Usually, when asked to draw something they like, a child might sketch a sun, a flower, a car, or a dog. However, Eric Mock of Slavic Gospel Association says the drawings they receive from Ukrainian kids tell a different story:

Girl in Despair (photo courtesy of Meruyert Gonullu via Pexels)

“All of their pictures involve pictures of missiles or bombs coming down and them hiding from them. Their idea of of daily life is a threat of an air raid siren and what it means to them.”

SGA also asked a few children about their prayers. “They said they pray for the war to end. They don’t ask for peace because they don’t know really what peace looks like,” Mock explained.

Many Ukrainian children are also growing up without a father. Some fathers have been killed, taken hostage, or are serving in the army.

“And so these children, the fabric of their communications with one another, the fabric of their walk through society, is dealing with the constant state of war. This causes anxiety and fear,” Mock says.

That’s why Slavic Gospel Association is running its Heat and Hope and Operation Winter Warmth efforts — practical, cold-weather relief projects aimed at easing the daily burden on families torn apart by war, especially single mothers and widows who are now carrying the full weight of providing for their children while struggling to make ends meet.

A Boy Behind The Glass (photo courtesy of Tanya Gorelova via Pexels)

The war has left deep trauma in children’s lives, but hope is not lost!

“The best medicine for these kids is the love of Jesus Christ and the warmth of a local fellowship of believers,” Mock said.

Hope exists alongside heartbreak. More than seven hundred children have been killed by Russian aggression, thousands more wounded, and around twenty thousand kidnapped to Russia.

Pray that many more children will find the help and healing they need in Christ. And pray for lasting, sustainable peace in Ukraine.

Header photo: Child Looking Through the Window (photo courtesy of Elina Fairytale via Pexels).

Steve Prince from Warriors Set Free, a ministry of Set Free, says, “the universal veteran experience is facing the real evil of combat and the worst of humanity”.

Recently, the ministry connected with Ukrainian veterans to help equip them to guide and support others. This includes suicide prevention, mentorship, and practical pathways toward healing.

Prince explains that for Ukrainian veterans, the transition home can be just as difficult. The soldier may feel lonely in the church and misunderstood in his feelings.

It will take many years for Ukraine to recover from war, especially in people minds and hearts; Kyiv park (photo courtesy of Nadiia Yahaha via Pexels)

“Typically, it takes a warrior mindset and someone who’s had a similar experience to be able to relate, communicate and disciple someone who’s been in combat,” he adds.

That’s why churches are being encouraged to lean on experienced veterans — men and women who understand combat and are grounded in faith. With their help, the goal is to walk alongside Ukraine’s defenders.

As Prince puts it, returning warriors need help so “that they will be able to process the loss of friends in combat, the tragedy of it, and the hell they’ve seen on the battlefield.”

It is important to understand, Prince adds, that unless someone feels ready to hear a warrior’s testimony — possibly including graphic details, painful memories, and hard parts of the story — it’s better not to get involved until they are truly prepared.

“Pray about that before you volunteer to go deep with them and help them unpack their story,” Prince adds. Not to cause more harm.

There is an urgent need for prayer as soldiers carry the heaviest burdens of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while defending their people. Equally important is the need for Ukrainian churches to learn how to be safe, supportive environments for their defenders.

As you pray for Ukrainian soldiers:

“Pray that the Holy Spirit will heal them of their trauma, and that they will be able to return to a state of peace when the Lord brings them back home,” says Prince.

Visit Warrior Set Free website if you want to learn more about helping veterans and about the Freedom Appointments ministry.

Header photo courtesy of RDNE Stock project via Pexels.

Ukraine (MNN) — In Ukraine, Russian forces are increasing their control over occupied regions. Churches, in particular, are facing heightened surveillance.

Russian authorities are tightening their grip on occupied territories of Ukraine. Churches are under special scrutiny because sermons and prayers can either strengthen believers in faith and courage or pressure them to compromise with the occupying regime.

Pastor Mykhailo Brytsyn, a partner with Voice of the Martyrs Canada, says the crackdown has intensified especially against unregistered congregations.

“There are a lot of such churches,” Brytsyn explains, “because Ukrainian laws allowed churches to exist without registration.”

