But across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, summer camps can also mean something much bigger – a first encounter with the Gospel.

As Slavic Gospel Association’s Summer Bible Camps launch across 13 countries, thousands of children will spend time with local churches in day-camp style programs designed to share the hope of Christ.

(Photo courtesy of Valentin Lupashko/Slavic Gospel Association)

Eric Mock with SGA explains, “These camps are singular opportunities. Kids that have either grown up in impoverished homes, embattled homes, [or] troubled homes – who really never get an opportunity to know a day of peace – have an opportunity to go to these camps.”

The camps may look different from country to country, but the mission remains the same.

“You can imagine a camp in Tajikistan on the border of Afghanistan is going to look very different than a camp in the war zone, very different than a camp in Poland, or very different from a camp in Russia, especially far east Russia,” says Mock.

“What SGA does is not really put shackles on any way that they conduct the camp other than the centrality of the Gospel. So each adapts to their cultural setting, their economic conditions, the relationships they’ve developed with the community, [and] the languages that are relevant.”

Mock says the ministry often reaches beyond the children who attend. “Suspicious parents – wondering what these churches are actually talking about – come along, and every year, parents are coming to faith as they hear the life-saving and life-changing message of the Gospel.”

Kids at SGA’s summer camp. (Photo courtesy of SGA)

That local church connection doesn’t end when camp is over.

“It is run by the local church, and this is vital as we continue to see these children and their families impacted by the Gospel [through] relationships built for discipleship and investment [by] these churches.”

You can support this outreach with eternal impact! Click here to give to SGA, and designate your gift to their Camp Ministry fund.

Also, Mock asks believers, “Pray that, first of all, SGA is able to help the churches reach more than 88,000 children this year. That’s a huge number across 13 countries!

“Secondly, pray that in these camps, children and the parents…come to faith. Pray that these camps continue to be powerful tools in God’s hands. And then of course pray for our continued ministry as we serve the churches in these countries.”

Header photo courtesy of SGA.

Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association was recently in Moldova with his wife, Kristi. Together, they led a conference to strengthen local pastors and their wives.

“These ladies are central to the body life of the church, central to investing in families, central to caring for the heart of these men as they serve and preach and teach in their churches,” says Mock. “Yet very often the men are getting together and meeting with others and [are] encouraged in different ways — in ways that these ladies don’t get a chance to be.”

Kristi Mock spoke with the women about how to keep their hearts centered on Christ amid changing seasons of life. 

“It was a wonderful opportunity to minister to these ladies to encourage their hearts, to strengthen them in the ministry that God has raised them up to do,” says Mock.

Children’s ministry in Moldova (Photo courtesy of SGA)

They met women like Natalia, who, with her husband, adopted eight children and serves in children’s and family ministry. Natalia says their family motto is “Together we are stronger, and with God before us, nothing is impossible.” 

“A lot of the pastors and ladies in Moldova are a part of churches that may only have 10 to 15 people. Many meet in homes rather than actual buildings,” says Mock. “They continue, in the middle of the poverty and the small nature of the church, to be encouraged and strengthened to care for their family as well as care for the church.”

Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Situated between Romania and Ukraine, it has a complex history of being part of Russia, “Greater Romania,” and the Soviet Union at different times before gaining independence in 1991. Mock describes the country’s spiritual climate as “confused.”

“There in the middle of Moldova, we have the modernism of technology, where many people are telecommuting. You have the history of the oppression over Soviet-enforced atheism. And then you also have these churches beginning to reach out with the gospel,” he says. “I would say even with the number of churches that are there, a broad number of the population is relatively much like Europe and not really searching for the gospel.”

Moldova also hosts many Ukrainian refugees and faces political uncertainty about the future. Pray for church leaders as they shepherd people through different thoughts and fears. Pray that churches will continue to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ with great clarity. You can visit SGA’s website here to see and support the work they do alongside Moldovan believers.

“We support them in training and equipping their pastors and leaders in biblical training, as well as supporting village pastors, and then helping them even with summer camps this summer,” says Mock. “[We’re] hoping to help them in a profound way.” 

Header photo: Natalia’s family (Photo courtesy of SGA).

Flares of fighting continued this week, with Hezbollah drone attacks and Israeli strikes along the border.

