Ukraine Archives - Future Leadership Foundation

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Maksym Sliazin, Ukrainian pastoring in Poland

In Acts, believers left Jerusalem because of persecution, some settling in Antioch where they preached the gospel at first to their fellow Jews but then to the Gentiles. Barnabas, who was sent to check out this movement immediately, encouraged Saul (Paul) to join him in ministering there for the next year. We read that it was at Antioch where believers were first called Christians. It was Antioch that, even in their poverty, sent an offering to help the Jerusalem church. And, it was the Antioch church that, at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, sent Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey. The rest is history.

Future Leadership Foundation (FLF) is all about discovering, growing and multiplying leaders in partnership with local leaders, and often difficult situations like the one in Jerusalem- are the very conditions God uses to launch new works in Antioch and, now, Eastern Europe.

In 2014 war broke out in Eastern Ukraine. The result has been the destruction of property, including many churches, and the migrations of millions from the area. The Christians who fled the area began to preach the gospel everywhere they went.

Elisey Pronin, one of those who fled, has planted a new church in Lviv, Ukraine, and leads the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary (UBTS) church planting department. More than 20 churches have been planted across Ukraine as a result of this ministry.

FLF team with Mateusz Wichary and his wife.

Many went to surrounding nations as well. Maksym Sliazin was the highly talented worship leader at the church where Elisey was the pastor. Maksym made his way to Gdansk, Poland, where he too planted a church. With the help of the Baptist Union of Poland, he began the Slavic Center of Mission and Integration (SCMI), a group reaching Ukrainians who fled from the war and those who arrive to find jobs they could not get in Ukraine. He is also responsible for training other church planters in Poland, with six new churches planted across Poland and two more leaders in training.

FLF has been involved with training students at UBTS and supporting church planting in Ukraine for many years. Now, we are expanding this involvement through a new church planting initiative named the Antioch Project, under the leadership of FLF Field Service team member, Calvin Brown, who shares the story told here. Calvin (on far right) serves as the Director of Missions for the Concord Baptist Association in central Missouri.

After a recent trip to Ukraine to meet with UBTS leadership, Calvin wrote, “UBTS, where most of these church planters in Ukraine and Poland are trained, has opened a mission department. Currently, there are more than 40 students feeling the call to missions, like the student on the right serving in Brazil.

I was able to spend time with the incoming class of 17 new students and listen to their stories of following God’s call even when families and friends do not understand or support them. Many of them feel called to Central Asian countries where we as Americans would have difficulty entering. Others feel called to Africa and other nations around the world. One young lady shared that she believes that God is calling her to be a missionary in North Korea. She knows that at this time even she cannot enter that country as a missionary, but she is preparing to be one of the first.”

Tomorrow, Nov. 27, is Giving Tuesday, a day that emphasizes giving in the midst of the Christmas season. When you consider gifts that make a difference, we ask that you make a gift to Future Leadership Foundation. Your prayers and financial support can make a lasting difference throughout the world. Will you join Calvin and others giving through FLF to develop Christian leaders globally?

“I stand in awe at the bravery and dedication of these beautiful people whom I call friends. But this is not a story about good people; this is a story of the God of faithful believers who has the power to overcome adversity, persecution, and poverty. It is the story of the power of the gospel that can change lives and set people free. It is the story of my God, my Lord and my Savior. It is a story that I want to be a part of in places like Eastern Europe. But it is a story that can take place where we live as well, if we allow our lives to be used by His mighty power.

I ask you to join me in supporting God’s Antioch movement in Eastern Europe by praying and supporting these brave missionaries. And I ask you to join me in allowing God to use us to start an Antioch movement where we live.”

Click here to make a donation. Your gift, no matter what the amount, will help to find projects just like this. Or, use the address below to mail a check to Future Leadership Foundation. Thank you!

And, visit our website to learn more about The Antioch Project.

A Captured Heart

Written by Drew Hill, Pastor at Memorial Baptist Church, Arlington, VA. Memorial Baptist Church partners with Future Leadership Foundation in our work in Ukraine, and Drew has traveled with FLF on many occasions, the latest in October 2018.

I probably should begin with a confession. This brief piece is not in any way objective or unbiased. It will be honest to be sure, but I must tell you up front my heart has been captured by the people of Ukraine. The leaders and pastors, the students and friends I have encountered possess a part of me now and I don’t want it back. Four times I have journeyed to Ukraine always returning with far more blessing than I left behind. Our church has been inspired and blessed by our partnership with Future Leadership Foundation in this great movement of God in Ukraine.

What is it that has captured my heart? It’s hard to find the words. Part of it may be the great natural and cultural beauty of Ukraine, such a fascinating place. The history of Ukraine, a story that mingles tragedy and triumph, the brutality of tyrants and the liberation of the oppressed, moves and inspires me. I can’t help but admire the courage of a people willing to stand up and if need be, to stand alone against aggression and invasion. Bold and brave, the Ukrainian people refuse to be helpless victims. I admire and honor their indomitable spirit.

