Igor Bandura, Vice-President of the Ukrainian Baptist Union and long-standing SGA partner, recently spoke of how God is at work in Ukraine and that they still have hope, even in the face of continuing war.
“Hope is very important for us and hope is not abstract for us. It has a name, and the name of our hope is Jesus. In the darkness we see clear signs of God working among our people, especially in and through our churches. Let me just remind you of some of these blessings.
The most important thing is that people are being saved. Right in the middle of the war situation people are hearing the Gospel, they are responding and following Christ. In our Baptist Union we have seen baptisms increase from around 2,600 before the war to 3,000-4,000 in recent years. Many of these have been young people.
Many new churches have also been planted. 65 new Baptist congregations in Ukraine since 2022, and about 170 groups and churches across 15 countries in Europe.
Through the churches we see the growth of compassion in action. The churches have become lifelines, distributing aid, hosting displaced families, running trauma healing groups, caring for orphans and widows. As a result, people who once ignored the Gospel now come because they have seen Christ’s love in deed.
When I think about all of this, I really feel like hope shines brighter in the darkest places. The Gospel makes the ultimate difference, because it gives eternal perspective, forgiveness of sins, and the promise that suffering is not the end, for Christ has overcome the world.”