Eric Mock with the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) says, “People in northern Israel are constantly in fear. Some are not able to go to jobs, maybe some of the jobs have stopped, and they’re in great need.”

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

Amid the uncertainty, SGA supports Russian-speaking churches in Israel that are encouraging people with tangible aid and Jesus’ love.

“About 20% of the population of Israel are Russian-speaking and Russian-speaking immigrants,” says Mock. “We work with a network of Russian-speaking Bible-teaching churches who are reaching their own. These are Russian-speaking immigrants, primarily from Ukraine and Russia…. Imagine a people that are even today considered somewhat Samaritans, and they are faithfully ministering with the Gospel.”

Mock says ministry efforts offer tangible relief and Gospel hope. “In these difficult times, people are looking for answers. SGA has been able to…support these faithful servants and their churches [with] resources for taking food to those people who are displaced, who are struggling in the middle of the rocket fire in the north.”

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

Through SGA’s Israel Relief fund, local pastors receive support to continue their work.

“By supporting this, you’re not just handing food to people,” says Mock. “These people are hearing the Gospel. These people are hearing a message of hope that will be unshakable.”

Header photo: Israel-Lebanon border. (Photo courtesy of Eternalsleeper | Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9439853)

Mock says the villages he went to were covered in craters from rocket and drone fire, and roughly half the homes were destroyed.

Nowhere to Go

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

“I encountered…an entire facility that was built underground with the capacity to teach over 500 children in an elementary school. The city administration headquarters, everything was underground, under reinforced concrete – in other words, like a bunker. This was their life,” Mock says.

“You may ask, ‘Why would anyone live there?’ Well, simply, the people that are there have nowhere to go. A majority are either elderly or single moms with children, and they literally have nowhere to go.”

Mock describes visiting one church building that expected maybe 30 people to show up. The room was instead filled with 70 Ukrainian grandmothers, all hoping to get some food and basic medications.

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

He says the elderly women “came up to me just flooded with tears, saying, ‘Please, thank the people. We are so hungry and in so much pain.’ They didn’t have simple medicines like Advil or Tylenol,…or simple foods to make it through the day. They were desperate.

“They wanted to know why. Why would someone help people that seem to feel there was no help? I said, ‘It’s because of God’s grace upon us. Nothing we have was not meant to be shared. But ultimately, it’s about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.'”

Monster Trucks and the Heart of a Child

When Mock left for Ukraine, he wasn’t just bringing supplies from SGA. His young grandson, Asher, also sent his favorite toy monster truck to be gifted to a child in Ukraine. Then, while Mock was distributing aid, he met a toddler named Danil.

Eric Mock giving Danil the toy monster truck. (Photo courtesy of SGA)

“He’s standing there dirty, and you could hear the explosions in the background, and you see the difficulty of his living. I knelt down and handed him this monster truck. He looked at me for a second in pure shock. But…in the midst of everything, he literally dropped down in the dirt, making engine sounds, and started playing with his truck in the dirt.”

Mock says, “He didn’t care about all the circumstances. He didn’t know what would come tomorrow. He just knew in that moment that he had been given a gift, and he wanted to have all of the gift and experience it. May we, too, be the same way with our Heavenly Father when He gives us these good gifts.”

Ask God to uplift Ukrainians’ hearts like young Danil.

“Do not lose sight of the needs that are there,” Mock urges. “The need is overwhelming in Ukraine…. The lives they live over there are stunningly difficult.”

You can support SGA’s relief efforts in Ukraine at their website.

He asks, “Pray that they would be faithful in the middle of these difficult times, and their witness would lead us in whatever we face to be faithful.”

Header photo courtesy of SGA.

One building destroyed was not a military target, but a church building in Zaporizhzhia. Yet, Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) says the church lives on through the people of God.

The church in Zaporizhzhia destroyed by Russian drone and missile attack. (Photo courtesy of SGA)

Mock was in Zaporizhzhia recently, visiting ministry partners. He shares, “Church leaders and pastors there who traveled to multiple villages that were in an area called the gray zone, which is about 20 miles away from the front lines.

“[It was] close enough that we could hear the rumble of explosions in the distance, and close enough that the people lived in terror every single day of small drones that would fly around with explosives and take out people. These villages were literally decimated.”

For these pastors, going to the mission field looks like putting on literal body armor along with the spiritual armor of God. Mock says they’ve counted the cost.