Church in Vesele village (Kherson region of Ukraine) after Russian strike with guided air-dropped bombs on 5 May 2023 (Photo courtesy of National Police of Ukraine via Wikimedia Commons)

Under Russian rule, churches must register so authorities can monitor sermons. Those who refuse risk punishment, and some gatherings are raided.

Brytsyn experienced these limitations and oppression firsthand:

“I saw it during the occupation, when it was forbidden to go to church, when our church buildings were already confiscated. People go to home groups for Bible study, as during the Soviet Union.”

Brytsyn’s own church in Melitopol was seized and transformed into an entertainment club. For believers who remain, even walking past the building brings deep pain.

“Russians cut off the cross,” he recalls. “They painted it brown and put up some picture instead.”

In occupied Berdiansk, pastor Ilya and his wife Kateryna led a small church — until persecution forced them to flee.

“In 2024 he was twice arrested,” Brytsyn says. “He was tortured, and the third arrest — it could be the end. They escaped from the territory.”

Representative photo of a man praying over his Bible (photo courtesy of Malachi Cowie via Unsplash)

Believers who remain in the occupied territories now worship quietly in small groups, echoing the secret gatherings of the Soviet era. Fear of informants keeps trust fragile, yet faith endures.

“I saw a lot of people who weren’t so dedicated to church attendance, but they made a decision and went to church firmly and bravely,” Brytsyn says. “For them, it was like their repentance — they were turning to Christ or renewing their commitment to Him.”

Even as suffering deepens, believers see God moving in remarkable ways — through unity, mercy, and His protecting hand. Some ministers continue their training online as they pray for strength and hope in Ukraine’s darkest hours.

Learn how you can support believers in Ukraine at Voice of the Martyrs Canada.

Header representative photo: A copy of the Bible in Ukrainian, opened to the Book of Joshua (photo courtesy of Tyshkun Victor via Wikimedia Commons)

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association (SGA)

Divorce, abuse, war, and abandonment have shaped how these teenagers in Ukraine perceive life. Yet, when invited to church summer camps, they could finally breathe in hope.

Eric Mock from Slavic Gospel Association says:

“They were angry, confused, and now they walk away with hope, because they were judging God by their circumstances, not by His Word, not by His promises. And then secondly, in their circumstances, they had seen no love.”

This project brought together 160 young people for worship, rest, healing, and spiritual growth. A team of speakers — pastors, missionaries, coaches, and counselors — poured into the youth every day, helping shape their worldview spiritually and walking with them through the hard realities of life.

• Aneliya, came to camp after her father went to the front lines and her mother abandoned the family; she prayed to receive Jesus and left with renewed hope.
• Kateryna, from a violent home, called camp her “new birth” and found people she could trust.
• Maksym, who had never opened a Bible, repented on his own and began eagerly following God.
• Violeta, rescued from abuse, prayed publicly for the first time and left deeply grateful.
• Olena, abandoned by her parents, arrived unwilling but left with new friends and hope.
• Samuel, whose early trauma turned his hair gray, repented and found the friends he had long missed.

And more!

Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association (SGA)

“Through the faithful believers ministering to them, they saw love,” says Mock — and believed in Jesus!

The realities of life can cloud and confuse a one-week camp memory. Mock says the work continues throughout the year through local churches: “That’s why God has raised up the church to minister to these kids. Some are orphans, whom the churches are ministering to and supporting through the SGA Orphans Reborn program, and some come from impoverished families.”

Though the camps are ending, the team is already planning what’s next, including a Christmas outreach. To understand the need behind these outreaches to children in times of war, click here.

Find your place in the story through prayer. Visit Slavic Gospel Association to learn more!

“One of the greatest prayer requests is that we wish that every child that hears the Gospel, the seeds of the Gospel would take roots in their heart, and they would grow up to be those adults that desire to follow the Lord,” urges Mock.

Header photo: summer camp (photo courtesy of SGA)

“That’s the deepest pain I experience,” he said. “Every time I go to the front, I realize it might be my last. I record a goodbye video then delete it. And do it again. Every time.” 

One Washington D.C.-based think tank has estimated that nearly 1 million Russian soldiers have been wounded or killed in the Russia-Ukraine war. It estimated that Ukraine has seen nearly 400,000 wounded or killed.

