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Today there is a corps of effective, experienced missionaries who don't have to travel thousands of miles to get to the field. They don't have to go to language school, apply for a visa, adjust to a strange diet, or spend years on the deputation trail. These missionaries are the faithful pastors, evangelists, and Christian workers in the nations of Eastern Europe. Equipping these leaders to reach their countrymen with the Gospel and to preach Christ where He is not known --this is the heart of our mission.
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Ukraine - Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to bring about a short-lived period of independence (1917-1920), but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although independence was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, true freedom remains elusive, as many of the former Soviet elite remain entrenched, stalling efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties.
Population: 48,055,439
Religion: Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish
Language: Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian
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