“These pastors were there because they could not live with the thought that someone could perish apart from the Gospel. And so they come.”

Mock explains, “In these villages with these pastors, we help them do what they cannot do by providing the resources. And they do what we cannot do, which is almost daily wearing body armor [and] heading into the front lines to advance the Gospel and the goodness of God to a people who are hurting and lost.”

Eric Mock (center right) in a village near the front lines. (Photo courtesy of Eric Mock/SGA)

As the war drags on, embattled Ukrainians are struggling for hope.

“Generations are being impacted by this. So pray, first of all, that the believers would not be discouraged, that they would not be indifferent or lose heart, that they would remain faithful,” he asks.

“But mostly, pray for faithfulness in the midst of what the Lord continues to allow for His purposes…. Churches are being planted, congregations are moving forward, and God is continuing to be glorified in difficult times.”

You can support SGA’s relief efforts in Ukraine at sga.org.

Header photo: The church in Zaporizhzhia destroyed by Russian drone and missile attack. (Photo courtesy of SGA)

“One aspect is, depending on your estimate, over a million men and women that have been killed or seriously injured [on both sides of the war]. That translates to maybe millions of families that no longer have a father,” says Mock. “It’s brutal to look at what this war has done to so many young lives, leaving the families broken and fractured.”

Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association

Children and adults carry invisible scars, the war within the war. 

“They’re going to be dealing with the horrifying sights and sounds that this war for four years has brought into their hearts and lives,” says Mock. “This trauma means that any political process for peace really is irrelevant when it comes to peace within the heart.” 

Although the United States has tried to broker a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, Mock says the fundamental differences between the two nations are land, authority, and control. 

“And also security guarantees,” he adds, “because they know an American president is a president for a limited time. So any peace agreement that they have may be transient or temporary.”

Please pray — but not only in the way you might think. 

“I am not going to ask you to pray for peace in Ukraine,” says Mock. “I’m going to ask you to pray for peace in the hearts of many Ukrainian families and many Russian families.” 

How the Ukrainian church is moving 

As peace talks concerning Russia and Ukraine continue to flash across daily headlines, Mock says the real question is this: “Both on the Ukrainian side and on the Russian side, will people caught up in the torment of this war turn to Christ and His saving grace?”

Relief and pastoral training are two of the ways that SGA helps Ukrainian Christians serve in this spiritual battle. Mock says compassion ministry builds bridges. 

“It is not about just having a warehouse full of compassion items that we’re distributing to people and feeling good about the distribution,” Mock explains. 

“It is equipping local churches to reach the people in their own community, or people who are fleeing to their community, that people would find lasting peace through the gospel of Jesus Christ.” 

You can help support this work by giving to SGA’s Ukraine Relief fund. In the past four years, SGA has helped churches provide more than 27 million meals, at least 500 generators, and thousands of blankets, heaters, medicines, and more. They estimate over 2.6 million people have heard the gospel who wouldn’t have otherwise.

SGA church partners prepare meals for displaced people from the Kursk region. (Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

Pastoral training is another critical need, so that when Ukrainians connect with a church, they will hear true, biblical teaching that helps them grow their faith. Mock says many pastors have fled Ukraine. Others have been conscripted into the army.

“They forecast as many as the need of 1,000 pastors in the next 10 years,” he says. “So SGA, in 19 locations across Ukraine, we’re taking the training to them, working through pastors and teachers in Ukraine, as well as some Americans coming over to teach. We’re trying to train up as many young people as possible.”

Learn more about supporting pastoral training with SGA here at their website.

Header photo of Kyiv park (Photo courtesy of Nadiia Yahaha via Pexels).

Ukraine (MNN) — On February 12, Russia launched a large-scale drone attack on Odesa and the wider Odesa Oblast in Ukraine.

The strikes hit a Baptist church and damaged a high-rise residential building, a recreational facility, and a commercial site. At least four people were reported injured.

Eric Mock of the Slavic Gospel Association says the assault reflects a broader strategy. “In Ukraine, the destruction is raining down on the people, trying to break the will of the people,” he says.

Collage of the photos from the site (courtesy of SGA)

Russian military tactics such as targeting civilian areas violate the rules of war. Among the buildings damaged was a local Baptist church led by Pastor Ruslan Shiringa.

