Around a month ago, we were happy to share with you the news about successful completion of studies by the first cohort of students within our newly-launched short-term program Social Ministry Workshop.
Throughout the program, the students were acquiring the skills and competencies needed to implement social initiatives aimed at delivering God’s integral mission through serving vulnerable groups of people in Ukraine, the number of whom has significantly increased in connection with the ongoing war, migration, and economic crisis.
This time we would like to write about the unexpected continuation of these endeavors…
Shortly after the first cohort of students finished their training on the UETS campus, our team was invited to Kremenchug, a city in Central Ukraine, to conduct a similar training there for secondary/high school teachers.
Although this was not an evangelism in the direct meaning of this word, it was an event aimed at modeling Christian attitude, implanting Christian values and, therefore, transforming society in the light of God’s Word.
Teams of 3-4 people, who represented 7 local public schools, attended the 4-day Workshop of Social Initiatives to learn how to draft and present their project proposals.
The ideas brought forward included, but were not limited to building bomb shelters, installing solar panels, restoring school facilities, and renovating a canteen.
The atmosphere was friendly and easy-going. The teams were actively brainstorming, coordinating, and presenting their ideas.
We are happy that we could serve our society by contributing to the development of the educational environment in the war-torn Ukraine.
It is worth noting that it is still rather uncommon for Ukrainian secular institutions to invite evangelical Christians to hold such events. This is really something new for Ukraine, especially considering its Soviet past. So, pray please for more such opportunities to arise.
Pray also about the enrollment of the second cohort of Cristian social ministers in the same program which is underway.