Pastor Maxim and his wife have three school aged children. They live and minister one kilometer from Ukraine’s border with Russia. 

Many have left the war-torn area since Russian bombs began disrupting everyday life, but not Maxim and his family. They stayed in the area, unwilling to abandon those from his church who were still there. 

Businesses closed and there isn’t much work to be found in the city. Pastor Maxim supports his family with a small business duplicating keys, but there hasn’t been much work because of the military situation.

In 2018, ITMI helped our partners, Adi and Ema Ban in neighboring Romania provide an industrial-sized water filtration system for Pastor Maxim’s church because the water in the area was off the scale in toxicity. Maxim’s church has been able to use this gift to bless their community in Jesus’ name and have been faithful to declare the Good News among those in need.

The authorities in the city have said that in the case of a Russian invasion, citizens may have just one hour to leave.

Maxim recently reached out to Adi with a bit of desperation, “At the moment, I can’t fill a car full of gas to leave in case of [the] need. I work every day, but I can’t raise enough money to put something aside for an emergency. Keep praying for us as we need your prayers.” 

The bottom line is that Pastor Maxim and his family are in this situation because they stayed to faithfully do what they felt the Lord was calling them to do, even when they knew it made their income and safety unstable. 

Now they need our help. 

ITMI was founded as a way for believers in America to help their brothers and sisters in Christ caught behind the Iron Curtain and persecuted under Russian Communism. Often the help from the West aided the spread of the Gospel through the provision of Bibles, bicycles or cars that enabled pastors to shepherd a wider area or evangelize further afield. 

But just as often, the aid was given simply as a show of support, telling the believers that though they were isolated from the rest of the world, they weren’t alone.

Their Christian brothers and sisters across the ocean were standing with them physically and in prayer, and this provided the strength and encouragement to stand faithfully under the fire of persecution. 

This month, it looks like things might be coming full circle as this generation of faithful pastors comes under even more fire in Ukraine.

Because of the faithfulness of ITMI’s Adi and Ema Ban and their ministry in Romania, we are once again in a position to be used by the Lord to provide.

Adi and Ema have developed relationships with four pastors in Ukraine who have stayed even though their area has been under attack: Pastor Maxim, Pastor Anatoly, Pastor Vladimir and Pastor Ilya, who we helped with a Christmas break outreach camp in January.

These pastors minister to people who have even greater spiritual and physical needs than they do.

At the time of printing (which was just before the February 24 invasion), there was some indication Russia might be de-escalating and not planning a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But this area of Ukraine has been enduring attacks for more than 8 years. Attacking this area gives Russia something it wants; it prevents Ukraine from joining NATO, so the attacks are unlikely to relent even if an invasion is avoided for now.

The emotional and physical toll of living in this situation for years is not going away, even if the recent build up of troops de-escalates entirely. The economic depression and difficulty of earning income is also not something that can change quickly, so these pastors need our help and support for the foreseeable future. 

Will you stand with our Christian brothers as they endeavor to remain faithful in this difficult situation?