the Netherlands joined Kevin in this outreach. A highlight of this campaign was a barbecue picnic in the forest for displaced people. The OM military field kitchen continues to serve food to people from the East. 

During this trip and outing, many hearts opened up toward the church and relationships were formed that will serve to share the gospel with the IDP community.

Thanks be to God for the committed short termers who come as they are a huge blessing and help in OM Ukraine’s ministry to the church of Ukraine!

The team travelled many kilometres to villages in the province, visiting 13 locations including schools, orphanages and village churches. During 17 performances, 1,370 children and 140 adults were able to hear the gospel message clearly. 

Ten years ago such a puppet performance by protestant Christians would not have been allowed in many public schools.

Praise God with us and please pray for every person who heard the gospel.

“These are the Crossroads, the place where you need to make your choice.”

Turning my back on the Black Sea shore where seagulls mob an elderly woman offering bread, and painted dodgem cars lazily await the arrival of a new holiday season, I cross the busy road to a line of small stalls and wind my way through the local vendors. There is an uneven road, flanked by scruffy, Soviet-style apartment blocks. Overhead run raggedly insulated heating pipes and lines of washing strung out from windows.

I turn into a doorway, up some stairs, through another door, and I am in a small, rectangular-shaped room. The cross on the wall opposite me confirms that this is my destination for today: Crossroads Church.

Crossroads Church is the community of believers, planted and tirelessly supported by OM workers Stefan and Hensie van der Merwe. The church is in an impoverished and crime-ridden neighbourhood of Odessa.

Coming in from the freezing temperature outside it feels warm, though this hardly compares with the warmth of welcome given by the people. People, who come here to worship, discuss, share their lives together or simply ask questions about the God who can bring such light and joy into a dark and dreary place.

The congregation includes a number of people who have been set free from addictions and now act as magnets to others who have seen the difference in their lives. Can this God really set them free, bring new hope, provide comfort and support for their often chaotic lives? The answer is given lovingly, but clearly and directly: “yes!”

I think of those like Kostya*, who recognise that strength of will is insufficient, who come to God in repentance, asking for forgiveness, and experience a real power which carries them through withdrawal and reconciles family members. Others find joy in their pain, like Anya* who came to love God despite her alcoholism. Yulya*, who knows that, despite her disability and the loss of her son who was killed right here in Luzanovka after they fled the war in the east, ‘underneath are the everlasting arms’.

As well as Sunday meetings, twice-weekly Bible studies and prayer meetings which are open to all, and times where customary Ukrainian face-saving gives way to open and vulnerable sharing of lives, there are weekend groups for children and teenagers. Here they, too, are introduced to God and invited to enjoy games and snacks as they learn together.

I spent almost two weeks in Odessa, and was both encouraged and challenged by my experience at Crossroads Church. The enthusiasm and commitment by church members is great, whilst the need is huge. It’s so clear, however, that God is at work and steadily drawing people in. ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.’ John 1:5 (NLT). 

*Names changed

This year once again, money that was raised through OM Ukraine’s R4TW (Run for the world) project paid for dental work on around 70 children in another orphanage in the Odessa Province. Dima was more than happy to join the team.

Another dentist that joined the team, Masha*, shared about a phone call she recieved the day she needed to leave on the outreach. That month she would be taking her final exams, but the University told her that since she had not paid her fees, she would have to come back next year, pay and then take the exams. The problem was, she HAD paid and had the receipt to prove it. The person on the phone told her that this was her problem that the money had not been received, and that was the end of it. Masha prayed that the Lord would sort this out and left for the outreach – instead of going to the University to clear things up herself. When she returned, the money had miraculously turned up in the University’s bank account.

Masha was touched by the fact that these children were alone and lonely and lifted a heartfelt prayer, that each would feel that God himself is with them.

 “After the outreach, the orphanage director praised not only the dental work done, but was especially impressed by the way that the volunteers took time to fellowship with the children and how not one of the children felt lonely during these three days,” Masha shared.

The OM Odessa team is thankful for the Heritage Foundation with which they partner in reaching out to orphans in the Odessa province and to the volunteers and dentists who gave their time and expertise. Their prayer is that each of these children would learn that God is their Father who loves them.

* Surname not included for security reasons

The OM team realised that investing in pastors is of utmost necessity, because a healthy pastor can grow a healthy church.

Along with receiving a time of rest, the participants were also able to learn new material presented by the team. Just like the prophet Elijah, after being fed and resting they were able to go back and attend to the calling God has for them.  

"We haven't had such rest for long time!" was one of the positive comments made. The most important time for participants during this seminar was quiet time with God in a place where they didn't have to serve but were served instead.

Oleg Abaturov from OM Ukraine believes that the Holy Spirit served each pastor individually. Now a few months later the OM team has heard many testimonies of God's glory. 

God gave us a present

One couple serving within the confict zone who attended the seminar are Andrey* and Irina*. They shared their testimony, exclaiming that they haven't rested like this in eight years.

Eight years ago, Irina's brother and his wife died, leaving three children to be cared for. Andrey and Irina adopted the three. As they had no children of their own, they saw the kids as a huge gift from the Lord.

Five years later they adopted two more children. Since work in the war zone is not to be found, the family's livelihood depends on their vegetable garden, some money they receive from the government for the children and a small salary the church is able to afford for their pastor. Thus they trust in the Lord who is the father of the fatherless.

