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)

Dane of unfoldingWord says Bible work continues in Eastern Europe, often taking different forms depending on local needs.

In one Ukrainian community, the ministry is developing tools to help people better understand Bible books. “They’re creating dictionaries based on those books,” says Dane.

The same community also provides education for translators. Leaders say the goal is to strengthen the theological training of those working on Bible translation, even as the war continues.

A local pastor said, as quoted by Dane:

“We’ve also started raising the theological education level of all of our translators. Despite the difficult circumstances, they’ve enrolled in a Bible college.”

In another area of eastern Ukraine, believers are making Scripture more interactive through digital projects. Dane says: “A church planter is producing media projects with their translation of open Bible stories.”

Poltava during war, Ukraine (image courtesy of Margarita Marushevska via Unsplash)

This work is possible because of unfoldingWord’s approach, which focuses on equipping local believers to lead the translation work themselves.

“We’re building capacity into the local church so that they can translate the Bible for themselves, for their people, in their heart language,” explains Dane.

With the ministry’s open-license resources, local believers can continue the work even without outside support or funding. They are trained and equipped with the ministry’s tools to adapt what they learn to their own realities and local challenges. This approach is used globally and looks different in each community.

“The church-centric Bible translation model builds Bible translation capabilities into other teams and countries, and across project and country lines,” says Dane.

Please pray for local leaders in Ukraine and Eastern Europe involved in creative translation work. Pray that Scripture, as the living water, would quench the thirst of many people.

Visit unfoldingWord to see how they partner with churches around the world to bring Scripture to all people.

Header representative photo of the Gural people in Ukraine, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Gazeta1509 via Wikimedia Commons).

“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).

An estimated 1.8 million soldiers have been killed, injured, or are missing on both sides, the Associated Press reports, with Russia bearing the brunt of the losses. Nearly six million Ukrainians fled to neighboring countries, and approximately 3.7 million remain displaced within Ukraine.

Bible translators were not immune when Russia invaded Ukraine. Dane of unfoldingWord says one gateway language project had to be put on hold.

“We were using Russian as a gateway language because almost everybody [in the former Soviet Union] was forced to learn it,” he explains.

“The war has had a devastating impact on Bible translation and church planting efforts, including our ability to deliver completed translation guides in Russian to the Church-Centric Bible translators across the former Soviet Union.”

War forces change

unfoldingWord equips believers in the local church to translate Scripture into minority languages. More about that here. A team working near the front lines in eastern Ukraine had to be relocated when the war began.

(Photo courtesy Алесь Усцінаў/Pexels)

“That team had six translators and was doing really well. They [were] working through translating the Bible into Ruska Roma,” Dane says.

“The Romani people are scattered all over Europe [with] various versions of the Roma language. That version (Ruska Roma) has about 29,000 people.”

Today, like many Ukrainians, believers are living far from home. In a recent report, the team leader told Dane that daily survival takes priority.

“He said, ‘I am living in a place without heat, water, or electricity because one night, Russia bombed the heat and power stations. As a result, no pumps can deliver water to the apartment buildings where people live, including people with infants and relatives who are bedridden’,” Dane says.

“‘For us right now, getting food can feel like something out of The Hunger Games. But,’ he said, ‘we continue working on Bible translation.’”

Perseverance shifts perceptions

Yet believers see a glimmer of hope. In their language community throughout Eurasia, “evangelical Christians have always been viewed with a little suspicion,” Dane says.

“But because they’ve stayed and they’re serving their neighbors, people are beginning to have a different attitude about the evangelicals and the Gospel they preach.”

(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)

Keep praying for the Russia-Ukraine war to end. Pray that unfoldingWord receives the funding it needs to get the Eurasia translation project back online.

“We really can’t do much until this war comes to an end, but when it does come to an end, we need to have our funding ready to go,” Dane says.

“Pray for those church planters who are staying in Ukraine when they could leave. If you want to stay up to date with what unfoldingWord is doing around the world, please go to our website and sign up for a prayer calendar that is sent out via email every month.”

Header image depicts an elderly woman peering over the edge of a recently bombed site in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo courtesy Mykhailo Volkov/Pexels.

Trans World Radio (TWR) is working with local ministry partners in both Russia and Ukraine. Over the past four years, they have felt the strain from every angle — culturally, spiritually, and personally — as the conflict drags on with no clear end in sight.

A Gospel worker* with TWR remembers the early days of the invasion and the shock that rippled across the region.

Ukrainian flag (Photo courtesy of Max Kukurudziak/Unsplash)

“Of course, as everyone else in the world thought, ‘Okay, this will be maybe a very short…crisis.’ But I think after the first year, everyone realized that it will be way harder to find a solution. Starting in the second and third year, I remember that they were so, so tired because nobody was expecting it to take so long.”

As the conflict zones reached deeper into the country, the team began to experience water, electricity, and power shortages alongside their neighbors. Yet, they refused to fall silent.

“They still wanted to continue to produce the content,” he says, “because there is an audience out there, especially in wartime, who need to hear about the Gospel.”

After four years of war and an estimated 600,000 Ukrainian troops killed, the devastation has carved gaping holes in families and communities. Nearly every household carries a story of loss.

Through radio programs and digital outreach, TWR and their ministry partners meet people in that pain — offering steady reminders of hope when everything else feels unstable.

