As the war in Ukraine persists, the city of Kherson has been one of the many cities of focus for GCMM humanitarian aid and evangelism. Prior to the Russian invasion, Kherson was a city of 300,000 residents.
Kherson was occupied by Russian troops for eight months and was finally freed from Russian occupation in November 2022.
Three days after the withdrawal of Russian troops, the GCMM humanitarian aid team delivered aid as well as the evangelism book “The Journey Home” to residents of the city.
The Baptist church in Kherson hosted the team, where under the direction of Pastor Sergey Sinii the team participated in evangelism and aid work. As a result of the war, residents started to search for spiritual guidance and security for their souls.
6,000 attendees at the Kherson Evangelical Church
In a short period of time church attendance has soared, with a database of about 6,000 attendees who are in almost daily contact with the church, and attend services. Many have made a commitment to faith.
Medically speaking, Pastor Sergey is suffering from terminal, inoperable cancer. At the beginning of the war, he made a decision to stay in Kherson even though pastors across denominations were moving away with their families. “My days are limited. I decided that I would rather serve the people of this city as their shepherd than leave them without someone to care for their souls. If I die here with the others, I die, but I have done my duty and served in ministry to the very end,” says Pastor Sergey. God has blessed the ministry in amazing ways, and Pastor Sergey continues to shepherd the people of the church even though accelerating hostilities.
“Before the beginning of the war, 3-4 new people would be seen in each of our services. But now in every service, there are hundreds of new people who have not attended before.” Pastor Sergey’s team has accumulated a database of almost 6,000 new attendees for ongoing service to the community at hand.
“These people are of course in need of bread, but they are also in need of ‘the bread of life’, spiritual and emotional support. The residents of this city are looking for hope and faith which are lacking in their lives. They are coming to church to hear the word of God, which is exactly what’s needed in these dire times. This is clearly a time of revival, one which we have never seen before!”
Kharkiv church is filled with seekers
“This war started by Russia is a nightmare for us all yet at the same time, ‘the dream’ of every pastor, church leader, evangelist and layperson,” says Pastor Pjotr, the bishop of Kharkiv region and the local leader of the evangelical church.
People are ‘hungry’ to hear about hope and comfort from the word of God.
When the war started a year ago, from over 1,000 attendees, only 180 remained. Most moved to West Ukraine. But now, there are over 800 new people, coming to services regularly and willingly receiving the word of God.
“This is clearly a time of revival in our city”, declares Pastor Pjotr.