OM Ukraine praises God for people like Andrey and Irina who have not left, who take responsibility for the Lord's flock. This family believes that the children they have are a gift from the Lord and want to raise them to serve Jesus Christ as well.

Pray God’s provision for Andrey and Irina as winter is coming and their home needs repairs. Praise the Lord for everyone who has sent some form of help to Ukraine during this time of crisis, and pray that he will raise up more workers for his harvest.

*Names changed

As a result, Sasha's* decorative metal working business was also failing badly. It was then that an OM missionary approached Sasha and invited him to head up the “waste2fuel pyrolysis endeavors." 

The project involved lots of metal working, welding, process control and problem solving. When Sasha agreed, it was not only an answer to prayer but confirmation of God's will. Sasha is one of few locals in a small town with the skills set to make this project a reality.

Sasha is rough and outspoken with few friends. But unlike many the OM team has worked with in the past, he is an extremely honest man and he records every work  and financial transaction in detail.  

Now 22 months into this project, the team is approaching the "D-Day", when the production line will finally start earning money.  During this time, Sasha's life has changed. He is now not only out of debt, he has less back pain. About six months ago, Sasha admitted that since he started to work at the project, he has been released from huge amounts of stress. Stress from dishonest clients, unreasonable bosses and debt collectors. He is now free to devote all his mental energy to making the project a success.

Sasha is on a spiritual journey and has brought his friend Tolik*, also a welder, in to join the team. Tolik also has a unique character, but listens respectfully as the team prays, giving thanks to God in prayer.

Pray for the team as they minister to these two men through business, that the Lord would reveal himself to them and continue to bless their work.

*Surname not included for security reasons

It has now been four months since the Lord moved us to start to reach out to young people through sports ministry. I would like to share with you how it all started and what has been accomplished in four short months. After serving on a kids camp attended by teenagers from orphanages, I had a strong desire to keep working with those that have graduated from the orphanages. Because soccer is so popular in our country, our team decided to invite the guys to play soccer with us once a week. We invited guys from two colleges and were pleasantly surprised that even the vice-principle was so positive about our new venture that he himself motivated the young men to attend.

During our first meeting in September, around 12 guys attended. We prayed together and just played soccer together. From then on we have seen some come and go and one or two new boys come every week. In time we have formed a group that regularly attends. At meetings we spend some time to talk about God, sports, Christians and sports, and many other themes through which we have been able to build some positive friendships.

A month ago, we put together a document with rules and officially formed the Christian soccer club, and through a vote the guys named their club “Lighthouse”. Officially we have nine members that have made a commitment towards the club apart from about seven others that just attend but are not ready to become official members. At present we are working through course material about teamwork and how to be a winner- in the game as well as in life. We are able to, from a biblical perspective, talk about unity, teamwork, friendship, love, victory and what God’s plan is for each of us.

There have been many visitors who came, they saw, they played and left. Yet on the whole, I see that God is doing what He sees fit. Those that have committed are those that the Lord has prepared and is working with to change their lives.

Through working with these young men, I am getting to know about their lives, hardships, struggles and am able to see how to serve and support them. For each of them, I pray that the Lord will touch their hearts and change their lives. Their futures have become my concern, I carry each of them in my heart and live in hope that, with God’s help I will be able to help them find God and find meaning in their lives, stability and confidence for tomorrow.  

My name is Maslova Anna Michailovna and I was born in 1998. I used to live in Krasnii Luch, in the province of Lugansk in Ukraine, until the war started…

Never did I think that war, any war would become a reality to me and that it would impact so much on my life. On the 8th of August 2014 war came into my world in a way I could never have imagined.

For the whole of the summer that year, there was peace in our town. Families enjoyed the warm sunshine and the peace. Then one fateful day the ‘peaceful summer’ became for families just a memory.

On the 10th of August our whole family was nervously gathered, waiting for the commencement of my older sister’s wedding, which was to take place in our home. The festivities had just started as we heard the first bombs falling. Even though it was some distance away, across the fields, frightened neighbours and friends gathered all they could carry. They tried to escape on whatever transport they could find.

We were forced to do the same. I found it extremely difficult to leave loved ones. We all left to face the ravages of war. My hometown, where once the sight of cars and children playing was a common occurrence, had been replaced by tanks and soldiers occupying the roads.

Since there was no way for our father and brother to join us – we could only hope and pray that they would come at some point, but when? My mother and I ended up in a camp for refugees where we stayed for two months. All this time we were able to keep contact with the town by those left behind, awaiting the good news… but good news never came. Instead,  we heard whispers that our home was being used by soldiers, not Ukrainian ones, but those from neighbouring countries. 

For a while, those left behind, like our family and friends fought hard to claim back our town, but to no avail. The town became unrecognizable. Buildings had been destroyed, stores ravaged and homes, once a centre of joy and laughter, lay abandoned shells. Once there were numerous supermarkets, now only two were open… and that soon became just one.  If there was any stock left on the shelves, it was soon decimated by people rushing in to buy up everything in sight.

We praise God that somehow we heard about the “Heritage Foundation” and OM team leader Slavik Puzanov.

Now, I am living in the OM base in Odessa - delighted that even though it has been hard, I am now enrolled again in school and at last able to finish the 11th grade and get my Ukrainian High School diploma. This base has become a huge blessing for me and for many others. It has been a sanctuary from the turmoil of war, so much so, that if it is possible, I would like to stay here in Odessa to further my studies. 

My brother, who was unable to leave our town when my mother and I fled, has now joined us and is also now living here. As he seeks permanent work, he is able to help out around the base with repairs and other jobs.

