By:  Mojmir Kallus

After one year of preparation, we were thrilled to officially open a branch of the ICEJ in Ukraine. Although Ukraine continues to grapple with the legacy of its Communist and Fascist past and is torn by war in the east, the more than 3.5 million Evangelical believers in the country offer great potential for future growth and support for Israel. The main task of this new branch will be to educate the church about Israel and the connection between the Jewish people and the nations. 

Branch leadership will continue the work which Ukrainian Christians started more than ten years ago. Repentance meetings for antisemitism were held in different cities where Jews had been persecuted, and in Kiev, the capital city, a National Day of Prayer for the peace of Jerusalem was held for several years, with up to 1,000 people from different denominations coming together. It has been resolved that the new branch will renew the prayer initiative under the banner of the ICEJ.

From the beginning, the Kiev Jewish Messianic Community has been a key player in all these activities, and the Community’s leader, Pastor Boris Grisenko, joined the Board of ICEJ-Ukraine, together with representatives of other large Evangelical denominations. At the branch opening, Pastor Grisenko spoke on the subject of “Israel and the Church”, together with Vitaliy Kozubovskiy, senior pastor of the largest Baptist church, and Mojmir Kallus, ICEJ VP for International Affairs. 

Please pray for ICEJ-Ukraine’s National Director Valeriy Alymov and his team. The fields in Ukraine are ready for harvest, so may the Lord send the laborers.