Undoubtedly, rumors of war and the threat of a full-scale war with Russia worry all citizens of Ukraine, but the residents of the front-line zone feel this especially acutely. However, the hope in the Lord and the belief that the safest place for a Christian is to be at the center of God’s will help our brothers and sisters in eastern Ukraine not only not to lose heart but also to work actively in the mission field. In 2013, Stanislav Kolpakov, an employee of our mission, began planting a new church in Mariupol.
Stanislav was born in North Kazakhstan in 1975, as the ninth child in the God-fearing family of a church deacon. “Stand up and be glorified!” – This is exactly the meaning the father had in mind when he called his youngest son Stanislav. At the age of 18, Stanislav got baptized, although the young man was outraged by doubts about his ability to “measure up to God’s bar.” In 1995, after graduating from college, Stanislav left his parents’ house and moved to Ukraine with his brother. In 1996, he married a sweet and modest girl. The couple got along from very beginning, so God gave them five children, although Stanislav saw his responsibility solely in providing for the family financially. In 2000, Stanislav was ordained as a deacon in a traditional Baptist church. Stanislav was dissatisfied with the state of his heart, but hoped that his responsibility as a minister would help him straighten out everything in his Christian life.
On May 8, 2004, God spoke seriously to Stanislav. He was working as a uber driver when he was attacked and robbed by some strangers. Stanislav was hit six times to his head with a hammer by a passenger sitting in the back, as well as was stabbed to the chest by a passenger sitting next to him. For about two years, God provided for Stanislav’s family through the church, friends and relatives. During this time, he underwent several operations. When he returned to his ministry, a lot of people in the church enjoyed listening to his sermons… Stanislav did not read the Bible, he prepared his sermons during the service in haste. The Kolpakovs did not have family devotions, did not instruct their children in God’s teaching, and did not live like that… until November 2009, when a guest preacher spoke about what Christianity has become today. Shortly afterwards, Stanislav knelt down before the Lord. This has not happened in his life for many years. He opened the Bible and, miraculously…! The Bible spoke to him! From that moment on, he could no longer imagine life without communion with God.
In 2010, Stanislav became a student of the School of Biblical Preaching in Rivne. Three years later, together with like-minded people, he began starting a new church Word of Truth in his hometown of Mariupol.
In September 2014, when the war zone got closer to Mariupol, almost the entire young church was forced to leave the city due to hostilities. In October 2015, Stanislav’s heart was determined to return to continue the work he had begun. This was not an easy decision, as the fighting took place at a distance of 10-15 km from the Kolpakovs’ house. At that time, the Kolpakov family already had documents to travel abroad, but they said “no, our calling is to live and work here.”
From 2015 to 2019, 9 people were baptized in a small church. Today, there are 17 church members and 14 children. Believers meet 4-5 times a week. At first, they were gathering to worship God at homes, in summer they set up a gazebo in the yard, and in winter one family offered a large room in their house. They baptize people every summer, and the logical question is to buy a house of prayer or church building. With God’s help, this issue was resolved, and all the work on the repair and arrangement of the room brothers and sisters performed independently, sacrificing their strength, money and time. Now on the wall of the house of prayer hangs a large banner with the words of Jesus Christ, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…” By the way, this banner helped a visiting family to find the church that became their spiritual family.
The church life of the Word of Truth community may differ a little from the life of other evangelical churches in Ukraine. Surely, they experience some ups and downs, namely, the joy of the spiritual growth of some church members and the concerns about those who became lukewarm. They’re earnestly working toward establishing the adolescent, youth, women, social, camp and children’s ministry, and a church council has been formed. As a pastor, Stanislav Kolpakov is involved in counseling with people who suffer from military rumors and financial turmoil, pandemic challenges and family conflicts.
And what about the missionary dream?
It is also gradually being implemented, from “Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.” That is, first of all, evangelistic events in your city (street evangelism, distribution of Christian literature in the city park, exhibition of paintings about the life of Jesus Christ), church holidays with the invitation of unbelievers, use of the Internet platform for evangelism and church invitations. And, of course, the church prays for enduring relationships with people who live around the church to share the gospel with them.
For several years now, the Word of Truth Church has supported a missionary who serves the peoples of the North and prayed for the development of a missionary vision for other nations and cultures.
Since the new year 2022, has gotten off to a good start for the church, they see in it the God’s answer to this prayer. They were first visited by a brother who served in Uganda, then by a missionary from Kyrgyzstan who serves women at the Christian Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Violence and Homeless Children. And now the church, God willing, plans to organize a trip there in the summer to help hold a Christian camp for such children. At the end of January, a pastor from Lebanon, who spoke about the evangelical movement in his country, was introduced to the church. Stanislav Kolpakov began a personal and gospel-based communications via Facebook with many Arabs, most of whom live in Pakistan.
Most of the people in the church were encouraged and strengthened by all this and it fueled their motivation to missionary work!
Praise be to God for all His blessings! Although His ways are often incomprehensible to us, we believe that His thoughts about us are always good.
Therefore, dear friend, “stand up and glorify” the Lord wherever you are, or wherever the Lord sends you, and may He help you accomplish all this!
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