When I think about the Ukraine: There is hope…

Pray for Anya and her family, as well as the many other families displaced by the conflict in Ukraine. 

“I am 29 years old and grew up in Krasni Luh in the Luhansk province of Ukraine. The thought never crossed my mind that I will ever have to leave my hometown and I definitely never planned to live in Odessa where I did not know a soul,” he shared. “The war became a reality for our family when four bombs fell in our neighbour’s yard and panic filled our hearts and the hearts of our neighbours. We had to get out – no matter where to, we just needed to run for our lives. When fleeing for you life, you do not think ahead about where you will stay, what you will need…and then other problems start.”

Illiya was unable to leave the war zone at this stage, since there was no space in the vehicle his family found. Being the eldest child of his family, he volunteered to stay behind. A week after his family left, the fighting was so heavy around Krasni Luh, that it seemed impossible to get out.

He stayed for another month during which he saw terrible atrocities – of which he was only able to share on paper. In the conflict zone, civilians are dying and it is the aged and children that suffer most because of violence and mine fields set up in haste. Because of fear of going out to public cemeteries to bury the dead, many end up in unmarked graves in backyards.

“A month after my family left I was myself able to get out of the war zone,” Iliya recalled. “I am glad to be away from that place and do not wish to return - when tanks, artillery and grad missiles are the norm and you have to eat old dried bread and drink water that you were able to boil while there was electricity, and you are living in a basement and there is no joy to find in life…” he trailed off. 

“So here I am, extremely thankful to Slavik Puzanov, (OM Odessa Team leader), who helped to give my family a place to stay. My youngest sister is still in school and is now able to finish school,” he said. “Now I am at last also with my family in the OM center in Odessa. I am able to look for work and to help out around the centre as I am able. I am thankful.”

Like many, Iliya shared that he cannot sleep, that he hears gunfire in his sleep and that he flinches at every loud sound. For this reason OM Ukraine has invested in printing counselling materials for soldiers returning and their families as well as for use for IDP’s. OM is also forming strategic partnerships to help train believers in how to work with trauma victims.

These are the most recent statistics:

• 1.4 million registered IDPs in Ukraine
• United Nations: March 4, 2016 Ukraine:Conflict's Death Toll put at 9,160. (German research puts the number of deaths during the past two years nearer to 40,000)

 Please continue to pray for Ukraine.

When Wayne Zschech, OM Ukraine field leader, heard about this training center to train missionaries with the sole purpose of planting churches on "both sides" of the Ukraine/Russia divide, he knew this was something OM should get behind. OM Ukraine has been privileged to be able to support the first group of students as well as helping to finance the first three church plants.

Artyomivka is a mining community on the front lines that, before the war, had no evangelical church. Now a year and a half later a team of missionaries has planted a church which is attended by up to 30 people.

The small congregation of 10 people in Zhellanoye, a little further away from the front, has bloomed into a faith community of around 40 people. Church services, Sunday school, children’s programmes, and teenage groups are all well attended. With the help of many Christian organisations, the missionary team and congregation members have been able to serve the community with humanitarian aid including food parcels, clothes and much needed wood for heating this winter. 

Savgeeva is a third town where OM support has served to assist the church planters that graduated from the missionary school. A few weeks ago three people accepted Christ. According to Pastor Sergei, people come to the Lord on a weekly basis here.

The most amazing thing is the changed attitude in these towns towards evangelical Christians. In the past, any faith that was not Russian Orthodox was seen as sectarian and looked on with fear and suspicion. Today, these congregations are held in high regard by both the local government bodies as well as the citizens of these towns.

The need is still great, especially in areas where the fighting continues. These missionary teams of four people are still being sent out and already 13 more churches have been planted. They are supporting the local population spiritually and with humanitarian aid, as far as it is possible. 

Pray for the churches in these towns to grow as more people look to Christ for truth. Pray that God would use the conflict for His glory to draw people into relationship with Himself.

Jeff writes:

Two weeks ago, 3,000 “Combat Trauma books” in Russian and Ukrainian came from the publishers and we should receive 1,500 of our “When War Comes Home books” next week. Our Ukrainian language printing of “When War Comes Home” had to be re-edited and is now awaiting the layout by the publisher.

In the last couple of weeks we distributed these books to chaplains in a training held at the Kiev Theological Seminary. These were chaplains being considered for official chaplaincy in the war zone as the training was being conducted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.  

We also gave copies to both the Chaplaincy Program Command as well as Medical Support Command at their DOD offices to help them be aware of this faith-based program.   

We distributed books to a PTSD emergency response conference held by Realis in the Humanities University. I met one woman who was a director of a counselling and social aid program for families still trapped along the war zone between Russian and Ukrainian forces. She had 800 families on her list she was trying to help and her list was growing.

Others who have received these materials are church planting teams, drug and rehab centers in Odessa, Nikopol, Ternopol, not counting social center representatives in our training.

Our challenge is to get these materials in the hands of those who really want to use them. Ukrainian Christians across Ukraine all know someone returning from the front with some degree of trauma. But they do not know how to help them, thus the need for these materials. We know only a small percentage of these men will seek professional help, so with 200 thousand plus men returning, these materials are critical to helping believers know how to help them.

Already over 2,000 soldiers (official statistics) have died from alcohol related friendly fire. This drinking is largely contributed to the stress and trauma of war. This does not touch the impact on the family. A neighbor or friend (Christians) nearby who takes the initiative to love them can make the difference. We are so grateful to OM and their heart for the people of Ukraine.

