In 2022, Russia assaulted Irpin Biblical Seminary after receiving reports of civilians fleeing there. Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association says, “That school endured 30 rounds of mortar fire that turned the second floor of the school into an inferno, destroyed many of the rooms on the first floor, and, of course, vaporized the roof. For all intents and purposes, that building was gutted while 120 people were hiding in the basement below – and they survived.”

Irpin Biblical Seminary (Photo courtesy of Eric Mock/SGA)

Rebuilt and Thriving

Mock visited the school after the attack in 2022 and says it was hard to see. People were reeling from the war.

In time, the Slavic Gospel Association, as well as the seminary’s other supporters, helped them rebuild. Now just over three years later with the war still being fought, Mock says the seminary is like a new place.

“There was joy in the hallways. The professors that were there walked up and gave me great hugs with smiles on their faces, saying, ‘It’s good to see you.’ The students in between the breaks when I was teaching, were worshiping. Literally, they gathered around a piano and worshiped.”

Irpin Biblical Seminary (Photo courtesy of Eric Mock/SGA)

Yet the war was right outside. Mock says that while he was teaching classes there was anti-aircraft fire in the distance and even drones flying around the area to exhaust the people. These drones are sent especially between one a.m. and four a.m. to disrupt sleep patterns. However, people remain hungry for the Word of God and continue to joyfully serve God and each other.

“It was startling to see how much joy there was, how much effort there was to press forward. So as much as the Russian army is trying to bring the people to despair, the churches, the Bible-teaching churches we serve (which are over 1900 churches in Ukraine), these are the churches that are proclaiming hope of the Gospel and shining light in the middle of a dark time.”

A Reminder of Gospel Joy in Trials

Mock says this should serve as a reminder of truth for American Christians. It is like looking at a living hall of faith from Hebrews 12. We can see the Gospel being lived out by ordinary people who now are living in extraordinary circumstances and trials.

Irpin Biblical Seminary (Photo courtesy of Eric Mock/SGA)

“In Isaiah, 30 verses 20 to 22 and verse 21 it talks about, ‘You will hear the voice of the teacher, and he will say, this is the way when you turn to the left or the right.’ And we need to have that laser focus on Him, and that will guide us through these times. That’s what I saw in Ukraine, not despair, but joy. That’s kind of the story behind the story – is God advancing His church, and it’s a glorious thing to see.”

Please pray that God would continue to sustain the church in Ukraine. If you want to get involved with the Slavic Gospel Association, click here.

Header photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association.

Ukraine has struck at least 21 of Russia’s 38 large oil refineries, leading to fuel shortages. Meanwhile, Russia is targeting Ukraine’s gas infrastructure. Emergency power blackouts have occurred in nearly every region in Ukraine. 

Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association says a partner in Kyiv sent a desperate message last week about one Russian strike. 

“The damage that was done to the electrical facility was so great that the local leaders said, ‘This will not be rebuilt until the war ends,’” Mock reports.

You can imagine what having no light or heat source means for that SGA partner’s household, and others like it.

Heat and Hope outreach provides generators for emergency use (Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

“Last year it was a temperate winter. But this year, we’re hearing that it’s going to turn cold, and it already has become much colder,” Mock says. 

SGA sends resources through an outreach they call Heat and Hope in order to equip local Christians for ministry. To provide generators, they partner with a group called Sunset Solutions. The emergency equipment goes even as far as the front lines of the war — but always through local churches.

“All the food we send over, everything we send over for winter warmth, all of that goes through the local church. Why? [So] that people that are in need would hear — hear from Christians who are showing them love and grace, even in their own fear — of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” says Mock.

Find your place in the story. Learn more about past Heat and Hope outreaches and how to partner with SGA’s work in 2025 on their website. 

“Imagine the people in Ukraine where a light switch doesn’t work, nor a thermostat doesn’t work, who may sleep through the night when it’s 25 degrees in the house, who may have to burn a candle as their only source of light, or use the the light on their cell phone through a soda bottle to generate light to live by, to even read their Bibles by and to stay in touch,” says Mock. 

“Life for them is very difficult. It’s in such time[s] that God’s people gather together to take care of one another.”

Header image: Ukraine, Kyiv (Photo courtesy of Алесь Усцінаў via Pexels)

However, Eric Mock with SGA says, “What they hadn’t counted on is there are a lot of people that didn’t know where their next meal was going to come from, and they would happily open the door to a pastor that wanted to tell them a message of hope and bring them a bag of groceries.”

In the countries of Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, SGA-sponsored missionary pastors are visiting needy families in their regions with much-needed parcels of staple food items. (Photo, caption courtesy of SGA)

Now, 11 years later, the SGA-supported Compassion Ministry is flourishing.

