The Power Of The Gospel In War-Ravaged Ukraine

On the morning of October 10th Russia rained missiles on every major city in Ukraine.

As air raid sirens blared I hid inside a building about 1,000 meters from an incoming cruise missile in West Ukraine. The missile detonated with a thunderous explosion shaking the city center. It was hard to believe that we were still fully engaged in the proclamation of the Gospel amidst the devastation of this horrible war.

People are turning to God in ways not seen even in peacetime. One Ukrainian senior pastor observed that there are very few atheists in Ukraine. The war has sensitized the nation to spiritual matters.  People don’t need convincing that there is a God.

Soldiers Baptized

We know of soldiers that have been baptized not far from the front lines. Unchurched people are making decisions for Jesus in church services wherever an open church can be found.

This is a war zone baptismal service. These Ukrainian soldiers had received Jesus as Lord and wished to profess their faith by being baptized in this river. God is present where people call on the name of the Lord, Romans 10:13.

The war has caused devastation for millions of people. No one has been spared. Everyone has lost something, a loved one, a spouse, a child, a home, a job, a village, a friend, or a future.

More than ever, people are open to discussion about matters of faith and God! That’s where our mandate, the Great Commission, comes in.

We Are Making A Difference

At GCMM, I want to assure you that your financial support is making a huge difference in the lives of people in Ukraine.

As we speak, distribution is taking place of our GCMM high-impact evangelism book called “The Road Home”. The book contains survival stories of people who have made it through life’s most devastating storms because of steadfast faith in God. The book is a “must-have” for every refugee both inside and outside Ukraine.

Without You, It Would Not Happen

We need your help. We need to print 260,000 copies of the book. 40,000 have already been printed. And we urgently need 260,000 more, at a cost of $2.50 a copy for the 160-page book including delivery.

The Apostle Paul proclaimed that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  But he asks an important question: “How can they call on Him of whom they have not heard?” Our duty and mission are to make sure that they hear.

As we minister to the spiritual needs of people in Ukraine, we cannot overlook their physical suffering. We cannot close our ears to their pleas for help.

Delivering 300 Tons of Humanitarian Aid

We are deeply involved in distributing humanitarian aid. GCMM covers daily operating costs, and fuel bills for 15 vehicles delivering 2 tons of humanitarian aid at a time to frontline villages in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk provinces.

As of June, we have been helping keep our Ukrainian volunteer teams equipped and fully operational on a daily basis. These teams deliver vital aid, to places including Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Bakhmut and Chasiv Yar, Kharkiv, Izyum, Lyman, Orekhiv, Huliaipolye, and Zaporizhzhia.

Recently a key children’s hospital in the city of Khmelnytskyi received 40 additional hospital beds along with other critical supplies graciously donated by hospitals in Finland.

According to the Head Doctor of this hospital, the children we saw in the ICU wards were infants from frontline villages where Russian forces have targeted medical facilities, schools, and apartment buildings.

As I write these lines, Russian rockets have once again pounded critical infrastructure in Ukraine knocking out 30% of the nation’s power grids and thermal electric plants.

”Critical Life Support” For Families

These simple stoves are the sole source of heat and cooking meals for thousands of families this winter.

With Christmas not far away and winter weather setting in,  hundreds of thousands of families are without heating and running water—with husbands and sons fighting on the front lines.

We aim to supply 1,000 families with simple wood heating stoves at $100 USD per household. These are built by a local metal workshop near Zaporizhzhia. To date, we have ordered hundreds of stoves.

Please let us know if you wish to help supply families with a stove or two or more providing “life-sustaining” heat and cooking capability.

Donate Now

”The Way Home” - A Must-Have Book For The Soul

Alternatively, you may wish to help us by financing a portion of the 260,000 more evangelism books needed to bring the message of hope to thousands of internally displaced Ukrainians, as well as those in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova.

Distribution of the book “The Road Home” to frontline villagers. Gennady Mohnenko handing out the GCMM book.

A Power To Change GCMM campaign billboard in frontline Slovyansk still speaks to soldiers fighting Russian troops in the city.

A miraculous story of survival. This patient had survived a missile strike just meters away. Hannu ministered to him in Russian as he was being treated.

 

Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. May the Lord keep you and your loved ones safe and give you renewed strength for each new day.

Hannu Haukka/CEO

Great Commission Media Ministries

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