May the Lord bless your compassion for these men, their families, and the children and widows of those who will be paying the price of this war for a long time.

In Him,

Jeff Laughlin with Ukraine Military Ministry

People with disabilities are often rejected by Ukranian society. There are no programs for parents or workers trained on how to develop kids with disabilities. Because of this stigma, many of these children do not receive education but are kept at home, hidden away.

The idea for a camp came when one OM volunteer who has a child with autism shared about the struggles of parents with disabled children. The parents are left on their own with their problems, thinking that they are alone to face them. They have no rest because they can't leave their children even for a few hours. 

OM along with some local organisations invited a group of 12 children and their parents into a caring environment, where one volunteer was assigned to each child so that the parents could rest. For 48 hours, the mothers were able to not be the sole caretaker of their child.

Throughout the day the children sang songs, played with bubbles, jumped on a trampoline, and even swam in a swimming pool with the volunteers. The Minions (professional clowns volunteering with OM Odessa team) even made an appearance to play games and lift spirits. Special attention was given to dietary needs of each special child. 

The camp was a new thing for the families. It was the first time that some of the mothers could sit down and rest without worrying. As one mother reflected, “nobody ever thinks about having a camp for our children.”

For the children, it was their first time ever at camp, where they could sit by the fire and sleep in a tent. It was new for the volunteers as well, who underwent training to put on the camp and desired to learn more ways to help children with special needs.

But the story doesn’t end there. The momentum from the camp this summer has continued. Three times during the last four months, volunteers have taken the children to an entertainment centre where they can jump on the trampolines and play different games.  During these activities, the volunteers met with moms to give them some training and support.

At present, OM Ukraine is planning future camps and dreaming of opening a Children's Centre where children with disabilities will be able to come and play games and be a part of a community at least once a week. They would like to find sponsors to help pay a speech therapist, psychologist and medical workers to work at the centre. 

OM Odessa team leader Slavik Puzanov is grateful that God has allowed the team to serve these families. The team would like to see a change in the way people view children with disabilities...that they are also smart, talented, and that there are many things to learn from them. They wish to help society realise the potential God has given these children and to accept them. 

There are many opportunities in the Ukraine, but only a few workers. Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send workers into His field in Ukraine. For more information on how to support this ministry, contact OM Ukraine at info.ua@om.org or contact your local OM office.  

The morning camp was held on the village school grounds with about 50 children each day. The afternoon camp was held at the local church and attracted around 60 children from poor and refugee families, many of whom brought their non-believing parents.

“You gave us what we are all in desperate need for … faith in God and love for people,” said the school director during the closing ceremony of the morning camp. “We want to keep on working with you and we cannot wait for the next  meeting.”

Three boys with cerebral paralysis also attended the afternoon camp, but for three days they simply refused to participate. On the fourth day – Talent Day – one of the boys, Maxim*, raised his hand and announced that he also has a talent. With quite a struggle and help from some of the other boys, he managed to get on stage and did 20 push-ups! “It was clear how much effort it took for him to do this,” added Stefan.  “We were so encouraged by this special moment.”

The next day Maxim brought some needle work that he had done, and within the remaining days of the camp, all three boys started to change – participating, smiling and sharing. After the camp the pastor thanked the team, saying, “Thanks to your ministry our church has received not only children but also grown-ups! Praise God!”

“These victories did not, however, come by themselves,” said Stefan. While preparing for the camps, many on the team became ill, and on the first day of the camp, some of the leaders and children got food poisoning.  “It is still unclear what the reason for this was,” Stefan added. “But it is for certain that without the mighty hand of God we would not have been able to present these camps!”

*Name changed.

Recently, the Odessa team met two women who fled their beloved Donetsk with their families. They told the team about their beautiful city and invited team members to visit when the war ends. They wore smiles as they excitingly shared about their lives, but the conversation turned serious.

"We fled with almost nothing," they said. They had to leave in a hurry, as the part of the city they live in became a battleground between the Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces.

Now, as refugees in a city they have only visited before as tourists, they find themselves in a situation they have never been in: needing to ask for help. It seems almost unreal to them that, fewer than two years ago, they packed two big bags full of clothes and handed them over to their local church for distribution amongst the needy in their city. Today, they are the ones searching amongst the second-hand clothes that the OM team in Odessa managed to gather through their Share the Warmth project for refugees. 

A couple of weeks ago, OM in Odessa received mail from the women with the following note: 

"Our family arrived from the anti-terrorist operation zone. We left during war. We arrived in here in Odessa with only our summer clothes and without any money. Our son is an invalid, of the first group. We came to you for help. You welcomed us warmly and also supported us morally. You helped us to clothe our family, helped us with medicine and diapers for our son.

“We are very grateful to you for your fund and your support to people in need. Thank you that you are not indifferent to the needs and misfortunes of others, and for your response to our request for help."

OM is still in contact with the women, who have attended church once. The OM team invited them to a women's tea outreach in March for International Women's Day. They live off of a social pension that barely covers their needs. Until the month of May, they have accommodation in a sanatorium, but after that, no one knows where they will go. There are hundreds of people like them in Odessa at the moment, unable to go home to the east where they had lives, work and care for their children.

Please continue to pray for peace in Ukraine and also for OM's efforts to reach out to the needs of refugees during this difficult time. You can read more on our OM Ukraine Facebook page.