“There were 12 drones flying around, and one hit just outside his church, shattering and destroying windows and doors and frames and the interior,” says Mock.

Despite the severity of the attack, no one inside the church was injured. However, the building sustained significant damage. In that moment, believers were once again reminded of a deeper truth — one that holds universal significance.

“They recognize in this time of war that the things of this world are temporary — and that the Church is not a building, but the people,” says Mock,

As soon as repairs were completed, the congregation gathered again.

The size of a Russian drone Geranium (Shahed), found in Vinnytsia region of Ukraine in March 2024 (photo courtesy of National Police of Ukraine via Wikimedia Commons)

“One place they find solace is by gathering on Sunday mornings or during the week to worship, study God’s Word, and unite in hope,” he adds.

Still, beyond the church walls, despair is growing. Months of relentless attacks have taken a psychological toll. “The human condition can slip into despair,” explains Mock, “into indifference and depression, leading many to shake their fists at God and wonder if He is even there.”

This is where the church steps in — bringing hope to those who have lost it and shining as a light in the darkness that leads to Christ’s salvation.

The Ukrainian church continues to carry that weighty mission of sharing hope. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide and strengthen them.

Visit Slavic Gospel Association to learn more about the work they do with Ukrainian churches.

Header photo: Odesa (Photo courtesy of Oleh Kushch via Wikimedia Commons).

Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association explains, “It seems like a territorial discussion — a discussion of finance and economics — and certainly the peace plan was born from economics. But that masks the polar-opposite dynamics of Azerbaijan and Armenia.”

Azerbaijan is predominantly Muslim, while Armenia is a long-standing Christian nation. Armenians also carry the deep trauma of the genocide that killed 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire more than a century ago. Today, strong ties between Türkiye and Azerbaijan revive fear and caution among Armenians.

Armenian cross and text (Photo courtesy of Frederico Machado via Unsplash)

Mock adds, “So what has been made as a peace agreement exists, in part, as a détente between the nations, while the deeper roots — ideological and theological — remain.”

Despite political tensions, Mock says the Gospel transcends borders. SGA partners with indigenous churches in both Armenia and Azerbaijan to advance God’s Kingdom. As Mock notes:

“The Church of Christ is a beautiful thing that is about the Kingdom of God, not the kingdom of men.”

In addition to its other efforts, the ministry focuses on training and supporting national missionaries, as well as assisting churches in both countries during outreach initiatives, including Christmas programs.

He adds: “Human preferences, human desires, go away, and you, when all is stripped away, all you have is the Gospel and the hope of the kingdom to come. And it unifies the people towards a common heart.”

As both nations pursue a fragile peace while still grieving their losses, uncertainty about the future creates space for deeper questions. In that space, the church gently walks alongside people, helping them seek answers.

“We’re aware of the tensions between the two countries,” says Mock. “But what I’ve seen is that when those tensions spike — when they’re at their peak — people seek Christ in much greater numbers.”

Please pray that the Armenian and Azerbaijani churches would respond faithfully to these challenges. Ask God to make them a source of hope for their nations.

Visit Slavic Gospel Association website to learn about their work in both countries!

Header photo courtesy of Mart Production via Pexels.

However, for many Ukrainians these issues are just the most recent in a string of challenges due to the war.

Viktor’s Story

Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) shares updates from a partner who has seen firsthand the chaos of the war. After trusting Jesus and turning from a life of drugs, God gave Viktor a true zeal for the Gospel. He was being discipled by the pastor of his local church and even became an elder. As Russian armies made their way to Kyiv, he suddenly found himself in leadership.

“The pastor had just completed preaching his message. Then he said unexpectedly, looking at Viktor – he said to his church – Viktor, you are the new pastor. My car is outside, running with my family already loaded in. I am gone. I am leaving.

“You can imagine the shock of hearing those words. Viktor didn’t know what to think, and then everyone turned to him. So here you have a church where Viktor is suddenly thrust into being the pastor. A church which was probably 50% depleted as people would flee, that he had to gather together with at the advent of the Russian army invading toward the city limits.”

Marking Time by War Events

Despite his unexpected start in ministry God has given Viktor the joy and strength to lead his church. However, like everyone in the city, he is greatly impacted by war, including increasingly serious rolling blackouts and heating shortages.