SGA supports 55 missionary pastors in Belarus, 35 of whom are actively involved in the Compassion Ministry.

“The figure the pastors last week gave me is that 7% of all people coming to faith, out of all the ministry of the churches in Belarus, are through this Compassion Ministry!” says Mock.

“Ten percent of all the pastors in Belarus are engaged in this Compassion Ministry through support from SGA.”

The pastors themselves often have very little. Yet, Mock says, “They faithfully declare the Gospel in their community, and here they give of the abundance of their heart more than an abundance of resources. So we help them in that, and that’s opened up doors and people have been coming to faith.”

Praise God for open doors and hearts to the Gospel in Belarus!

You can support SGA’s Compassion Ministry here.

Header photo courtesy of SGA.

What she found there changed her life.

Aneliya at summer camp. (Photo courtesy of Valentin Lupashko/Slavic Gospel Association)

One evening during worship, Aneliya came forward in tears. She prayed, and believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Later, she shared her story with a pastor — a story marked by pain and abandonment.

Aneliya’s father was drafted to the front lines of Ukraine. Not long after, her mother found another man and left the family, walking away from her two children. Aneliya and her younger brother now live with their elderly grandmother, trying to process trauma far too heavy for their young shoulders.

“She told me that this camp saved her,” the pastor reported. “She experienced spiritual renewal and found hope again.”

According to Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association (SGA), Aneliya’s story represents the hope many young people found in Christ this summer.

“These stories are of young kids saying they did not know of the love of God. They did not know they could go to heaven. They did not know of the grace of God. They were angry and confused, and now they walk away with hope,” Mock says.

But this ministry took place against a backdrop of war. “The war zone of Ukraine is getting more violent…. The nights are getting worse, the missiles and the drones are constantly coming in and harassing families,” Mock says. “In fact, we were told by one family that when they go to bed at night, they know that they’ll be awakened at 1:30, at 2:00 in the morning, often for four to five hours, and the sirens are blaring [while] they’re in shelters.”

For churches in Ukraine, the response may seem surprising. “What would you do if missiles and rockets were raining down every night?” Mock asks. “And their answer is this: ‘Well, what we’re going to do right now is we’re going to hold a summer camp.’”

(Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

That commitment to Gospel service and encouragement is exactly what SGA exists to support. “The joy that we have is to serve the churches in these embattled countries who are faithfully ministering in their community.”

As summer camps wind down, local congregations are already preparing for the next outreach.

“We might think we’re done with summer camp. We can relax,” Mock says. “They’re already thinking of Christmas outreach. They never stop planning and prepping and ministering to the people in their communities.”

Pray for Aneliya as she begins attending church, and for many more young people across Ukraine who need the peace only Jesus can bring. Ask God to strengthen local churches as they continue year-round discipleship in the face of exhaustion, loss, and war.

Header photo courtesy of Valentin Lupashko/Slavic Gospel Association.

“These pastors are gathering together to be encouraged and refreshed,” Mock says. “Together we see that the best we can do in our world today is declare the eternal hope that we have in God, which has been afforded to us through Jesus Christ.” 

The conference comes as Armenia and Azerbaijan sign a US-brokered peace deal aimed at resolving conflict rooted in a regional dispute ongoing since the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

Historically Armenian but officially recognized as part of Azerbaijan, the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh has been fought for and ruled by ethnic Armenian forces for decades. Azerbaijan regained full control of the area in a 2023 offensive. Since then, Mock says SGA has been supporting Armenian churches as they minister to refugees fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh. 

“We have seen a constant tension: the fear of sending young men to war, the fear of losing men, the fear of losing more cities and towns and villages,” he says.

Mountains in Nagorno-Karabakh. Courtesy of Unsplash.

For this reason, the peace agreement has brought easier breathing to many families on both sides of the conflict. The 99-year lease involves a 27-mile stretch of land within Nagorno-Karabakh, known as the Zangezur Corridor, which will be developed as a trade route for oil, natural gas, and commodities. 

“What is established now is a roadmap for commerce and prosperity for both nations,” Mock says. “What you have is a situation where now everyone is a winner, including Europe, as they are now securing access to oil, natural gas, and commodities coming through Central Asia and Asia itself.”

Relief from decades of fighting, however, does not dissolve centuries of ethnic and religious tensions. The conflict in this region dates back to the fourth century, when Armenia recognized Christianity as its national religion. 

“As Islam grew and Armenians were seen as dissidents, the war of religious differences grew,” Mock says. During WWI, the Ottoman Empire carried out a mass genocide of Armenians. Armenia was then ruled by the Soviet Union until gaining independence at its collapse. 

All the while, Mock says churches have continued declaring hope to the hopeless in the form of salvation through grace alone.

