Dear friends,
Christ is Risen!
We sincerely greet you with the Easter holiday, which gives us hope every year and reminds us of the gracious forgiveness of our sins through the sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, of our future resurrection and eternal life in His glory!
May the Lord’s mercy be evident in your life every day, so that you and all your neighbors can rejoice in it!
Christ Is Risen Indeed!
With love,
The team of the Christian Mission
Hope to People
Pastors’ Conference
On April 4-5, a conference for pastors and ministers on the topic “Faithfulness to the Call” was held in the church building of the Bible Mission Church Community of the Good Shepherd in Rivne.
The speakers were brothers Eric Simson from the USA, Joseph Sheremet from Poland, Taras Prystupa, Oleksandr Kalinsky, Pavlo Rudenko, and Serhiy Kyrylenko from Ukraine. The conference was attended by pastors, leaders, and missionaries of the churches of our association and other friendly churches from different cities in Ukraine.
During these spring days, our colleague from Turkey, brother Bobur, visited us with his wife Tamila and three children. We were very excited to have an in-person conversation with them, to hear testimonies about how God works among the people they serve. The whole family expressed their gratitude for the extended hospitality, spiritual encouragement, and inspiration from fellowshiping with the brothers and sisters. They are especially grateful for the medical assistance for children.
Resurrection at the Front
In February and March 2025, our employees, Vyacheslav Arterchuk and Arkady Slyoza, made two trips to the east of Ukraine to support our military on the front lines. These trips were not only logistical operations and the aid delivery, but also important meetings for building relationships, communication, evangelism, and joint prayer that touched the hearts of soldiers and strengthened their faith in our Savior and victory.
The route of the trip in February passed through Pavlohrad, Kostyantynivka, Kramatorsk, Dobropillya, and other settlements in the Donetsk region, where the military, who fight in the hottest places, received gifts, homemade food, camouflage nets, letters from children, tactical medicine, and words of encouragement. Of particular value were not things, but sincere meetings, prayers, and conversations – specifically, they became a real source of inspiration for the soldiers, among whom more and more familiar faces, brothers in Christ, who are being called up for military service, are emerging.
The trip in March also included meetings with soldiers in the Pokrovsky direction, the delivery of aid from the Charity Fund With Heart and Hands, and churches in the Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, Zhytomyr, and Kyiv regions. The stories of young girls who serve as UAV operators, the dedication of recruits, such as a 22-year-old combat medic from Lviv, as well as the selflessness of chaplains who remain in the epicenters of hostilities, despite the danger, were impressive.
A new journey lies ahead. Another trip is planned in April to congratulate our defenders on the holiday of the Resurrection, to preach the gospel, and to convey the sincere love and gratitude of the Church.
Let’s remember to pray for our soldiers and for the opportunity to support them!
Development of the Christian School Worldview in Rivne
The Christian school Worldview has been forming a new generation of Ukrainians for six years, combining quality education with biblical values. Currently, the school has about a hundred children, including orphans and children with special needs, as well as children from families of displaced people.
In order to accept new students (and there are many such children!), in 2025, remodeling of the second floor of the building provided by the Hope to People Mission began. This will provide the school with additional classrooms, a gym, and well-equipped classrooms for physics, chemistry, and biology. However, construction work requires significant financial investments.
A separate important need is the purchase of a mobile natural-science laboratory. It will allow children not only to study theory but also to discover God’s design through practical studies of nature, develop an interest in science, and contribute to the development of their talents.
Please pray for this educational project.
May the Lord be glorified in every stage of this endeavor!
Restoration of the Ministry, The Bible College Word of Grace
Despite the war and economic challenges, the ministers of the Christian mission decided not to continue the ministry in the field of spiritual training. In 2025, we resumed the educational process at the Rivne Bible College Word of Grace with prayer and faith. A new recruitment of students has begun, who seek to grow in the knowledge of God’s Word and serve churches in Ukraine and beyond.
Education at the college is based on a thorough study of the Scriptures, the development of a missionary vision, and practical participation of students in ministry. Many of them – young people, refugees, parents of young children – sincerely desire to serve the Lord, but need support to complete their studies.
A special challenge for us today is to provide resources for holding sessions, student accommodation, and support for the college administrator, Oleksandr Mykhaylyuk. He is responsible for organizing the entire educational process: from paperwork and schedules to student settlement and spiritual guidance. Oleksandr is a pastor, a displaced person from the temporarily occupied territory, a father of two daughters, who is currently serving among refugees in the Rivne region.
Please pray that God will continue to form new ministers for His glory!
Soccer Ministry
With God’s help, even in such a difficult time of war, the Christian Soccer Club Nadiya is actively involved in all scheduled events. With the onset of warm weather, children practice in the open field, which is especially valuable because the gym, where classes were held in the winter, is being remodeled due to the expansion of the Christian school, Worldview.
Our employee, the head coach of the club, Oleksandr Honchar, trains the “kids” teams, U7 and U12 (this is how the youngest and boys aged 7 and 12 are called). Among the kids, many children come from Christian families, so Bible lessons with them are focused on personal faith in Christ; it is important not only to impart knowledge, but to lead them to real changes in their hearts.
The coach reads the Book of Exodus with the U12 team. In addition, he leads a Bible group with four teenagers who became interested in studying the Bible after the summer camp and have been meeting every Saturday since then to read the Word and discuss vital issues with the coach, such as the issue of salvation.
During the spring break, young soccer players went to the campsite in Zalissya. Three days of soccer, games, and evening considerations by the fireplace about the meaning of Easter. Our Easter is Christ, Jesus is the Lamb of God. For many, this was a revelation!
We praise God for every opportunity to preach the gospel to children!
Young Bible Scholars
We thank God that His Word continues to sound in educational institutions of Ukraine. And this is while the Ministry of Education and Science is doing everything possible to ensure that state education is secular and stubbornly does not want to include Christian ethics in the list of mandatory subjects. However, it is still possible to teach it optionally, and in addition, the number of private Christian schools is growing in our country.
In order to popularize this subject, support teachers, encourage children to read the Holy Scriptures, and educate young people on Christian values, Olympiads are held with the purpose of gaining Bible knowledge and the ability to apply it.
Ruslana Kovalchuk, an employee of the Christian Ethics Department, is actively involved in this activity. Sister Ruslana has been teaching Christian ethics at Klevan Special School # 1 and at the Rivne Lyceum Ukrainian for many years, preparing her students for the Olympiads, organizing these events in her educational institutions, and also participating in the work of the jury.
“For me, this is always a very responsible moment,” says sister Ruslana, “because behind every student’s work there is the soul of a child who is preparing and worrying, so it is important to correctly evaluate each presented project. And that is why these days we are praying in a special way to God, asking for wisdom and guidance by the Holy Spirit during evaluation and communication with the participants.”