(Representative photo courtesy of congerdesign via Pixabay)

“In a recent report from Viktor, he talked about setting his clock by the various different problems that he’s facing. Setting his clock by the air raid sirens going off in the middle of the night every night. Setting his clock by the sequence of rolling blackouts when the power would come on and off. And to be ready to charge phones and do whatever he needs to do, and actually for his wife to prepare some food while the electricity was on. Life changes, and it’s set, not by your clock, but it’s actually set by the series of difficulties that you’ll face during the day.”

This schedule of quickly working when you have power and sleeping wherever you can, is becoming normal. Even sleep is not governed by time of day.

“There are times that Viktor has told me that he went to a bomb shelter at one o’clock in the morning. He’s shown me pictures of he and his family trying to sleep on the floor of a bomb shelter with a couple of pillows. Then the all-clear siren signed off at 6 a.m., in which case he went home, threw some water in his face, and then went straight to the church to get ready to lead Sunday school and preach at the church.”

Hope through Prayer and Heat

In this setting, fear is commonplace. People need assurance and hope. SGA and its partners offer physical and spiritual aid through local churches.

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

Mock asks for prayer that God will continue to provide for the physical needs of those affected by the blackouts. He challenges Christians living in warm homes to pray for their brothers and sisters in Ukraine whenever they feel cold or turn up the heat in their own homes this winter.

While chaos seems to reign, God’s people know who is truly in control. Mock says, “Be reminded that the churches are exploding there. That often in what your listeners and myself may count as the worst of times, God could use those as the exact times to advance the Gospel to a great number of people. So be encouraged in the middle of discouraging times.”

If you want to help SGA provide generators, wood, coal, diesel fuel and more to churches through their Heat and Hope campaign, click here. You can also help provide more general aid through their Ukraine Aid program here.

Please pray that God would strengthen His Church and advance the Gospel in Ukraine as His people faithfully serve Him.

Representative photo courtesy of Katrina_S from Pixabay

Only 15% of orphans in the region are adopted. About 70% of orphaned children are unadoptable because they still technically have a living parent who is unable to care for them. For the rest who are eligible for adoption, only about half will ultimately find a family.

Eric Mock with SGA says, “So where a lot of people are focusing on adopting these children out, what do you do with the other 85% of these kids?

“Well, what SGA is doing [is] we help the local churches put their loving arms around these children and minister to them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So these children with no hope are finding hope.”

Orphans Reborn in Russia (Photo courtesy of SGA)

Orphans Reborn partners with local churches to walk alongside orphaned and vulnerable children with the love of Christ. That presence becomes critical as children approach adulthood.

Without guidance, Mock says many young people leaving orphanages face devastating outcomes.

“A lot of the young girls end up in prostitution. A lot of the young men end up selling drugs, or they’re in destructive behavior,” Mock says. “So these churches are the ones locally who will not only minister to the kids, but bring them into the family of God, the family of the local church.”

That long-term investment was on display during a recent Christmas outreach in Russia.

An Orphans Reborn coordinator named Olga had spent years visiting an orphanage serving about 45 children. When that orphanage closed, God opened another ministry door at an orphanage for children with special needs. It was the first time believers had ever been allowed on the premises.

More than 130 children attended the Christmas celebration. A puppet theater presented a Christmas message, followed by a brief talk about the birth of Christ. Each child and staff member also received a gift.

Mock says, “To these kids, it’s more than what they get. It’s the fact that they aren’t forgotten, that they get something, and they know that someone is thinking about them. So through Orphans Reborn, they get the gift of family, the gift of the Gospel, the gift of Christmas.”

Orphans Reborn in Russia (Photo courtesy of SGA)

Orphanage administrators expressed gratitude and invited Olga to come back at the end of January!

Across the region, SGA supports ministry to orphaned children in more than 285 orphanages and Christian family homes in seven countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Kazakhstan, and parts of Central Asia.

“So more than 17,000 children that don’t have the love of a family experience the love of the family of God and the hope of the Gospel,” says Mock. “This opens amazing doors.”

It just costs $60 to reach one orphan with SGA Orphans Reborn for the year. Click here to support Orphans Reborn with SGA.

Header photo: Orphans Reborn in Russia (Photo courtesy of SGA)