Zakarpattia Oblast (located in southwestern Ukraine) 

It was our 6th annual CEF Conference. This year national missionaries from all areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Azerbaijan completed the Financial Freedom Course II. Reflecting upon teachings from previous years, one participant said: “My life can been divided into two parts: pre-seminar and post-seminar. God has been at work in my heart. My relationships with my wife, my children and my work have radically changed. My life is now entirely different from what it was formerly.”

Rivne Oblast (located in western Ukraine)

The successful graduates of the 2015 Basic Leadership Training Seminar have presented 15 seminars in various venues throughout the Rivne Oblast over this past year. Success is not determined by exam grades but by practical application of principles to their lives. One example of success that we heard repeatedly was many graduates giving testimonies about how they had downsized in order to live within their incomes. Preparations are underway for us to return in February 2017 to conduct three more Leadership Training courses with a view of trying to reach all the churches in the region through those who desire the training. 

Kharkiv (located in northeastern Ukraine, and the 2nd largest city in the country) 

A city of 1.4 million people received 500,000 refugees from war-torn eastern Ukraine. When the conflict started, Kharkiv Oblast was on the verge of rebellion. Military uniforms had been made with insignias of the new Kharkiv People’s Republic. But Pastor Vitchislav led a citywide effort of Christian churches to station prayer teams at every road which entered the city and on the public square in order to pray that war would be averted in Kharkiv. Every morning for two years they gathered in the name of Christ, many times in the face of militant opposition. God was faithful to answer their prayers. The pastor, his church, and many others from churches who had gathered there in the past for all three seminars that we facilitate have been grateful for the teachings they received. “One year ago, everything was in crisis and everyone was panicking. Without God’s mercy and the practical training of the seminars, my family and I would have never survived these pressures.” –A church deacon, Kharkiv

Poltava Oblast (located in central Ukraine)

A Marriage seminar is being scheduled with leaders of the Uzbekistan Churches for September 2017. “The seminar teachings offer the most scripturally practical and most influential help for the churches here in Ukraine.” –A Church Conference Bishop

Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in Ukraine as they respond to the difficulties of war. Pray that the Body of Christ would be strengthened and that the light of the Gospel would spread through the faithful witness of believers.