MINISTRY IN UKRAINE

In reflection on the school year behind me, I am astounded. Jesus gifted me eight beautifully refining months of ministry in Lviv, Ukraine, and three lovely weeks back in the States before returning to this city I love so dearly. These past nine months have by no means been easy, but they have truly changed me. From the way I serve and love, to the way I view myself and God, the Lord spared no expense in my sanctification. In my past Letters from Lviv, you have seen the Father’s involvement in both Lviv and in me. It’s interesting to see that just five short months ago I was asking you to pray for my future in Lviv as an intern with Josiah Venture (JV), and now I’m sitting at the table in the intern apartment, surrounded by my amazing teammates, realizing just how perfectly the Lord calls.

Training was a week of equipping as an intern, but personally, I spent much of my time unpacking lies I had believed from the enemy and had been held captive by for years. However, outside of the seminars and personal reflection, I met some of the most amazing people. Having all the interns serving across Europe together in one building for the week led to beautiful unity, joy, and intimate moments of worship, conversation, and genuine fellowship. Training week flew by, and before we knew it, we were saying bittersweet goodbyes, excited to be sent out, yet sad to leave. The Ukraine interns arrived in Lviv and began our month of camp preparation before camp season starts.

So far, our ministry has consisted of two main parts: administrative work and physical work. We’ve planned camps, written resource handbooks for local churches, connected with local leaders, and begun partnering with them in ministry. We’ve also organized the supply garage, sorted camp merchandise for Ukrainian churches, and gone into schools for their English camps. Being invited into schools has been a particularly beautiful part of our ministry — seeing the love these children had for us and for one another and witnessing the gratitude of the teachers for our teaching.

I connected especially with one child named Stanislav. He was in middle school and spoke very good English. He was incredibly responsible, encouraging, and showed me so much kindness. During one lesson, a teammate gave him a bracelet with Matthew 7:7 (“Ask, seek, knock”) on it. The next time I saw him, he was still wearing it, so I asked if anyone had explained what it meant. He told me it was about giving to the poor and getting good things in return. That opened the door for me to tell him about the accessibility of Jesus and how deeply Jesus loves him. He hugged me tighter than he ever had before and thanked me for sharing about Jesus. The following week, the students were painting T-shirts, and Stanislav asked me to paint something so he could remember me. I painted a cross and a heart and shared more of the Gospel with him, that Jesus is real, perfect, and loving; that He loves Stanislav enough to die for him; and that Jesus is the missing piece in his life. He looked at me like I had solved world hunger and hugged me even tighter than before.

Please pray for Stanislav, that the Gospel would penetrate his heart and that he would come to know and love Jesus Christ.

My conversation with Miroslava, our singer, ended with her crying as we talked about Heaven. After a long conversation, she said, “’The only reason I don’t believe in Heaven is because I’m scared that if I accept there’s something better after this life, it gives me all the more reason to end my life here.”

I explained the beauty of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, and how God-given purpose is what makes life worth living. Once you discover God, you can discover joy in life.

My conversation with Anastasia, our guitarist, ended with her saying, “Maybe I should actually read the Bible.” She is a pro-choice, LGBT+, radical feminist advocate who has a deep misunderstanding of both the Church as an institution and the nature of God. We spent more than an hour discussing the Christian life, sacrificial love, and how God’s universal love is not tolerant of sin, but rather that His discipline and judgement is an expression of His love. She struggled to accept that a perfect God would not simply let sin slide because He “loves everyone.” Together, we explored what perfect, fatherly love truly means. Eventually she grew quiet and said, “Last time I read the Bible, I had such an aggressive bias. Maybe I should actually read the Bible and try not to hate it until I finish it.” Her friend, a believer who has been praying for and ministering to her for years, was walking with us and she shook her head, later telling me she’d never think Anastasia would say anything positive about Christianity.

God is working miracles in these women. Please commit to praying for Miroslava and Anastasia, that the Lord would meet them in their brokenness, heal them, and lead them to accept Him as Lord and Savior after breaking down their walls against Him.

As we continue deeper into the summer, our ministry will begin to change. The camps we have prepared for will actually happen, and the leaders we have partnered with will serve alongside us. Our ministry is about to get real. Please pray for the individuals I encounter in life and at camp, that the Lord would be preparing them to hear and receive the Gospel. Pray that as the summer flies by I would be able to slow down and soak in my last months in Ukraine and be present with the people I love.

Pray! This westernmost area of Ukraine has suffered deeply from the ongoing war with Russia and is home to many displaced Ukrainians, but through the darkness God is moving powerfully. Many children and families are being impacted by the Gospel, and Ellen feels honored to step into the revival that the Lord is already sparking. Please pray with Ellen for Ukraine, her ministry partners, and for her time in Ukraine with them. Pray that peace between nations would be reached, that the ministries in Ukraine would be fruitful, and that the Lord would be preparing Ellen for this mission. Please also join her in prayer for His provision: financially, emotionally and spiritually. — Leslie Urie