(Photo courtesy of Julia Kadel via Unsplash)

Pavlo’s story is tucked within two other stories like a matryoshka or nesting doll, says Eric Mock with the Slavic Gospel Association (SGA).  

The first story surrounding Pavlo is that of Angela and Val. 

Angela was born in the US, but her husband, Val, is a missionary chaplain supported by SGA. She regularly says goodbye to him as he goes out to minister to men on the frontlines. 

“Her family appeals to her often to please, come home where it is safe and secure,” says Mock. “She responds that her ministry is there with her husband, and her husband is following the calling to minister there.” 

Angela wrote Pavlo’s story after Val sat with him for hours. She then sent it to Kristi Mock, who is part of the next layer surrounding Pavlo: the SGA storytelling network.

“They tell stories that defy the imagination,” Mock says of the few ordinary people who gather news of God at work in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Israel and other countries. 

Kristi Mock also knows what it’s like to send family into dangerous zones. Mock travels to visit partners across the Slavic-speaking world. Some of them live in active conflict zones like Ukraine.

Chaplain Praying and Preaching with Soldiers (photo courtesy of SGA)

“While I’m away, she prays for me. She cares for family,” said Mock. “There’s a certain amount of trepidation and fear because she’s sending me away to countries [experiencing conflict].”

From Val to Angela to Kristi, Pavlo had simple words to share with civilians: “Live. Do everything you can to stay alive. The dead can’t change anything. The dead can’t speak.”

Mock says, “He [told] Val that, in the military, even tanks are more valuable than men. It’s difficult to replace a tank or a high-tech weapon, but it seems like it’s less difficult to just put another man into the trenches. There, it seems that the value of life is lessened.”

But Pavlo has experienced something else now: the value of his own life honored by an ordinary chaplain.

“I’d never met a chaplain before,” Pavlo said to Val. “But I came to you with so many questions. I talked for three hours straight, and you just listened. That silence — it surprised me. But later, back in my room, I realized I felt lighter. I don’t know what it is, but something draws me back.” 

Pray for Pavlo and men like him caught in the war, that they will come to know the value God places on their lives.

In writing Pavlo’s story, Angela said, “Christ doesn’t promise fairness. He doesn’t promise we’ll recover everything we’ve lost. But He offers something no system, no army, no nation ever can: soul-deep healing and the assurance that our value is not based on what we do or what we carry — but on His love for us.”

More stories come in every week from SGA. Find them at sga.org.

Header photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association. 

Since 2022, as the Russian army advanced and occupied more Ukrainian territory, children became silent casualties — taken to unfamiliar Russian institutions. An estimated 20,000 Ukrainian children are still missing, believed to be in Russia or Russian-occupied areas. The actual number may be even higher.

The mass abduction of Ukrainian children is a war crime according to International law.

Families are doing everything they can to recover their children, while Ukrainian authorities insist that even orphans taken to Russia remain part of the nation and must be brought home.

Representative photo courtesy of
Evgeniy Alyoshin via Unsplash

Eric Mock from Slavic Gospel Association says: “There are children who desperately miss their parents. Some are told their parents don’t want them or aren’t worthy of them — an awful reality no child should ever have to face.”

Some parents of these children were detained and later released. Others fled while their children were taken. In some occupied areas, families were offered the chance to send their children to summer camps — but not all of them came back.

“It’s difficult to sort through the pieces, but it’s clear that kids have been separated from their families, and there’s an overwhelming need to restore these families. That is a heartbreaking reality of this war,” Mock explained.

Finding and accessing the children inside Russia remains difficult. “There are organizations that are working to get these children home,” Mock added. So far, only 1,399 children have returned, while thousands remain trapped in the reeducation system — where efforts aim to replace their Ukrainian identity with a Russian one and revise their understanding of the war.

Slavic Gospel Association supports churches across Ukraine, where some Christians are actively involved in the search for lost children. Also, through its orphan ministry network, Orphans Reborn, operating in over seven countries, some of the orphans encountered may be from Ukraine.

“A lot of these disconnected children are showing up in orphanages, and we pray that SGA-supported churches who minister to orphans are able to connect with these kids and be there for them,” Mock said.

Be the voice for these children. Many feel helpless and forgotten, and their families struggle to find them.

