One of the churches of our Association — the Bible Missionary Church House of Agape — is located in the east of Ukraine in the city of Kamiansky, Dnipropetrovsk region. It is very close to the combat zone, only 100–150 km from the front line, which undoubtedly determines the directions of the church’s work.
Not limiting themselves to internal church ministry, from the very beginning of the war, the small community (35 church members and 22 small group participants) has been conducting great social service and evangelism among the people they serve.
The pastor of the church, Serhiy Timofeyev, says:
“In the second week of the war, we joined the process of evacuating people from Mariupol. Together with friends from Hope to People, we began to travel to Zaporizhzhya and take people to our church. They could spend the night here, feel love, acceptance, and hear words of hope. A day or two later, we sent them to the Rivne region, where our friends were already waiting for them. We had a huge influx of people from Kreminna, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, Sloviansk…
In 2022 alone, about 9,000 people transitioned through our church, who received help. They were very grateful for that. We saw people’s needs for basic things, so the church prepared for each trip, and people received basic necessities and food kits as they planned to go further. It was also very important for such people to open up and tell about their grief. In the period of 2024–2025, three Bible groups were formed after having personal conversations with them over a cup of tea.
The evacuation ministry went on until mid-summer 2023. Then we began to serve more specifically displaced people who moved to our city. There was a period when about 40 thousand people arrived in Kamianske, and these were only the registered ones. People did not have enough money for basic needs like food and clothing. We distributed over 10 tons of clothing, over 2 thousand sets of bed sheets, mattresses, and hygiene kits.
Soon, we learned that near Kamyanske, there is a camp, Forest Fairy Tale, where 360 displaced people from Avdiivka live. Our church twice made 140 food kits and helped these people. In August and October 2023, with the help of youth from sister churches, we held two camps for the children of the residents of Forest Fairy Tale. Together with the employees of the mission Hope to People, we came there with an exhibition of paintings, “The Life of Jesus Christ in Works of Art.” Now all these people have moved to Kamyanske. Praise God that two women constantly come to our services.
In our city, there are centers where people weave camouflage nets and provide assistance to displaced people: these are the funds “We are from Kamyanske,” “Bee,” etc. We visit them, have conversations, try to encourage, and share the Gospel with them.
We want to start serving in a hospital, which is 22 km from us.
We also prepare puppet shows with evangelistic content for children. We show them both in church and on trips where we are invited. In particular, we have shown performances in Forest Fairy Tale several times.
We are planning to start the “Dad’s Workshop” project. This is an activity for children aged 9–14, where men teach boys to do something with their own hands. For example, they teach them how to use tools, and women teach girls cooking or needlework.
And we also dream of starting a new church in Kamyanske on the right bank of the Dnieper River. More than 10 people are living there who come to worship on the left bank, and that is quite a ways.”
Dear friends, please pray for the realization of the plans and dreams of the Agape House church, because this requires considerable human and material resources, as well as the peace that we are so looking forward to and praying for.
