In 2021,  Metamorphic had the privilege to train 12 church planters in Ukraine. These men and women are all situated around the Kharkiv area and have been busy putting into practice what they received from the training. On the 24th of February 2022 Russian forces invaded Ukraine with a lot of the fighting happening around the Kharkiv region.

The church planters have been working hard to help their communities during these difficult times. Leaders, such as Andrii Pryimachuk, have found that the training they received and put into practice has put them in a great position to help their community over this time. He said:

 “We have built a great team, a solid team – and now when the others are in chaos, we work together helping people around us. Our goal right now is to gather people in safe places, providing them with all the necessities like food and clothes – and providing a way to get to the Polish border.”

Andrii and his team are working tirelessly to help get as many people to safety and to provide as much support as they can all while sharing the gospel.

Another of the church planters, Alexander Zhmut , says:

“We are in the city, we gathered almost the entire church. When they are not bombing, we try to go out, we carry water, food, medicines to pensioners and families whom we serve with disabled children.”

They have also started to evacuate as many people as possible in whichever way they can which is proving difficult with roadblocks, checkpoints and the threat of shelling from Russian missiles and guns. However, they continue to work and return to their city after taking people to the border as Alexander says “There is always someone to help and someone to serve”

Alexander Sinokosov, who is also one of the church planters trained in 2021, has reported that he has people coming to him that he is able to give a safe place to stay. He is sharing the gospel with those that come and has managed to create a new church in his home.

Those who make it to the Polish border are being cared for by the many organisations that have rallied to meet the growing refugee crisis from this nation. One of the organisations that are heavily involved with this is also one of our great partners in the region, KDM, which is led by one of Metamorphic’s team members Zibi Marzec. They are doing an outstanding job providing accommodation and supplies both for the refugees and for the church planters and others who are still in Ukraine.

 

The Opportunity
What is happening in Ukraine is devastating for the people and the nation. It is also a call for the body of Christ to stand up and strategically start to work in this part of the world. At Metamorphic we believe that there is only one organization that God has ordained to bring real and lasting transformation in lives and nations and that is the Church.

As such we see this as a fantastic opportunity to plant more churches throughout this part of the world. Currently, we have opportunities in Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. We believe in planting churches as part of God’s plan, Churches that are ever-present in their communities, Churches that see differently, believe more and are practically working to be agents of transformation for their nations.

If you would like to partner with us in planting these churches at this very crucial time, then you can.
There are several ways you can help:

1. Partner to plant more churches in this region of the world

2. Partner to create livelihood programs and businesses to support our church planters

3. Become a metamorphic member and stay informed on all things church planting