In April, when bands of balaclava-wearing gunmen seized government administration buildings in eastern Ukraine, many local Christians prepared for the worst. Their fears were soon confirmed, as it became evident that religious freedom was not valued by the self-proclaimed leaders of the new so-called “people’s republics”.

When abuses started, the first wave of Christians fled the separatist-controlled regions, beginning a Christian migration. How many thousands of Christians have fled is still unclear, but churches from around the country began taking in suffering believers from the occupied territories. It has been a wonderful expression of brotherly love on a significant scale.

One man, Sasha*, and his family, from Donetsk, have been taken in by one of OM Ukraine’s ministry centres. The family made the decision to escape after a Grad missile launch system was set up in their residential area. Sasha has been given employment with one of OM Ukraine’s Business for Transformation business endeavours, as he and his family have decided to stay through the winter at OM’s ministry centre.

Many weren’t able to leave as easily as Sasha and his family. Reports abound of threats, harassments, detentions in inhumane conditions, interrogations, confiscation of possessions, kidnappings, various forms of torture, as well as several proven cases of murder on religious grounds.

Ministers have been informed that there is a bounty on their heads. Dozens of places of worship throughout these regions have been ransacked, suffered machine-gun attacks and/or have been torched. 

Sasha shared with us his desire to love his enemies the way Jesus taught. The people who have taken up arms against Ukraine’s government have destroyed much of what Sasha and his family call home, and yet Sasha, and many Christians throughout Ukraine, are seeking to love and pray for those who have driven many from their homes.

The scale and systematic nature of abuse against Christians and religious minorities from Ukraine’s occupied territories is a disturbing fact that has received little public attention. There are already 300-400 documented cases of religion-incited abuses. Because of the high level of fear, many victims refuse to report their experiences. Some of these religious refugees have expressed that the pain is too great for them to return to their former homes, even if the military conflict is resolved.

All of this this stands in stark contrast to what we saw transpire last winter during the Euromaidan protests, which became the “Revolution of Dignity (and against corruption)”. It was there that Christian leaders from across almost all of the major denominations made a public and united stand for human rights and justice, to care for the suffering, and against abuses.

These spiritual servants stood together boldly with the protestors, ministering through the long cold winter and even during the most violent clashes. Walls of division were broken down and the place, witness and values of the Church were becoming accepted by many of the non-religious for the first time.

There are deep changes taking place in Ukraine. Everyone has been affected by the seemingly never-ending events. The OM team believes that there are signs that a spiritual harvest will be reaped.

Like Sasha, many Christians and their families from the eastern regions have been forced to flee the danger. Other Christians from all over the country have been very active in projecting their faith towards the east, to where the danger is greatest and the greatest needs are felt. Now is the time for the Church to shine.

Please pray that through the abuses, persecutions and suffering, the work of Lord will happen. Pray that thousands of Ukrainians will come to know Jesus and put their trust in Him, and that in time, Ukraine will send forth many missionaries to lands still in need of Him.

*Name changed

Now Ukraine is waging a war against Russian-backed separatists in its far most eastern regions. Conservative sources estimate that more than 3700 people have lost their lives and around 1,000,000 have been forced to flee their homes. So much violence, abuse and suffering in this peace-loving nation.

The end is still nowhere in sight but the reality of winter has arrived. There are hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons being accommodated in makeshift or uninsulated dwellings incompatible with living in freezing temperatures. It is a bleak situation.

Intense emotions and change

From early spring and on through autumn, OM Ukraine’s ministry teams have been busy serving hundreds of victims in a myriad of different ways. They have been able to provide food packages, clothing, bedding, hygiene packs, medicines and fuel money for brave brothers evacuating those desiring to escape rebel-held territory. They offer accommodation for displaced fellow Christians, do regular visitation and also supply Christian literature & New Testaments. “Ministering in a country at war is not fun,” said one team member. “But it is a privilege to be called to be here at this historic time. Ukraine is a country going through intense emotions and change. And people are open to Kingdom conversations.”

An exciting and strategic ministry avenue that has only come into existence in recent months is the volunteer chaplains’ movement ministering to the 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers in and around the battle zone. Being a former-Soviet country, Ukraine doesn’t have a long and proud tradition of military chaplaincy like Western nations do. In acknowledgment of the spiritual and psychological needs of its soldiers, the Ukrainian government has recognized the necessity of chaplaincy at an official level. In the meantime, the fledgling volunteer chaplain ministry is gaining momentum on the run - literally as the bullets are flying.

Hello?! Are you a pastor?

Calvary Chapel Pastor Aleksey from Kyiv was a prayer warrior along with other pastors during the Maidan protests. Over the winter he witnessed first-hand the intense cold, the street battles being waged only a few metres away and the suffering and anguish as people were killed. These days he regularly travels hundreds of kilometres to the front in the east. His van is packed full of supplies, Gospel tracts and New Testaments. “My goal is to tell the soldiers about Jesus,” he said.

Aleksey gives an example of a phone call that came out of the blue from a commander who only a couple months prior had been a business executive. His unit had just returned from its first combat mission. “Hello?! Are you a pastor?... Our boys have just engaged the enemy and killed a bunch of them… how do we deal with that?  Please come and talk with us.”

In the  war zone, thousands of New Testaments and Christian literature are being handed out.  Men are grappling with huge issues like their mortality, feelings of abandonment, disgust of politics, hate, loneliness, helplessness. Many real conversations of men talking to men are taking place. And Christ is being shared.

