From the Front Lines

While the war has impacted every citizen of Ukraine, those who live in rural villages near the front lines have endured particularly devastating hardship. Even now, three years from the initial Russian invasion, people live without ready access to groceries, supplies, or electricity. Small homes torn apart by shelling line the streets. Bullet holes litter the walls of community centers that are still standing. Yet, despite facing unimaginable circumstances every day, Ukrainians persist with a spirit of incredible endurance and hope.

Dima Loiuk leads Hope Christian Church’s humanitarian and relief efforts. Pastor Loiuk, his wife, Lesia, and their church team regularly bring food, water, clothes, children’s toys, diapers, and other needed items, including medical supplies and generators, to impacted Ukrainian citizens. They also supply a Ukrainian Bible, share the gospel, and offer prayer to each person they serve.

An AGWM leadership team had opportunity to participate in one supply run in February, seeing the Church’s mission in action.

ENTERING LUCH

The trip toward eastern Ukraine began in the village of Luch. The devastation was clear — the team drove through roads littered with deep holes, passed many badly damaged buildings, and saw remnants of bullets and explosives everywhere. Roofs were missing from houses, with only walls left standing, but they were still home to Luch’s residents as they braved exposure to extremely cold temperatures and snow.

As a crowd gathered at the center of town, another cruel reality of war became clear. Millions of families across Ukraine have been separated, and they don’t know if restoration is even possible. Ukrainian men — fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins, and other loved ones — are either fighting in the war or have been killed. The women and children who have fled Ukraine are forced to leave men of eligible fighting age behind. The populations left in villages like Luch are overwhelmingly made up of the elderly, women, and children.

Amid this crowd, Pastor Loiuk’s team and others from AGWM began distributing bags of food and Ukrainian New Testaments. Loiuk shared a message of God’s love: “God knows all our needs. He knows all our fears, and He is still with us, even if we don’t see Him.”

Among those delivering aid was AGWM Executive Director John Easter. He echoed Loiuk’s sentiments to the crowd. “We know that you have suffered, and our hearts are broken for you. “God is here. He is here, and He loves you, and He cares for you so much. He has not forgotten you.”

Brokenhearted Mother

One of Luch’s residents approached Larry Henderson, AGWM regional director for Europe, and asked for prayer. This woman’s son is a prisoner of war. She is brokenhearted, unsure of the future and desperate for news of her son’s safety.

Reflecting on their prayer together, Henderson shares, “These family members are separated. It’s very sad to see their hearts just broken, not knowing how long it will last, when it will be over.”

Henderson continues, “Many have been asking us to pray that the war would end. We believe that the Lord will remind them that He sees them today and that there is hope, and they will have peace again.”

Providing Crucial Care

Moving to Luch’s medical center, the church caravan delivered much-needed medical equipment to a small clinic, overseen by Kateryna.

Kateryna, a nurse, has lived in Luch her entire life. She studied to become a nurse and began her career in the medical field. However, when the war started, Kateryna and her children evacuated the village.

Soon after, however, the fact many had remained in Luch impacted Kateryna.

“I knew that there were elderly people here. I’m needed here,” she states. “They needed my help, so I had to come back.”

Kateryna and her children returned, risking their own safety and comfort to help their people. She now operates a medical clinic in Luch, treating approximately 10 patients — mostly elderly people — each day.

TO UKRAINKA

The population of the area surrounding the village of Ukrainka was nearly 1,000 before the war. When the conflict began, people fled. Today, Ukrainka has less than 100 citizens, most of whom are elderly or disabled.

Gerald Dollar, AGWM missionary, shares, “They really had no desire to die anywhere else. They thought, If we’re going to die, we will die here.”

As combat took place around them, many lived in basements for safety. After Ukrainian forces liberated the village, people began to come back to devastated homes.

Living in Destruction

Eighty-four-year-old Maria lives alone in the village of Ukrainka, her home of 61 years. She gave birth to all three of her daughters in Ukrainka. During the fighting, Maria’s home was destroyed by missiles. She has received help rebuilding parts of the walls and ceiling, but she still lives without heat, except for one small stove in the kitchen. She sleeps in the kitchen, next to her single-burner stove.

Maria came forward for prayer during outreach in Ukrainka. As the AGWM team prayed for her, Maria began to weep.

“I am always grateful for prayer,” Maria said.

After that emotional moment, and after receiving prayer and food supplies, she reflected, “I feel warm inside. I feel like many people help me. It makes me think that maybe God will help Ukraine. Maybe this war will stop. Maybe our soldiers will stop dying every day.”

Invitation for Church

AGWM workers and the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church have served Ukrainka over the past two years, delivering supplies, restoring heat sources, and even bringing Ukrainka’s children to a church summer camp near Kyiv.

Gerald Dollar explains, “We were able to pour into their lives this summer. Now, the mayor of the village has given property and identified where we can start a church.”

Dollar stresses that God is bringing revival and openness to the gospel through the faithfulness of the church.

“If we’re faithful in doing these little things, it’s God who brings the change, it’s God who brings the increase, and it’s God who uses that to raise people up,” he states. “There’s no doubt in their minds that we’re doing what we do in Jesus’ name. We tell them every time: The love of Jesus is why we’re here.”

KINGDOM SERVICE ON THE BATTLEFIELD

Just as God moves among Ukraine’s elderly, women, and children in their villages and cities, He is working on the battlefield amid active combat.

A 24-year-old young man named Artem experienced conflict within his family and joined Hope Christian Church’s rehab program. During Artem’s rehab process, the war began. Artem, then a Christian for only a month and a half, felt God had called him to defend his country. He volunteered for service, and the military sent him to Ukraine’s most active fighting brigade — the true front lines.

Artem started preaching among his fellow soldiers, leading many to Jesus in the face of combat and violence. He called Pastor Loiuk and said, “I want to be baptized.” However, Artem was not allowed to leave his post. Church leadership decided to meet Artem where he was and baptize him on the field.

As they stood with Artem in a lake, preparing to baptize him, two Ukrainian fighter jets flew overhead and began to shoot in the sky. Explosions sounded overhead. Amid the backdrop of active war, Artem was baptized, and the light of the gospel shone bright.

“Even today, the rockets give glory to God,” Loiuk recalls, thoughtfully.

Artem was later injured in combat, losing part of his leg. However, he chose to go back to the field. He remains there now, protecting his country and sharing God’s Word with those around him.

“We thank God that the Ukrainian nation has such people, and that they’re part of our church,” Loiuk says.

A PERSISTENT CHURCH

Seeing such deep suffering had a huge impact on the AGWM team visiting Ukraine.

“You can see the ravages of war in ways that we’ve only seen on television,” John Easter states. “To walk through it, to see it, is so powerful.”

Easter stresses the importance of the church work happening in villages like Luch and Ukrainka. When no aid was available, the church stepped up and served their people. Not only are they delivering physical aid, but they’re also sharing the gospel’s transformational power.

Pastor Dima and Lesia, Hope Christian Church, and the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church are bringing hope to the front lines. Pentecostal and evangelical activity have increased abundantly in Ukraine. Amid the tragedy of war, the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church is serving its communities like never before, meeting people in their most desperate hour and ushering in a new hunger for the gospel. 

This article originally appeared in WorldView magazine, Vol. 11- 4. Used with permission.

Joy Myers

Joy Myers is a writer and editor for Assemblies of God World Missions, Springfield, Missouri.