When the Russians invaded his region, Oleg* fled. To fill the deep and painful void that was left when he lost everything, Oleg turned to alcohol to numb his deep despair.
A friend invited him to come receive humanitarian aid at one of the Christian help centers set up by the group of believers that ITMI’s Adi and Ema Ban are partnering with to be Jesus’ hands, feet, and heart to the hurting and needy in Ukraine.
Adi has dedicated a high volume of time and energy to building these relationships and setting up supply chains to transport massive quantities of needed goods into Ukraine from Romania. The supplies are stored in warehouses in Romania and transported to Ukraine, where they get distributed among the help centers for refugees.
Adi working to transport supplies to Ukraine.
At the Christian help center Oleg was invited to, the refugees participate in meetings that include encouragement from God’s Word, musical worship, and the invitation to repent and follow Jesus.
Refugees attend a service at the help center.
“He [Oleg] was constantly in a state of intoxication when we first saw him,” wrote the young Ukrainian pastor Adi is working with.
The worship and testimonies Oleg witnessed affected Oleg, and he approached Adi’s young pastor contact* after the service, who prayed with him and led him through a prayer of repentance. Everyone thought he was intoxicated and not really able to sincerely repent, but after a while, Oleg began to attend meetings at the help center regularly.
He stopped drinking and constantly asks spiritual questions. He seems to be responding to Jesus’ pursuit of a relationship with him!
*name changed or withheld for privacy
But that’s not all!
Twelve people who came through the center now meet to study the Bible together.
Five attend the services regularly, and three have repented through the ministry of this help center made possible through the work of Adi, Ema, and the believers in Ukraine they partner with and your support of their efforts.
A woman repents after a service at the help center.
In the last 6 months, the young pastor Adi works with - himself and his family refugees in a new city after having fled east Ukraine early in the war - had the opportunity to conduct a Christian camp for children and youth.
“Despite martial law, fear, and sirens, we managed to gather more than 60 guys who were mostly immigrants who had fled the war,” he writes. A group of teenagers decided to follow Christ during camp. The local church is discipling them, and they’ve attended regularly for 4 months.
Youth and children at camp were encouraged in and reached for Christ, despite martial law, fear, and sirens.
The supplies and support ITMI supporters helped Adi collect and transport have helped this group of believers build tiny modular homes for villagers in the Kyiv region whose settlement was hit by a Russian bomb.
Tearfully, these villagers who had survived the terrible realities of war expressed deep gratitude and disbelief that someone would do this for them for free.
“We told them about the love of Christ and invited them to a Bible study group,” writes Adi’s contact, “Soon there will be a new church in this village because, through this project, a group of 15 people was formed to study the Word of God.”
Tiny modular homes were built for Ukrainians in the Kyiv region whose village was destroyed by a Russian bomb.
“We are fully in this work,” writes this young pastor, father, and husband, “There is an opportunity to leave, but no desire.” Instead, this young family is helping plant a church in Ternopil, now serving as the temporary home to more than 60,000 refugees from the east part of Ukraine.
At a time when destruction is pervasive all around, the Lord has planted and is growing something new.
“With military shelling and constant military bad news, it's mentally hard to be calm. I am writing this document in complete darkness. For three days now, there has been practically no electricity due to Russian shelling of our power plants. We need God's protection and your prayer for Ukraine. …We are aware that now, in this difficult wartime for Ukraine, it is especially vital to work with people, as they are anxious and seek the Lord.”
Please continue supporting our partners’ work among those suffering and in need as a result of the war in Ukraine.
Your support does make an impact, and the Lord is using it to do something new in Ukraine!
The needs are as diverse and varied as the individuals our partners seek to reach. Our partners have their feet on the ground and are in the trenches with first-hand information about what the greatest needs are.
They have the knowledge and the networks in place to know how to best use the resources you put in their hands to reach people with the Gospel, plant churches, and equip believers who were planted in Eastern Europe for such a time as this.
Your support helps them respond quickly as the Lord provides opportunities.