Vital roles

Sadly, it has been reported that already a couple of young pastors have been killed in the combat theatre while being with the soldiers they were called to minister to. Chaplains are just one of the vital roles Christians are playing at this critical time.

Please pray for peace in Ukraine, for evil to be thwarted, for people to receive the Prince of Peace and for God to resource the OM team  to create warm accommodation for as many displaced persons from the war zone as possible.

Orphans from the city of Balta were welcomed to the campsite by fictional character Professor Michael and his team of “archaeologists”. The professor and his team, along with the kids, set off on an archaeological expedition to find the much-sought-after “Crown of Creation”.

For six days they literally dug up the story of creation day by day, finding artefacts that explained what God had created each day. The children learnt more as the professor deciphered the ancient scroll “The Word”.

It was evident that the Lord touched the hearts of the children during the 10-day camp. At first they were uncontrollable, swearing, stealing from leaders, running off to smoke and ignoring rules. But by the seventh day the children had tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

The OM Ukraine team organised a fun zoo, with the leaders playing animals, and then led the children one-by-one to a tent where the professor placed the “Crown of Creation” on display. In this tent was only a mirror. Disbelief, joy, excitement, understanding and many tears were seen on the faces of not only children, but also on one of the orphanage workers that accompanied the children.

A couple months later, the director of the orphanage gave the OM Ukraine team permission to visit the orphanage on a regular basis; a volunteer team has already made their first visit. Some of the children have accepted Christ, some are on their way. Everyone heard and felt that God cares enough about them to call them the Crown of His Creation!

Praise God for how he touched the hearts of the children through the camp. Please pray for continued fruit from this ministry. To see what else God is doing in Ukraine, go to their news page.

From 3-10 November, the OM New Generation team in Odessa, Ukraine, partnered with local charity fund Naslediye (Heritage) and did a marathon of trips to five orphanages, held a literature campaign, performed a flash mob in the city centre and hosted an interdenominational prayer meeting. Why?

On 10 November the OMers celebrated the All-Ukrainian Day of Prayer for Orphans, organised by a movement called Ukraine without Orphans. Since OM's team is involved with regular ministry amongst orphans year round, they wanted to make the most of this opportunity.

They praise God for five visits to five orphanage in the province and for over a thousand flyers distributed, informing people about how they can help orphans. Professional clowns blessed the team with performances, a Christian-run children’s attraction business made cotton candy, and over a 100 volunteers joined the activities in one way or another. 

"We were able to personally, in orphanages, pray for almost 400 orphans," said one OMer, "and have seen how our ministry have impacted personnel in orphanages and how the Lord is opening doors for ministry to His orphaned children." 

Pray for the ministry of OM Ukraine and learn more at their news page.  

In partnership with local churches, OM Ukraine has developed sports ministry to share the gospel in a relevant way. They desire to lead people into a living relationship with Christ and then continue to invest in their lives through discipleship. 

After five years, Coach Vova is excited about the upcoming baptism of five young men. 

"This is the best gift from God for a Christian coach," he said. "It is so much more than winning a championship, trophies or metals." 

Please pray for the work of OM Ukraine and read more about their ministries at their news page. 

OM's volunteer teams visited four orphanages in the Odessa province from 9-11 October. The children expressed overwhelming joy in seeing the team, and the team felt the same way.

Since the summer camps, an orphanage in Balta has agreed for the first time to not only accept humanitarian aid but also allow the local pastor and his wife, volunteers with OM Ukraine, to visit the teenagers and start a group for boys and girls. 

The team has also seen a breakthrough in their relationship with an orphanage in the north of the province. Though the director has been negative toward Christians, the OM volunteers carefully began to build a relationship by visiting the orphanage on its birthday, bringing with them a bouncy castle, popcorn and candy floss. The team has since been invited back to the orphanage for another visit.

During the first week of November, the OM volunteers will visit five orphanages to celebrate the days leading up to 10 November, which has been designated as All-Ukrainian Day of Prayer for Orphans by an organisation called Ukraine Without Orphans.  

Each day for a week leading up to 10 October, the OM volunteers will visit one orphanage and hold a programme focused on teaching the children about the power of prayer, and then they will pray for them. Saturday, 9 November, OM Ukraine will gather with about 200 volunteers for an interdenominational prayer meeting. On the actual day of prayer, they will distribute posters to the churches in the city, asking them to spend time during their services praying for orphans.  

Praise God for new doors into orphanages in Ukraine. Join Christians in Ukraine to pray for the orphans, who are so close to God's heart. Pray they will be adopted into His eternal family and know his love through the visits to their orphanages.

To learn more about the work of OM Ukraine, visit their news page. 

OM Ukraine's first major project was to build the field for the pitch on Ukraine’s first dedicated cricket field. On 8 May, they celebrated the opening of Kaharlyk’s first cricket season with a match against the Kiev Cricket Club.

"It was a historic and very multi-cultural event," said a worker with OM Ukraine. "We had a great turnout for this first-ever match."

Guests and visitors came from Australia, Rzhishiv, Rokitne, Kiev and the surrounding town. The mayor of Kaharlyk attended with a couple town councillors to witness the event. Once the rules were explained, the locals began to understand and enjoy the game. Kaharlyk hosted the first two matches of the Kiev Cricket League, which kicked off 3 August.

The OM Ukraine team is praying for a cricket-loving youth pastor to join this unique ministry in Ukraine. With the right personnel, they can impact the lives of hundreds of local kids, creating Ukraine’s first junior cricket league. The town will soon be on the Ukrainian sports map!