“Whether there is a war going or there is a ceasefire, they continue to do the work that God has raised them up to do,” Mock says. “And so there is the political scene: there is the tragic reality of both the genocide and the pressure that exists between these nations, but in the middle of it there is the freedom that we have in Christ.” 

Praise the Lord for the cessation of fighting, and please pray for the continued work of the church in Armenia. Pray for pastors as they remind their congregations of the brevity of life and the assurance of a savior, and pray for believers as they hold grow in the knowledge and grace of their savior, Jesus Christ. 

Beyond historical losses and present gains, Mock points out: “Our hope is in Jesus.” 

Read more about Armenia’s history here. 

Bus stop in Armenia. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Featured image: President Trump brokers peace deal with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinyan. Screenshot courtesy of the White House.

On August 24, Ukraine marked 34 years of independence. These years have been a gradual rebuilding of national identity, language, and culture. Freedom came not only politically, but also spiritually, as the church — long persecuted under the USSR — was finally free. Vladimir Lenin’s famous line, “Religion is opium for the people,” had been the guiding philosophy behind decades of oppression.

When the Iron Curtain fell in 1991, the church could finally spread its wings.

Eric Mock from Slavic Gospel Association says, “Ukraine, for the most part, was the Bible Belt of all the former Soviet Union countries [after 1991]. So, they were not only growing in their own country, but they were sending missionaries all over the world. And so, the church was thriving.”

Ukrainian couple reunites during war (photo courtesy of Dmitry Zvolskiy via Pexels)

The Ukrainian church, like the nation itself, entered a season of transformation. The collective trauma of persecution took time to heal, but the spread of the Gospel and sound teaching brought freedom to individuals and communities alike.

When war struck — first in 2014, then in 2022 — the churches reshaped their ministry to meet the need. “They did not flee,” says Mock, “but actually pushed towards the battle lines because people were needing hope.”

Slavic Gospel Association stood alongside Ukrainian Baptist churches. “[SGA] helped equip them with resources so they could minister to the people who had all hope ripped away from them, refugees or internally displaced people,” adds Mock.

Through practical aid and immediate relief, churches also shared the news that overshadowed every piece of bad news people could hear that day: the Gospel.

“So in the midst of fighting for their independence, people were finding their independence in Christ,” he adds.

(Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

Mock recalls asking one pastor in Chernihiv why he stayed. The pastor replied, “My people are here, therefore I will not go.” This kind of courage reflects biblical “love to one’s neighbor”, that shaped the role of many Ukrainian churches both before and after acquiring independence. Visit the Slavic Gospel Association to learn more stories like this!

“As the Ukrainian people celebrate their Independence Day, Ukrainian believers — and all believers — can celebrate their independence from the shackles of this world, looking forward with hope and being united in the hardest of times by the hope we have in Jesus, knowing the best is yet to come,” he adds.

Pray for the churches to find their place in Ukraine’s modern history and to be a beacon of hope for those desperate for good news.

Photo courtesy of Anastasiia Krutota via Unsplash.

“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)

“Their children often will panic; some will wet themselves. They struggle with sleeplessness and emotions every time the siren goes off…”

Eric Mock from Slavic Gospel Assosiation recounts conversations he had with Ukrainian families and children about how they endure the war. The situation is grim, as Russian attacks intensify, wiping out families and stealing nights’ rest.

Despite active shelling and attacks, churches remain determined to organize summer camps for kids. Mock says, “In the middle of the sirens blaring, in the middle of the difficulties and the trials, they said it’s summertime. So we’re going to reach these kids with the gospel.”

Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association (SGA)

Many Ukrainian children age eleven and younger don’t know a reality without war, having been born into it. Those from areas under frequent attack carry deep mental traumas. This reality underscores the vital importance of children-focused ministry.

“The summer camps become like an oasis away from the storms of life. They hear of joy and peace and of a love that will never leave them — a God who will never forsake them, a God who has poured out immeasurable grace and mercy. Especially for these children, who have known only difficulty, the message is one of warmth and care,” says Mock.

SGA partners with Ukrainian churches that organize summer camps. “God raises up the right people to take his gospel to the right communities in a way that only they can, and so SGA enters into their ministries,” explains Mock. Visit SGA website to learn more!

The summer camps take different forms — from day programs in city centers surrounded by apartment blocks to gatherings in the woods or at rented facilities. Yet in every setting, a faithful group of believers continues the work, pressing on for the sake of the gospel despite many difficulties.

“These faithful believers fix their eyes not on their own safety but persevere, knowing that even one child or family might hear the gospel for the first time through these summer camps and find peace,” says Mock.

Pray for the seeds of the gospel to bring hope for the future of these children. Pray also for the protection of civilians and the end of war.

Header photo: Boys playing in the forest (photo courtesy of Muhammed Aktürk via Pexels)

“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.