“The director in Ukraine always says there is one thing we’re talking about – God, and that He’s always there. Even in these circumstances and times, God is next to us. God is near, and we can rely on Him. This is what the Ukraine team is talking about all the time in their content.”

On the Russian side, the toll is staggering as well. Nearly 1.2 million troops have reportedly died in the conflict. TWR’s Gospel worker says many people in Russia are also facing grief and spiritual struggles.

At the same time, ministry has grown more complicated. As the Kremlin tightens its grip on internet access, apps, programs, and even VPN providers, reaching listeners requires constant adaptation.

He explains, “You see that you have 5,000 subscribers, and the next day there is no one because they can’t reach the platform. So…they need to follow the audience. Where everyone is going, they need to follow regarding the connection, but also regarding the content. So upload the content again and again and again, kind of moving from one platform to the other, to not lose all our audience – because they have, as the Ukrainian people as well, questions and are waiting for the war to end.”

The spiritual hunger has not diminished. If anything, it has deepened.

Please pray for peace — for a just end to the war and for comfort for grieving families on both sides. Pray, too, that the Gospel would flourish in the middle of the devastation, reaching those searching for hope in their darkest hours.

Also, TWR’s Gospel worker adds, “Pray for…protection for our teams – and I would say on both sides. It’s still a miracle that four years after starting the war, no one was affected. No one was kind of drawn to the military from our [ministry partners], and that’s a blessing. But the people in the countries, they need the content of our teams. So please pray for security for our [partner] teams.”

Learn more about TWR’s vital faith ministry at twr.org.

*Name withheld for security purposes.

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).

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

Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association says: “Some of the destruction that is happening Ukraine is far greater than anything they’ve experienced since the onset of the war.”

Russia is pressing on the frontlines, where defenders are holding, while also terrorizing civilians. Winter weather is part of the strategy. “Electrical substations are being targeted. Heat generation facilities are being targeted. Civilian infrastructure is being targeted as a result,” says Mock.

Ukrainian couple reunites during war (photo courtesy of Dmitry Zvolskiy via Pexels)

With temperatures dropping to 5°F and below, people are searching for ways to stay warm. “This is when our bodies become weaker or more susceptible to catching viruses and getting sick, and so that is a certain reality,” he explains.

SGA is responding by equipping local churches with wood, coal, pellets, and generators. Some people come to churches for warmth and shelter, while others ask the church to come to them.

“The church begins to reach out to these homes to provide them wood, coal and other needs,” says Mock, adding that heat is not the final goal. Hope is.

Even with warmth, fear and the stress of war remain. This is where believers step in with news of lasting value. Mock says:

“The way to navigate through that [despair] is through the power of the Gospel, the hope that we have in Christ. We aren’t surrounded by unending darkness with no answer forward. We have the light of the Gospel to lead us forward.”

The Gospel helps churches shine in the darkness, and that’s the goal behind every effort. In fact, even in the middle of war, more churches are starting. “Where there’s aid centers, there are now churches,” he says.

Meanwhile, the frontlines are straining defenders. “They’re the ones that are suffering the most, and by God’s grace, they’re the ones that are most open to the truth of the Gospel,” adds Mock.

Pray that believers use their resources wisely and share the Gospel boldly. Visit Slavic Gospel Association to learn more about their work in Ukraine.

Header representative photo: Yellow excavator digging rubble of a ruined house in Kyiv (courtesy of Ales Ustinau via Pexels).

Eric Mock from Slavic Gospel Association says that’s the heart behind their Christmas Immanuel’s Child Outreach.

“We’re hoping to be able to help more than 80,000 kids that have never heard the Gospel come to a church and hear the hope that we have in Christ,” says Mock.

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

Mock says these children live across thirteen countries, each with very different cultures and living conditions.

“What the kids get in Central Asia may be different than above the Arctic Circle, where frozen fish is a good thing compared to what it is in Ukraine,” he explains. The kids in Tajikistan will have a celebration involving camels, while the far east of Russia, where kids believe in Father Frost, will have a much different experience.

Many of these kids could not imagine receiving a Christmas gift at all. Since many of their families are making the bare minimum they could not afford to spend extra. Now they receive both the gift and the Christmas message to carry through life!

Local approach

The local Christians know their communities and prayerfully prepare a celebration that will help children understand the love of Christ best. SGA gets to help these churches reach their own by providing the resources collected from the West throughout the months of preparation.

(Photo courtesy of SGA)

“All these different programs are as God has equipped their churches and as God leads them,” says Mock.

Mock explains, “It’s really important that we serve the local church as they reach people in their culture, and they’re purchasing gifts locally, which helps the local economy, which stimulates the relationship of the church in its local village, and then they’re able to multiply to reach even more kids than we sent funds to do.”

Children also receive paper stars with the name of a donor who commits to praying for them for a year. “But a lot of these kids carry around that paper star because they know there’s someone praying for them, and they remember that they matter,” adds Mock.

Pray for this outreach and for many to come to Christ. And if you want to become a part of a child’s Christmas this or next year, visit the Immanuel’s Child Outreach page of SGA.

Mock adds, “Every year, we hear of thousands of children who come to faith, and even thousands of parents who come along with them.”

Header photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association.