{"id":11325,"date":"2019-02-11T13:52:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T11:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/?p=11325"},"modified":"2019-02-15T11:09:44","modified_gmt":"2019-02-15T09:09:44","slug":"ministry-to-church-leaders-from-eastern-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/ministry-to-church-leaders-from-eastern-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Ministry to Church Leaders from Eastern Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Last week I traveled to the town of Svyatohirs’k in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine where I met with leaders from 20 churches in and around the war zone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This group of churches asked me to come and share with them about how their churches can do a better job in evangelism and missions. Now that’s an amazing thought isn’t it?! 9 of these\u00a0churches are facing intense pressure from the government to close down. Some churches in their area have closed their doors because of\u00a0this pressure, others have had their buildings confiscated and turned into government offices and yet they are thinking about how they can share the gospel more effectively and send out missionaries!

I’m convinced\u00a0that a church that does not actively pursue the gospel and share the gospel is a dead church. It might have attendees, it might have events, it might have a building but it’s as good as dead for any spiritual or eternal purposes!

Remember what Paul told the Philippians?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\r\nPhp 1:12-14\u00a0<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Indeed my faith was strengthened after ministering to these courageous church leaders!

On my final evening the men all went to the “banya” after our evening teaching and fellowship time. We sat together and sweated\u00a0in the 240\u00b0F sauna while discussing why some people grow cold towards God’s Word.

If you’d like to help support some of these faithful men and women in Eastern Ukraine you can do that\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I traveled to the town of Svyatohirs’k in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine where I met with leaders from 20 churches in and around the war zone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[266,516,400],"class_list":["post-11325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","hentry","category-ministry","tag-church-leaders","tag-donbas","tag-eastern-ukraine","post_format-post-format-video"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-2WF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13904,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/on-the-front-lines-of-the-ukraine-war-in-donbas-with-churches-who-wont-quit-preaching-the-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":11325,"position":0},"title":"On The Front Lines of The Ukraine War in Donbas With Churches Who Won\u2019t Quit Preaching The Gospel","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"February 22, 2022","format":"video","excerpt":"I spent the last 72 hours near the front lines of the war in Ukraine with churches who are continuing to minister and preach the gospel in very difficult times.\ufffcIn this video we visit some some points along the front lines near Donetsk. Despite the last eight years of fighting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ukraine"","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6545,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/the-heavy-toll-of-ukraines-war-on-soldiers-and-civilians\/","url_meta":{"origin":11325,"position":1},"title":"The Heavy Toll Of Ukraine’s War on Soldiers and Civilians","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"June 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"As the war in Eastern Ukraine continues to drag on the country is slowly becoming aware of the heavy mental, emotional, and psychological costs brought about by brutal fighting, death, and destruction. Warning: The video below does contain some very graphic scenes. Recently I came across this report from Vice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-04-at-12.26.48-PM.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-04-at-12.26.48-PM.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-04-at-12.26.48-PM.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4425,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/the-toll-of-human-suffering-in-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":11325,"position":2},"title":"The Toll of Human Suffering in Ukraine","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"September 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Russia's annexation of Crimea and the ongoing war and violence in Eastern Ukraine have left in their wake a tidal wave of human suffering and pain. The violence has killed or injured thousands and uprooted hundreds of thousands! The toll has been especially heavy upon the elderly and the orphans.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Ap-Photo-Dmitry-Lovetsky.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Ap-Photo-Dmitry-Lovetsky.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Ap-Photo-Dmitry-Lovetsky.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9286,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/whats-going-on-in-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":11325,"position":3},"title":"What’s Going on in Ukraine","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 10, 2018","format":"video","excerpt":"Here are a few news items about Ukraine and about our ministry here. I hope you'll take a few moments to read through them and pray for Ukraine. If you'd like to get regular updates via email, you can do that here. Things are getting more difficult for Churches in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30415279_2236715976342283_8986102757635129344_o.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30415279_2236715976342283_8986102757635129344_o.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30415279_2236715976342283_8986102757635129344_o.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30415279_2236715976342283_8986102757635129344_o.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30415279_2236715976342283_8986102757635129344_o.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30415279_2236715976342283_8986102757635129344_o.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5109,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/ukraine-war-through-the-eyes-of-the-church-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":11325,"position":4},"title":"Ukraine War Through the Eyes of the Church -Video","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"February 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I want to share with you a video but I must warn you it is graphic. It documents the experience of believers in Eastern Ukraine from the time when the war started until now. It's called \"Spiritual Soldiers on the Eastern Front\" and the video was created by \u00a0Together\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ukraine"","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/eyes-of-church2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/eyes-of-church2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/eyes-of-church2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3871,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/praying-for-ukraine-a-7-day-guide\/","url_meta":{"origin":11325,"position":5},"title":"Praying for Ukraine -A 7 Day Guide","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently our team of missionaries decided that we need to raise awareness of what is happening in Ukraine and to encourage people to pray. We created a facebook page called \"God at Work in Ukraine\"\u00a0 and we developed a 7 day prayer guide to help you effectively pray for Ukraine.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ukraine"","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Camera-Roll1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Camera-Roll1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Camera-Roll1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11325"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11434,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11325\/revisions\/11434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}