Ukraine Update: Choosing Christ Is Never More Urgent

Over 250 pastors from all across Ukraine gather for a pastors' conference where TWR Ukraine Director, Alex Chmut, spoke on the challenges they face as shepherds in wartime. [image courtesy of TWR Ukraine]

Life takes on a terrible sense of urgency for those living in an active war zone.

For most of us living in far less dangerous surroundings, questions having to do with religious matters often take a backseat to the other daily activities of life – getting educated, finding a job, starting a family, landing a promotion, having fun and so on. In Ukraine, however, the ultimate questions – “Why are we on this Earth?” “What happens when we die?” – can’t be easily shoved into the background anymore.

A simple heartfelt plea from our partners in that war-plagued country demonstrates this reality. Their plea to all believers is this: Pray that men, women and children will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ before their lives are cut short in a missile strike or on the front lines.

Not only are our Ukrainian brothers and sisters facing the daily possibility of violent death, but they also hear these concerns from the people they minister to in person, over the airwaves and via social media. Some are both heartbreaking and uplifting. They have heard reports of soldiers calling family members to say they had given their lives to Christ – then dying in the fighting soon after.

And there are reports of miracles amid the perils of war. A soldier told of being under fire and hearing a supernatural voice. The voice gave instructions – turn left, turn right, walk straight ahead – leading the soldier safely though a minefield.

The urgency felt by Ukrainians is also evident in the way churches are stepping up to help their countrymen as the fighting storms from one part of the country to another. TWR Ukraine team members traveled to the Transcarpathia region and visited a church where more than 50 refugees from the country’s east are being housed and cared for.

A refugee woman from Luhansk, which is now largely under the control of the Russian military, told a team member that when the war first broke out earlier this year, she couldn’t find sermons or programs on the internet addressing the situation. Only TWR Ukraine’s internet videos provided the spiritual strength she needed, she said.

In other western areas of the country, which are relatively far from the main focus of military action, churches are helping as many 3,000 refugees each day, our team reports. Many of these displaced people are open to the gospel and to learning about Jesus.

For TWR Ukraine team members, the sense of urgency drives them to do everything they can despite the awful circumstances to reach out to their neighbors.

“In wartime, we feel a great response to the content we make,” a team member wrote. “This motivates us to do more, to produce more interesting content of even higher quality. Every new month we set even more goals, plans and projects for ourselves!”

Please Join Us in Prayer

• Father, we know that none of us is guaranteed a long life or comfortable surroundings. But in a land like Ukraine, the precariousness of life is brought home every day. As the people of this Eastern European nation deal with these realities and seek inner assurance, bring them to your Word so they can meet you while there is still time.
• Lord Jesus, you taught us to receive strangers into our homes just as if they were you. Many churches in Ukraine are living up to this lesson and helping their displaced countrymen. We are thankful for this wonderful example to all of us, and we ask you to bless them with the resources necessary to meet the needs of their own members and those of their beleaguered guests.
• We praise you, God, for protecting TWR Ukraine team members and the technical facilities that enable them to continue producing biblically sound, first-class audio and video content. These messages are sorely needed by the people of Ukraine, and we ask you to use them to touch countless lives.