New Life after 70 Years of Atheism Hundreds of Churches Were Born!
“When the Iron Curtain fell in the early 1990s, a new era began in our work,” says Ignat “Ivo” Ivanov, Mission Possible’s president. “For three years we ran an education center for church planters near Odessa, Ukraine. In total, 1100 men and women from all over the country attended the course. We supported 165 of them for two years. As a result of their work, more than 400 churches were planted.”
At the education center, I interviewed everyone who expressed desire to enter the mission field. From one village in Ukraine, seven young men met with me. “We already know where we are going!” one named Vasili proclaimed. “We’ve taken classes in agriculture and we can sing.” They belted out a song for me (not quite singing on key). I wasn’t necessarily convinced by the group’s natural talents, but they were fired up and had a clear vision. So we decided to support them.
All missionaries were required to give reports regarding their work. The letter from Vasili’s group was simple: “Monday – prayer. Tuesday – fasting. Wednesday – evangelism. Thursday – prayer…” I decided to go see for myself what they were doing.
At the airport I was met by six men. “One stayed home because we only have six coats. Let’s go to the church,” said Vasili. Do they already have a church? I wondered. There were 700 people in the sanctuary and a choir on the stage! An elderly lady greeted me by kissing my hand. “Thank you for sending these angels to bring us the gospel!”
There were six mattresses on the floor of the men’s one-room apartment. “At night one of us is in the kitchen on prayer watch. After two hours he wakes the others, we pray, and the next one starts the watch,” Vasili explained.
This group, like the other missionaries we supported, planted many churches. The seed of the gospel was sown and flourished!
