I’m thankful to God that during the war I can work and serve God.
Amazed
My friend Oleksii sent me that message last week. It’s statements like his that amaze me. Every day I see the trauma of war AND the gratitude to be able to serve God. It makes me want to shout.
It’s winter in Ukraine. Like Canadians, our friends have to scrape ice off their windshields, shovel snow, and try to stay warm while enduring rolling blackouts. Sometimes they have power for only three or four hours. Time enough to charge their phones and computers and make something hot.
Oleksii and Olya across from Jocelyn and I (Dima, Alina and Oleg in the background)
We met Oleksii and his wife, Olya, in June on our recent trip to Ukraine. We hit it off right away. They are a young, pastoral couple with three children, and she was pregnant with their fourth. Oleksii is a sharp guy and very accomplished. He leads a church in a community of 73,000 in northern Ukraine and recently he was entrusted with the oversight of 14 other churches as a bishop. Some times churches are as far as 300-350 kilometers away, so it takes a lot of driving. Though, it is very rewarding.
Srynyky
Oleksii became my translator last summer for three days and together we led strategic planning sessions for a church. The best part of the days were the breakfasts of syrnyky and travel time when we got to know them. 
Their little girl was born September 2nd and like all proud parents they shared pictures of the day she was welcomed home by her older siblings. Eight days later, as students returned from their summer break, five schools in their community were shelled by the Russians.
Welcome to your home on earth, baby Melisa. It won’t always be this way.
Serve God
“We also keep serving elderly and disabled people. Our ministry has already spread beyond serving in an elderly people home (around 180 people). This year we added two more communities of 70 seniors and 200 seniors to our circle of ministry. 
“We are excited to see that God’s Word is powerful these days and it is capable of changing people’s hearts. We have an intention to visit these institutions during the Christmas season (in Ukraine it is December 20 – January 20) and bring sweet presents for the elderly and disabled people. According to our estimate, if we buy sweets and pack them ourselves, one half a kilo parcel will cost is around UAH 100 (USD 2.5). We are willing to serve 500 elderly and disabled people both in homes and individuals.”
We would also like to serve 500 kids to bring joy and God’s love to their lives through our Christmas programs this season. So, we need total of 1000 such sweet parcels.”
Equipment Needs
“The equipment we use for the camps and church services is more than 15 years old. Sometimes sound disappears during the program/service. It brings a lot of tension. When we recently talked with a company which repaired it 7 years ago, they didn’t recommend to fix it again. This equipment is used for our church’s services, so new set of equipment is going to be in use on weekly basis.”
Their sons, Tima and Semi, are studying at a college level and volunteering in ministry. Their daughter, Emila, turned nine in November.
“We were a bit sorry that we were not able to make a nice celebration for her. You know, war leaves a mark: power cuts, air raid alarms… These days power cuts are very frequent and sometimes they last up to 6 hours in a row. But we did the best we could.”
We did the best we could. That’s typical for Ukraine pastors.
This Christmas, Jocelyn and I will be giving to support kids, youth and seniors in Oleksii’s outreaches. If you’d like to join us, you can support their work through Loads of Love. On the giving webpage, in the space “write a private message to us,” write “Oleksii Support.” Thank you. Thank you.
Please join the conversation by posting a comment below. Thank you.
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