There was a time, when Yaroslav Dovhyy, his wife, Oksana, and daughter, Eva, devoted themselves to serving migrant workers from the countries of the former USSR in Italy.
When Yaroslav first came to Italy for the purpose of getting some treatment, he noticed a huge need for Russian-speaking churches since there is always a large number of Russian-speaking visitors. In the small town of Caserta near Naples, with a population of 75 thousand people, there are at least ten thousand officially registered migrant workers. Looking back, Yaroslav remembers as he once was staring at the beautiful cityscape of Caserta spread out on the hill, and then, all of a sudden, some thoughts flashed through his mind that God gives him a glimpse of this specific town in terms of his missionary field.
Communicating with migrants, at some point, Yaroslav realized that both unbelievers and believers are in dire need for the Gospel. He noticed that believers and non-believers alike were separated from their families and churches for decades. Often times, people who have left for work from the countries of Eastern Europe, find themselves in challenging situations: they usually send every penny they earn to their relatives and deny themselves of all pleasures of life, sometimes they go without food for days, working night shifts and having only about six hours of rest for the entire workweek. And as a result of their lasting separation from the families, their relationship become really complicated and it often brings them to the point of divorce. Beyond that, the money they earn neither brings them any benefit nor joy.
In February of 2015, Yaroslav committed to planting a new church, and God blessed him to start the new church. Currently, he has a few responsibilities – besides pastoring, he runs a children’s club, and is deeply involved in street evangelism. In cooperation with the local Italian communities, Yaroslav and his entire family managed to launch a quite broad ministry of mercy that is intended for cancer patients and lonely women. He and his wife try steadily organize summer camps and trips to the sea. They are also involved in assistance at a local rehabilitation center. The door of their apartment is wide open around the clock for strangers and migrants who often turn to them for help such as to stay overnight, to interpret some appointments or take them to a doctor, help them to get a job or housing. Raising funds through the Facebook, Yaroslav recently managed to hold a small children’s outreach camp. Not so long ago, Yaroslav has finished his study at the School of Biblical Preaching in Rivne and now he sees how it comes in handy in his ministry.
All who could visit the place of his ministry in Caserta were excited to see the dedication of the family to God’s cause. As a result, it is obvious for everyone that God does a lot of work through their ministry in Italy. To top it all off, the efforts of Yaroslav and Oksana were not futile – this summer, the married couple was baptized as the first one in the church.
Praise be to God for everything!!!