But there’s something more, something harder to describe. Even in these difficult days and harsh circumstances, there is a stirring, a kindling, a rising, a fresh work of the Holy Spirit that is tangible, unmistakable. To walk in the overcrowded home of Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary in L’viv, to meet with their visionary leaders, to listen to the students in the classrooms or over the lunch table, is to sense that something is happening here, a great thing, a God thing.

Dr. Slavic Pizh, the seminary president, walked us around a crumbling, abandoned building with a vacant lot and described it as a beautiful new home for the growing seminary. There is a ton of work to do and more money to raise, but he says it will open for class next fall. And I believe him.

One of my students, Dima, pointed out his church to me on the map, just an eighteen-hour bus and train ride from the seminary, and shared his determination to raise up a new generation of believers in his hometown. And I believe he will do it.

A young pastor, Vasil, led us down a muddy road beside his small church to show us the construction of two large houses his church is building to provide a home for twenty-four orphans from their area. They believe that living out the Gospel means to address human need with more than just words. Vasil has little help and some health issues, but he is undeterred. He says the homes will open in the spring and I have no reason to doubt his optimism.

It was my privilege to speak during the new student orientation. Over two hundred students crowded into Central Baptist Church in L’viv since there is no room large enough for them at the seminary. As I looked in so many bright, young, eager faces, I was humbled and moved. I talked about dreaming God’s dreams, sharing God’s dreams, living God’s dreams, but I could tell that the Holy Spirit was way ahead of me, already raising them up and calling them out with visions and dreams for Kingdom work.

See what I mean? Something is happening here, a great thing, a God thing, and I have decided that whatever I can do or give or provide to make God’s dream for Ukraine and Eastern Europe come true, I’m in, I’m committed. My heart has been captured.

*This article first appeared on Drew’s blog, Coffee with Drew.

FLF Teaches Church Planting Students in Ukraine

A Future Leadership Foundation team of four Missouri pastors returned from a 10-day trip to L’viv, Ukraine, in March, where they held a week-long seminar for church planting students attending the Baptist Seminary in L’viv. Their work is already paving the way for similar training efforts in early 2019.

The FLF team consisted of:

Phil Rector, director of missions, Gasconade Valley Baptist Association
Kevin Sullivan, pastor, First Baptist, Owensville
David Krueger, pastor, First Baptist, Linn
Jason Gentry, pastor, First Baptist, Hermann (currently serving Hallsville Baptist)

The American pastors each led breakout conferences on preaching, discipleship, evangelism and biblical leadership.

photo of the students and the team. — A group picture of the team and students.

The seminar and fellowship provided a meaningful experience for all involved, and the group has been invited to return in March for another seminar.

FLF is now in the process of enlisting the team for March 2019. Ideally, Phil Rector (pictured above left, with Ukrainian pastor Elisey Pronin) says he’d like to see a mix of people who have been to Ukraine and some who would be visiting the country for the first time.

The four of us are standing in downtown Lviv at the Opera House. — The team stands in downtown L’viv at the Opera House.

“It has become my goal to take new pastors to Ukraine along with us so they could have the firsthand experience of meeting and teaching in Ukraine,” said Phil. “I feel this would become a life-changing experience for anyone who has the ability to go.”

On the way home, the team stopped in Munich, Germany, to visit two missionary families planting churches there. They had the opportunity to see the work the missionaries are doing and prayer walk the city with them.

200+ Children Attend Ukrainian Summer Camp

For the third straight year, Fee Fee Baptist Church and its Ukrainian partner church The House of Gospel teamed up to hold a children’s camp in Lalovo, Ukraine. The small village sits in the southwestern part of the country about 40 miles from the border with Hungary.

Fee Fee Senior Pastor Dr. Randy Fullerton (pictured right) joined 18 volunteers from his church for all three summer camps. Fullerton also serves as Director of Development for FLF. Fullerton says camp attendance far exceeded expectations starting with the first year, and it’s grown each year since. Lalovo is a town of only about 800, with an elementary school of about 80 children. So in 2015, they expected 30-40 kids. They got 90. In 2016, they got 150, and in 2017, 205.

The week-long camp ran from July 10-14 and featured breakfast and lunch, bible study time, sports, craft activities and English classes. (See a video with Ukranian narration here.)

Fee Fee’s partner church, The House of Gospel, is led by pastor Vova Prodan, who teamed up with the volunteers to run the camp all three years. Vova says the camp has opened doors for Christ in many ways in the Lalovo area: his church has moved from Sunday evening to Sunday morning services, a strong sign of a church’s growth; he is drawing 40-50 people each Sunday; he is now teaching English classes year-round; and he is teaching religion classes in the local school.

The relationship between Fee Fee Baptist and The House of Gospel is part of the Future Leadership Foundation’s Macedonia Project, which partners 20 American churches with 20 international church plants.

-Article written by Travis Ford, FLF Communications Team Member

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