Before the Ukraine-Russia war, a church in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, felt a prophetic call to purchase an old cow farm, what seemed an absurd proposition. In the following months, the congregation diligently cleaned and renovated the property, installed a shower and a kitchen, and constructed multiple rooms.
When Russia invaded, the Holy Spirit’s leadership revealed itself. Today over 400 Ukrainian refugees are sheltered and served breakfast, lunch and dinner by congregation members.
Another church in Kovel, Ukraine, similarly purchased refrigerators and several tons of bread to freeze before any prognosis of war. Today they welcome approximately 200 refugees in their church every day and are ministering to their nation, housing, clothing, feeding and transporting citizens to the safety of European borders.
Since the rise of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has led the call to evangelical freedom in that part of the world. Today, amid the atrocities of war, their ministry has been confirmed by God’s divine intervention.
The Lord has remained faithful in His promise of leadership, guardianship and sovereignty, and is moving in the fullness of the power of His Holy Spirit through the body of Christ in Ukraine. Testimonies of miraculous encounters are flooding Ukrainian communities.
Buses from a church in Kovel, transporting food to Kyiv since the start of the war, have been met with Russian military fire on multiple occasions, including a time when one vehicle was completely obliterated from the blasts. Still, all passengers remained untouched.
In another church, a group of 18 believers were gathered for a prayer meeting at a family home when a missile fell on their house, hurtling through the roof and ceiling before it came to a stop directly over their heads. Not a single person was harmed. Had it exploded, the house and all neighboring homes would have been destroyed with no possibility of survival.
While a heavy spirit of death hangs over the nation, Ukrainian Christians lead with a greater increase of Holy Spirit power and perseverance.
Congregation members are meeting in their churches every morning against recommendations, drowning out the sound of shelling with their prayers. They open their church and family doors to take in refugees. It is in these family homes where refugees, intrigued by the small group prayers led every night in living rooms, take turns to make their way silently upstairs to listen.
These churches and homes are laid on an unshakable foundation for the preaching of the gospel. Amid the humanitarian disaster, Ukrainian Christians surrender their homes and personal vehicles. They risk their lives under bomb-shelling to evacuate thousands from the hottest locations. They organize and transport food parcels to their community, including the handicapped, the elderly and children. Teenage girls care for orphans and launder bedding round-the-clock to prepare for the new day’s refugees.
A Ukrainian ministry movement has opened an online Bible school, which has already mobilized 3,800 students and prayer intercessors. They have tracked thousands of people receiving Jesus Christ and witnessed mass altar calls. They are the light of Jesus Christ in the darkness of the circumstances, and they testify to the work of the Helper (John 14:26) in their growing faith and resolve.
The preaching of the gospel in Ukraine, the persistence of the Ukrainian nation and military, the global humanitarian response, and Russia’s military machine failing to progress as planned are evidence to God’s turning what was meant as evil, for good. His hand is over Ukraine with His people, and as the Holy Spirit dwells with the church body there, so we must dwell with them, too.
First Corinthians 12:26 urges that, as one part suffers, every part suffers with it. As the body of Christ, may we feel this jointing now. May our souls be in deep travail and intercession, our hearts soft and reactive, and our spirits led to preach the gospel to all creation in a newfound urgency and Holy Spirit power. {eoa}
Joanna Rovin is a writing professor at Boston College and a youth leader at New Generation Church in Boston, Massachusetts. New Generation is a ministry dedicated to encountering God and experiencing His supernatural power, with roots in Eastern Europe. With a call for reaching nations, the church is currently enveloped in missionary and volunteer efforts in Ukraine.
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