Despite the continuing war challenges, UETS continues to carry out its educational mission and prepare ministers to serve in the war-torn Ukraine effectively.
In January, we were happy to welcome students of three study programs on our campus in Kyiv, in particular “Formation of Young Leaders,” “Christian Care and Counseling,” “Art Therapy.”
Students of the Formation of New Leaders’ Program have been equipping themselves with new knowledge and skills that will help them to deliver the Good News to people more effectively. During this study session, they dived deeply into the Life of Jesus Christ and then learned to write their own sermons at Homiletics.
Though it is always important to invest in young leaders, the Formation of Young Leaders Program is particularly important in the context of the current ongoing war in Ukraine, due to which Ukrainian pastors and their assistants have found themselves in a situation that requires absolutely new expertise, skills and understanding, including the need of developing new ministries to help the influx of war victims. At the same time, many new leaders now have to fill in the gap of those who have left the country as a result of the war and serve in new roles without having the necessary knowledge and competence.
Through our program, young church leaders and ministers are getting trained and equipped for effective ministry in Ukraine in the face of the new wartime challenges.
During their study session, students of the Christian Care and Counseling Program have been focusing on exploring people’s holistic nature through the lens of age psychology and learning the basics of psychosomatics and mental health. Art therapy students, in their turn, were focusing on learning more about different counseling approaches and, at the same time, exploring people’s nature through theological anthropology and Harmatology.
As the number of people carrying psychological wounds caused by war in Ukraine keeps increasing, the knowledge and skills that students have gained in the course of this study session will enable them to find the right approach to each individual and care for the needs of their hearts more deeply.
We thank God for allowing us to continue our educational mission, and we pray that these students will show themselves to be faithful and persistent in delivering His mission.