To see what else God is doing in Ukraine, go to their news web page.

Wayne Zschech, the Business for Transformation (B4T) representative with OM Ukraine, knew he had to address the practical needs of his church to make spiritual headway among the lost.

“[We had] a vision for community transformation through Christian enterprise and workplace discipleship,” he said.

In 2003, the first steps were taken for creating business opportunities in his regional town of Kaharlyk, Ukraine, 80 kilometres south of Kiev. They began experimenting with producing biogas and biodiesel, as well as growing mushrooms as a cash crop.

Biogas is a combustible gas resulting from the breakdown of organic materials by an anaerobic (without access to oxygen) bacteria, while biodiesel is a liquid fuel made from waste vegetable/fryer oil.

“We were swamped by hundreds of locals asking for employment,” Wayne said. “The Christians were active and they had some answers.”

Early experiments producing biogas were successful—to a point. They produced a combustible gas in the test unit, but further progress had to be put on hold until they had personnel with the expertise and technology to bring the project to a self-sustaining level. In 2012 the project was launched a second time, and they expect to produce biogas and liquid fertilizer in the near future.

The biodiesel project is also making strides. They now have two German-made reactors helping workers to produce European spec biodiesel. Every month they collect around 20 tonnes of waste restaurant oil and are continuing to expand. They recently added two more workers to the project payroll, bringing the total to nine, and plan to add more employees in the spring if the Lord allows.

“Over the last year, there have been a lot of developments,” Wayne said. Those developments include a newly-constructed biodiesel mini-factory that will soon be operational.

“By God’s favour,” Wayne said, “what started as an experiment in a bucket has now become one of Ukraine's only operating biodiesel companies.”

At first the mushroom project proved highly successful, but the company providing compost begin supplying poor-quality materials, which proved very destructive to the enterprise and forced the project to lay off 25 workers. With some seed funding Wayne and his colleagues plan to restart the mushroom enterprise, this time creating their own compost from the biogas waste products in order to control the compost quality.

“God was teaching us many things,” Wayne said. “The mushroom project still has huge potential.”

Lack of strategic understanding of the project’s potential by the Ukrainian government and town leadership is a barrier to the project’s growth, but Wayne believes they can create a working example of an integrated biofuel and organic processing company that is sustainably transforming lives and the community.

Though the bio-energy projects have had their ups and downs, their impact is already being felt by the Ukrainian people.

When Dima first joined the project, his life was very dysfunctional—three years later much is still required to put together his broken life. But Dima has stuck with the project and his job, becoming a faithful worker and earning the trust of his superiors. His life is improving as he learns God’s way.

“Dima is excited to be a part of something that is growing,” Wayne said. “Morning Bible devotions are a great encouragement as the business owners share not only their faith, but also their vision of community transformation through Christian enterprise.”

When the mushroom venture fell through, everyone left—everyone but Yura. For months, Yura travelled to Kiev to collect used fryer oil from fast food restaurants for use in the biodiesel enterprise. Thanks to his faithfulness and several major breakthroughs, the project is now a thriving small business.

“It's been a tough school, but God has brought him and his family from the brink of an abyss into a place of stability, generosity and a vision for the future,” Wayne said.

Click here for a video about the B4T work in Ukraine.

"To give you perspective, the culture here is one where most young women are extremely underweight in their teens and 20s,” she says. “Many are trying to stay model-thin by not eating very much, which breaks my heart, since many are physically weak. Furthermore, many Ukrainians are not able to eat healthy, balanced diets year-round due to the difficult economy and rampant inflation. There are also old wives tales and superstitions to overcome, which hinder girls being physically fit.

"So, God has given me a passion to help young women gain a healthier understanding and appreciation of the bodies God gave us and their womanhood in Christ. We talk about how to eat and live more healthily, and how to become better fit for becoming good wives and mothers, or whatever God has called each of us to be. The class is also a 'neutral' place where non-believers and believers can mingle freely, since many think that evangelicals are a sect or a strange cult where weird, secret things happen, and as a result, wouldn't usually step foot into a protestant church."

Lisa and her team will have many opportunities this summer to combine sports and witness. Pray that they will continue to be good role models, and that many young people will see the importance of being both physically and spiritually fit.

*Name changed for security reasons

“God wants the heaven that comes into people’s hearts to overflow to others around them,” states Australian Wayne Zschech, who has worked in Ukraine since 1993. Around three in 10 people in this country live in desperate poverty, and Wayne explains that the little country town near Kiev that he moved to 12 years ago was a “dead end”.

“People were jobless, with no hope for the future. After four years we had enough people to register a church—10. But when our pastor went back to Australia, I had to become one of things I never wanted to be, a pastor! I looked into the eyes of my congregation and they were all unemployed and all in desperate need. So we started a very simple Bible School and along with that, bio-diesel and mushroom-growing projects to generate jobs.

“It got dirty. It got real. Words mean nothing here in Ukraine. It takes putting faith into action, day in, day out, so that finally they see our words do mean something: that we won’t change—and neither will God. We are here for church planting and that involves changing lives on the inside and seeing faith projected into the community. Any money we make with the businesses goes back to creating more jobs and reinvesting in the community.”

Please pray for Wayne and his family and others who are seeing churches planted in Ukraine, using Business 4 Transformation. Ask God to help them find investors to link with Ukrainian entrepreneurs to maximise community development.