“We pray for the restoration of these families, and above all, we pray that these children and their parents — wherever they may be — will be connected to a faithful church and get to hear the Gospel at every opportunity,” Mock said.

Header representative photo courtesy of Tadeusz Lakota via Unsplash.

On the night of 4th of July, Kyiv endured one of the most terrifying nights of the war. More than five hundred Shahed drones, each over 11 feet long, filled the sky, along with missiles. The previous month alone, Russia launched over five thousand of them. The purpose of these attacks is to wear down civilians into surrender.

Eric Mock from Slavic Gospel Association says, “The one thing you do not know is where that missile is going to hit, where the intercepted wreckage is going to hit, and there’s a sense in which you face your own mortality.”

Photo courtesy of Алесь Усцінаў via Pexels

Russian drones target hospitals, shopping centers, apartment buildings, and civilians. Recently, an explosion hit a school in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, raising new fears for parents concerned about their children’s safety outside.

“It’s at a whole different level of fear,” says Mock, “The fear is when you lay your head down to sleep, you may not wake up.”

The unpredictability of the attacks is taking a serious mental toll. Civilians are overwhelmed with anxiety and stress. For children, the impact is even more severe.

While speaking with children in Odesa, a young mother approached Mock: “She said her difficulty is every time the siren goes off, her child immediately wets his pants. He is fearful and shakes.”

Despite the destruction, SGA-supported summer camps are still running. Almost every camp reports success — even amid air raid sirens and ongoing threats. These camps have continued throughout the past three years of full-scale war, providing children with a sense of hope.

This is where the Church steps in — helping people experience the love of Saviour and meaning in their suffering.

“These churches now that we serve are an oasis in the storm that people who can’t sleep at night, people who seem bereft of hope, are finding hope in Jesus Christ,” says Mock.

Eric Mock met a pastor and his family who spent the night in a metro station that serves as a bomb shelter. Despite his exhaustion, the pastor’s desire to be with his people on Sunday morning deeply moved Eric:

“They dragged their pillows. The kids brought stuffed animals, and that was where they slept. He arrived a little disheveled and challenged, but ready to preach to the people who came on Sunday!”

Pray that as Ukrainian churches remain centers of hope for those around them, they will not grow weary. Visit Slavic Gospel Association to learn more about how you can help!

Header photo: Ukraine, Kyiv (photo courtesy of Алесь Усцінаў via Pexels).

As Ukraine reels from recent deadly attacks in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv and other places, political tensions continue to escalate. Despite ongoing peace talks — from Oval Office meetings to negotiations in Vatican — true peace remains elusive. While world leaders debate the best path forward, Russia uses the delays to intensify its attacks along the frontlines. Meanwhile, ordinary Ukrainians continue working, studying, and caring for their families, all while bearing the heavy burden of war-weariness.

Eric Mock of Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) shares: “The ceasefire has to happen! The securities need to be there. And it warps the imagination that even in these days, we are seeing senseless destruction.”

In the midst of such devastation, the need for lasting hope becomes even more urgent.

“It’s because the people that are suffering, the people that are dealing with loss, are looking for answers, and the only hope we have, both in good times and in bad — the only hope that we have is the gospel of Jesus Christ,” says Mock.

People help each other (Photo courtesy of Youssef Naddam via Unsplash)

Ukrainian churches are rising to meet this challenge. With support from SGA, they’re distributing food, medicine, generators, and other vital supplies. Mock draws a vivid comparison: “So in the middle of the darkest times, even a flicker of a candle casts off great light, and the gospel is being held forth by these churches.”

These efforts are being strengthened by international church partnerships. Through this coordinated aid, as many as 1.8 million people — many of whom had never heard the Gospel before — have now encountered it. Some are gathering in small groups that have begun to form into churches.

“These are faithful small churches with small congregations that originally were aid centers who have now found a common bond, a common love for Christ and for one another, and they’re forming as churches,” Mock explains.

This growing movement has created a new and urgent need: leadership. SGA has committed to raising up a new generation of pastors and ministry leaders. The current goal is to train 1,000 leaders over the next eleven years — a vital task as many pastors are now serving in the military or have lost their lives defending the country.

“As much as we talk about humanitarian aid, we desperately need to see new leaders who are leading these churches, and that becomes a critical thing, that God would raise them up,” says Mock.

