The year 2022, which will probably be the most memorable for all Ukrainians, is almost over… How did this year go for the Christian Mission Hope to People in the city of Rivne?
We want to share the results of our joint work, to which you and I contributed with prayers, funds, participation, experience, hands, and hearts.
In the first days of the war, the brothers and sisters of the Irpin Bible Church in the Kyiv region turned to us with a desperate need for help when battles were going on for their city. Hundreds of frightened locals gathered in their church every day. Therefore, our brothers went to help with the evacuation.
The first evacuees were accommodated right inside the church. As the dining room started working, the brothers and sisters joined in volunteering. Our suburban Christian campsite in Zalissya, where we accommodated new refugees, opened its doors widely to unexpected guests.
Immediately after the Kyiv region, the people from Chernihiv were evacuated. Electricity and Internet connection was out, and at any moment the last surviving bridge could be blown up. The next was, the church of our association House of Agape in the Dnipropetrovsk region in the city of Kamianske which asked us for help. Refugees from Donetsk, Mariupol, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions were constantly brought to them. Stopping at local churches, our drivers began evacuating people from Kreminna, Sloviansk-Kramatorsk, and Zaporizhzhia.
Wath the video about how the Lord has guided all of us through this year!
During the first six months of the war, about 5,000 people were at our refugee centers.
We also took humanitarian aid to the churches of the Kharkiv region, Sumy region, Chernihiv region, Kyiv region, Kryvorizhya, Odessa, Donetsk region, and the liberated territories.
All the time we tried to create such an atmosphere for the people affected by the war so that they could hear the Good News.
During the war, it was possible to hold more than a dozen outreach camps, in particular for displaced people, in the more peaceful western part of Ukraine.
We got to know each other and started visiting widows in the Rivne region. The prayer breakfasts (small groups) for widows of military servicemen are held at the church.
We also participated in providing humanitarian aid to the needy. We have started weekly prayer meetings in Rivne’s social center, from where we pick up people who want to come to Sunday services.
At the campsite in Zalissya, we hold daily prayer meetings, provide people with three meals a day, accommodation, humanitarian assistance, help with paperwork, treatment, and training, and organize trips to the church.
In the village of Klevan, in the dormitory of a specialized residential institution for children with visual impairments, where more than 70 refugees from Severodonetsk have settled, our workers conduct Bible study for the children of refugees, meet with adults, and constantly bring food.
Is the Great Commission canceled in time of war? No! The proof of this would be this year’s mission conference “Rescue those being led away to death,” during which we prayed for our evangelists/missionaries and renewed our pledges of faith for the next year.
The Lord continued to add the saved to His Church. In the Community of the Good Shepherd in Rivne, 9 people were baptized. It’s a pleasure to see each time new people in our church. The baptisms of Iranians, Armenians, and Assyrians also took place at the mission field, the baptism was also held in our sister church in Warsaw.
After massive missile attacks and the threat of a big freeze in the winter, we began to participate in heating projects: bringing generators, installing alternative sources of heating, planning the operation of the heating point in the church, and other assistance to people.
When the flow of refugees stopped, God revealed to our brothers the urgent need to serve Ukrainian military personnel. They began to preach the gospel to the military. Then they brought them gifts and letters of support from church members.
Another event in 2022 was the beginning of the Christian school Worldview in our mission building. Amazingly, we prayed for this for more than one year, but it was during the war that God gave us such an opportunity and our dreams came true!
Praise God for everything!
