Since 2015, Serhiy and Olena Kyrylenko have been preaching the gospel in Dolyna, Ivano-Frankivsk region. In 2022, this missionary family moved there with the aim of planting a new evangelical church. Currently, the priority ministry of Dolyna Bible Church is serving children and teenagers, as they are the most open to hearing the Word of God.

Serhiy and Olena hold children’s camps and organize various trips where they spend time outdoors. They also run children’s and youth clubs every Saturday, where children listen to a Bible lesson, play board games, communicate, play outside, and drink tea together. Sometimes they watch movies, go for walks in nature, play sports games in the yard, or celebrate birthdays.

The club is visited by children from families of internally displaced people, families of the military (in particular, from families of deceased and missing heroes), low-income, large families, and other families who are in difficult life circumstances. It is especially pleasing that some children and teenagers from these clubs have been regularly attending Sunday services for some time now. Communicating with children gives us the opportunity to establish relationships with their parents. For example, the church regularly invites families to holiday services: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.

Together with the mission Serving the Blind, missionaries have been holding evangelistic meetings for people with visual impairments in the city of Dolyna and in a nearby village for several years. At these meetings, people can hear the gospel, pray together, and communicate over tea. Oftentimes, the ministers have an opportunity to provide visitors with food and clothing. The format of the meeting (1.5–2 hours) allows for a regular and detailed explanation of the gospel message to these people twice a month. This is especially valuable given that the people who attend these groups are mostly elderly. They are already on the threshold of eternity, so Serhiy feels a special responsibility to explain the Good News to them, to call them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. The meetings in Dolyna are attended by 7–12 people, in the village, 15–20. It is worth noting that these are not only people who have visual impairments, but also other residents of the village. Please pray for ministers who would move to this small village for a long-term ministry in order to plant an evangelical church there!

The number of disadvantaged people who need Christ is increasing. Serhiy Kyrylenko encourages us to pray:

  • – for the future of a 15-year-old half-orphan girl who is under the influence of bad company, was sexually abused, and is now in a shelter;
  • – for a soldier who was exempt from the army and now has a drinking problem, as a result of which his wife and daughter left him;
  • – for an elderly woman with cancer who can no longer come to church meetings, and for a neighbor who also has cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy;
  • – for a young man who is seeking freedom from the influence of the devil;
  • – for a displaced woman whose husband is at the front line and her teenage son is going through a difficult period as he grows up;
  • – for a man who is frustrated with God because of his daughter’s incurable disease;
  • – for a young boy in a wheelchair, whose parents sent him to the village,
  • – for our hearts to be compassionate to human grief and zealous in serving Christ. Pray that service does not become an everyday job for us, but that we are filled with strength and inspiration from the Lord as we serve others.

Our ministers constantly face obstacles in their ministry: a serious injury and long-term treatment of one sister from the leadership team, mobilization for military service of two key brothers of the church, the departure of a family with three children abroad, etc. And Serhiy asks himself the question: why is everything so difficult? One obvious explanation is spiritual warfare. This is an invisible fight for the souls of local residents, which is being waged in the spiritual world. And in order not to lose this war, the church in Dolyna really needs your prayers for its service. You are faithful allies in this war. Thank you for serving Christ and standing with us!