Please pray that the Ukrainian church continues to be strategic in both its humanitarian efforts and gospel outreach. Stand with the people of Ukraine. Visit SGA website and get involved in the ministry God lays on your heart. And above all, pray for a swift and just end to this war.

Header image courtesy of Margarita Marushevska via Unsplash.

It may have started out as a “special military operation” as Russia’s president called it. But after three years and tens — probably hundreds — of thousands of lives lost on either side, it’s another story.

TWR Ukraine team members prepare to record programs in their makeshift studio space amid rolling power outages and continued missile attacks. (Photo from 2022, caption courtesy of TWR)

A man we’ll call Jan Benson serves with Trans World Radio. Their team in Ukraine has continued to create gospel-centered media throughout the war. 

“But of course, it gets harder and harder to do that because they’re all very tired. They still have some power [outages], [sometimes] they don’t have internet, they don’t have light. They can’t plan as we did before the war to produce the content,” Benson says.

The UNHCR estimates 6.9 million people have fled Ukraine since 2022 due to the war. Benson says, “The majority of people that left are still outside of the country. They are on Cyprus, they are in Poland, they are in the U.S…. I don’t know if they will ever return.”

Many Ukrainians are asking serious questions, and TWR content meets them with truth. 

“A lot of people in the country are looking for information, are looking maybe for God or just to find some answers. They find our teams there, and the content suits them in their questions regarding the war or losing someone from the family,” he says. 

“They (the TWR team) even get a lot of testimonies back that people heard their content, and, for example, starting believing in God. So God is there and is moving and is changing hearts. That’s what we are doing it for, that Jesus Christ is known [in] all of the country.” 

The team also praises God that although some of their number have left Ukraine, “no one was hurt in [these] last three years. Their homes and their churches are fully intact, and even the place where the recording studio is is also in place.”

Read more about the TWR Ukraine team and the three-year anniversary here.

Find your place in the story

The three-year mark of the Russia-Ukraine war comes at a tumultuous political time. But for Christians, we remember God has our first allegiance. Pray for brothers and sisters in Christ on today’s hard anniversary, that God will lift their eyes to Himself.

Then, if you’ve perhaps given up on praying for peace for Ukraine and Russia, you aren’t alone, but please don’t stay there.

“Let’s pray that God finds a way — and He will do that, and He’s able to — but [pray] that we can believe in Him, that He finds a way to stop the war,” Benson says. 

Header photo: (from 2022) Members of the TWR Ukraine team film one of the numerous videos that have populated their social media channels. The videos join a flood of content created to minister to the people of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and surrounding areas. (Photo, caption courtesy of TWR Ukraine)

Is it a famine?

Photo courtesy of Peter Caton for World Concern.

Still, the government has not yet declared famine officially. Cathy Herholdt with World Concern explains why. “Things need to reach a certain level for an official famine to be declared. And those things are this: at least 20 percent of the population is facing extreme food shortages, at least 30 percent of children are suffering from acute malnutrition, and at least two people out of every 10,000 are dying each day due to starvation or a combination of severe hunger and illness.”

These things are happening in pockets of Somalia but not the whole country. Several humanitarian groups issued a joint statement, saying global aid can’t wait until the famine is officially declared.

Herholdt concurs. She says, “I spoke with our country director recently. He said they had gone out to a village to assess the situation. As soon as they pulled in, there was a mother who just ran up to the vehicle with her child in her arms, and the child was just on the brink of death.”

“They put them both in the vehicle and tried to make it to a health clinic 50 kilometers away. And unfortunately, the child passed away in the car on the way there.”

You can support World Concern as they give food and water in Jesus’ name.

This work in a couple of ways. First, Herholdt says the ministry is distributing Nutripackets. “These are emergency nutrition supplements for children ages six months to about two or three years. And they’re just little peanut butter paste packets fortified with protein, minerals, and all the healthy fats that a child needs to recover quickly.”

They also truck in water to the hardest hit areas. Herholdt says, “We give people vouchers because they can receive a limited amount of water daily. We also do cash transfers so that they can purchase whatever their family needs, whether that’s medicine, seeing a doctor, or food.”

You can support this work here.

The header photo shows dead carcasses of drought-stricken animals in Somaliland. (Photo courtesy of Peter Caton for World Concern)