Ukraine (MNN) — Meet Vlad, a pastor stepping into Ukraine’s church leadership vacuum. Today, Vlad is running hard in ministry in the battered port city of Odesa.
“There [are] 100 homes that he tries to minister to. He’s in a sea of broken children,” says Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association.
On Sundays, kids cram into Vlad’s van to go to church. He is working to transform a ramshackle building into a center where kids and parents can hear the gospel. But he needs training so that as they come, he can teach God’s Word faithfully and fully!
Many of Ukraine’s previously trained pastors are no longer in churches, explains Mock. Instead, they are fighting on the front line or have left the country. That’s why SGA works to provide church-based training — not only in Ukraine but in the 12 other countries in which they serve — so that leaders can be equipped right where they are. It’s known as the Antioch Initiative.
Ukraine church service, 2024 (Photo courtesy of SGA)
“By God’s grace, He has raised up people like Vlad to do [in Ukraine] what we cannot do. But we can do what he cannot do, in caring for him, praying for him and, and supporting him,” says Mock.
Please pray for pastors like Vlad. Because you know what? Mock says, “This is the common resounding comment from all the churches we serve overseas: They pray for you.”
“So my heart for all those that are hearing this message is, don’t wait for chaos and trial and war and difficulty to come to your life or to your family. Grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ now. Be a witness for the gospel. Tell the world of the hope that we have in Christ, because here in the U.S., we need it more than ever.”
Mock says the faithful, fruitful, sacrificial life we pray that believers overseas will have is the same life Christ calls us to live.
“Pray that we’re able to train more men and women for gospel ministry,” Mock says. “There’s more work to do.”
Consider connecting and partnering with SGA to strengthen the hundreds of churches they serve across more than 10 countries.
Header photo of pastors training students in a seminary located in Irpin, Ukraine, 2020. (Photo courtesy of SGA)
