Summer and ministry 2025

Greetings from Odesa!

In this letter I will tell you what my June was like. At the beginning of the month I hosted two girls-volunteers from "Campus Kyiv Centre". And this reminded me once again that our God always sends people on time!

We had many deep conversations with them, sharing our experiences and how God is revealing himself in our lives right now. The girls helped us here with organizing an event for students when part of our team, who had just joined the mission, needed to undergo training for new interns. It was especially valuable for me that Nastya (on the left in the photo) also joined me for a small group for spiritually interested students, where she shared about her repentance, her first experience in church, and how God gave her meaning in life. She herself came to God two years ago through the Campus ministry in Kyiv.

Our small groups for spiritual seekers are continuing, and sometimes even those who identify as true atheists or pagans come to them. But knowing that the Word is living and active, we believe that it might take root in their hearts too. We're glad that they can hear Holy Bible at these meetings. This month, we watched videos from the Alpha course, discussed objective truth, read John, talked a lot about personality of Christ, and shared our repentance stories. I really like such meetings because they help us realize once again how good God is.

One of the events in June was my trip to Albania. Our colleague from Kyiv, my former mentor, and also my friend Eliso married a guy from the Albanian Campus ministry. So, the girls and I went to congratulate and support the new family. This was also an opportunity to see a completely different culture and hear how ministry is done there, because it is a predominantly Muslim country.

    I continue to have personal meetings with Vika, and for one of them, Stephanie, a missionary from the USA, joined us. We talked about the principles of spiritual growth, why it's important to spend time with God in reading and reflecting on the Word, and what prayer means to us. At another meeting Vika and I also talk a lot about Christ and the Trinity of God, about the changes in our hearts, and God's work in all of this. Please continue to pray for her, that God would reveal himself to her more and more and give her assurance of salvation.

In June, we had a lot of shellings, almost every night, and even during the day, we had a large number of drones, shaheds, and missiles. One night, I experienced such an attack very acutely. There were many impacts in my area, and I was sitting in the corridor between two walls, it seemed to me that everything was falling and exploding next to me. The sound of Shaheds flying nearby echoed in my ears for a long time. I thought that after three years, I had gotten used to the war and constant shelling, but no. My emotional state couldn't handle it; I was very scared, and afterward, I couldn't fall asleep for a long time. For several nights, I slept in the corridor, simply on a mat, ask God to protect me.

During this month, many people were left homeless, or with destroyed or damaged housing. These people need help. Ordinary people unite and help each other. Several times I went to clear the rubble with "Dobrobat" organization, and honestly, I was amazed by the sacrifice of people. Some go to clear rubble after work, some have come from other countries to help us, women and men, young people and older adults, carrying heavy fragments of destroyed apartments to serve their neighbors.

Prayer needs: 

* For safety and an end to shelling 🙏 for the end of the war and the rebuild of our country.

* We can rejoice and bless in prayers the new family of Blerim and Eliso and their ministry in Albania.

* For Spiritual grow in God and assurance of salvation for Vika.

* For our newly followed to Christ students Margo, Alina, Bohdan, Olya, and Bohdan: their relationship with God and joining churches, and wisdom for us as mentors.

* Great thanks to God and to you for your prayers, I received a Schengen visa and can go to Germany for our mission's conference in Berlin!

* At this conference, I will be responsible for the location where all our ministries in Ukraine will be presented, so I have a lot of preparation for its arrangement now. I would be glad if you support me in prayer, as I'm a little worry.

I am so grateful for your prayers and financial support, for your encouragement and your messages. It is a blessing for me to have such people.

with love Vika