To get there, they used snowmobiles and sleighs, as there is no other way to reach the town. They travelled for two hours and arrived in time for their programme at 13:30.

“Both children and teachers were overwhelmed at our programme,” reported team member Jura. “They were so impressed that they even gave us permission to write a review for the school magazine!”

On their way back to Salekhard, a bag fell off the sleigh. In the bag were two passports, a notebook with important information and two New Testaments. They didn’t notice the bag’s absence until it was too late. After much prayer, they set off the following day to Salekhard but did not find anything.

They decided to put a message in the local shop about the missing bag and offered a reward for its safe return. That evening they received a phone call from the people who had found the bag; they asked for a 100 US dollar reward. The team agreed and the people promised to bring the bag to them the following Sunday.

On Sunday, the team participated in a church service. After the service, a woman approached Jura and presented 100 US dollars with the words, “I was told to give this to you. It is for you, for your bag.”

That same day, the team received the bag with everything inside. “Praise God for the gift of faith that helped us believe in a miracle!” exclaimed Jura. “The fact that God would bless our trip we knew even before we left, but to what extent He blessed, we only realised once we returned.

“God took into account everything that we had not even considered. In any situation where we might have made mistakes, God moved and used it for His good. Thanks to God for every person, who reacted to the call of the Holy Spirit to take part in this trip! My heart longs to return to this place and minister more.”  

OM Ukraine hosted six children’s outreach camps at different times in the provinces of Odessa and Vinnitsa this summer. Stefan found the first days as the camp pastor in the village of Chornogorka a challenge.

“The team of leaders were not focussed on the job at hand, but more on having fun,” said Stefan. After some vocal disagreements, Stefan talked to the young leaders about discipline and the importance of winning the children for Christ.

The whole atmosphere of the camp changed. Later Stefan explained salvation to the children and teenagers, emphasising that they will have to pick up their cross and follow Jesus even when they are persecuted for it.

“Despite the hard words, about half the kids kneeled to accept Christ!” reported Stefan.

OM Ukraine asks for prayer for a small church in the village of Chornogorka that needs a local pastor. Please pray for this local church and for lasting impact of the ministry of OM in Ukraine. 

For more information about the ministry of OM in Ukraine, contact OM Ukraine.

Until recently, for many of these churches, sports was considered worthless, or worse, a sin. To see these churches starting to become eager to add sports ministry to their usual summer camps is an exciting thing!
Sports such as Ultimate Frisbee, floorball, low ropes courses, team-building games, rappelling, and even a high zip-line are used by the OM sports team, along with other more traditional sports, such as football, to encourage and equip the local Church to better reach out to and serve their communities. The younger generation is eager for something new and interesting, and these kind of sports fill a growing need in Ukrainian churches to provide interesting activities for young people.

After the summer camps, participants’ feedback was fairly consistent on what was the overall favorite part of these camps – the new games! These games are also the basis for OM Ukraine’s Extreme Leadership Training camps, an effective tool for growing young potential leaders in churches.

This year, OM’s sports team has distributed hundreds of pieces of equipment for floorball, Ultimate, and team-building activities. The vision for the future of these non-traditional sports is to train local churches to lead them and use them in regular ministry. The sports ministry movement is building up steam in Ukraine and is set to impact the lives of many Ukrainian youths.

Fifteen young people from Vinnitsya and Rivne attended this Extreme Leadership Training camp and were challenged to grow personally as well as to learn to work well together as a team. At the beginning of the camp, it was chaos, but by the end of the camp, the entire group was working very well together, encouraging and listening to each other throughout each of the games.

One participant said, "I learned to not look at the obstacles, as a team we can do it and it's not necessary to worry, because what you see at first glance isn't how it really is." Another said, "God showed me what it means to be a team and that in a team there isn't anything that is impossible, and that a leader really needs the support of the entire team, their strength and knowledge in order to be victorious." A leader participating in the camp wrote, "This camp was helpful for my life and leadership because I realized that unity brings victory."

The SportsLink team realized the value of this kind of training for strengthening and equipping churches all over Ukraine, and plans to host 2 more of these trainings in the fall. If you're interested in participating or helping - let us know!!

During the first few weeks of working with this team, a young man named Igor showed himself to be one of the most competitive and gifted players on the team, but also one of the most lost.  He had many confrontations with other players and referees on the field, and at first showed very little interest in the discipleship time.

After a few months, Jeremy began to notice that Igor was asking some very pointed questions regarding his relationship with Christ.  He also seemed to be taking a much more genuine interest in the bible study time.  It wasn't long before he assumed the role of team disciplinarian, and began correcting other players who were having conflicts on the field. What a change this was for Igor!  God seemed to be really working in his heart.  This progress has continued for the last year and a half.

Two months ago, Igor was hospitalized with hepatitis B.  This was not life-threatening, but did mean that he would spend the next 6 weeks in the hospital.  The team spent time praying that God would teach and develop Igor through this experience.  After Igor had been in the hospital for a couple of weeks, he contacted Jeremy and another OM worker on the team, and asked them to bring him 4 sport's New Testaments that were available at the OM office.  In the hospital Igor was sharing a room with 4 other young men, whom he had been talking to about Christ.  He wanted to present these men with a bible of their own.

Igor had, in less than 2 years time, progressed from a young man with little interest in church or the bible, to a man who was taking every opportunity to share with others about Christ.  This is definitely a testament of how God can truly change a life!  Praise the Lord!