Even as massive Russian drone strikes intensify, Ukrainian Christians continue to minister with the love and truth of Jesus Christ, according to the evangelical mission agency Slavic Gospel Association (SGA).

“More than 700 drones hit Ukraine recently in just one attack,” said Eric Mock, SGA’s senior vice president of ministry operations. “The people there face death and destruction every day. Fear and anxiety are raging. Young women send their husbands off to the front, knowing they might never see them again. All of this is a huge test of their faith.”

Among the men being sent to the front are pastors. Hundreds of churches are without pastors and male leaders, SGA reports.

“It’s so powerful that they’re keeping their faith when the world around them says ‘where is your God?’” said Mock, a frequent visitor to Ukraine. “I find their faith very humbling.”

Some pastors who have not been called up to military service are serving as chaplains to those living near the front. Mock told Decision that one of them, Pastor Vlad, wears body armor as he ministers near the war’s front line. “Pastor Vlad places his life on the line two to three times per week, bringing food and medicine to people living at or near the front line of fighting. Drones, rockets and artillery are the sounds he hears during his ministry. Those he reaches with aid and the Gospel are the elderly, and single-mother homes, where they cannot escape. He has been hit by rocket fire, captured, tortured, and yet presses on as God has preserved him. He also pastors a church of mostly recovering drug addicts [and] works to move these people to safety where possible. He is a true hero of the faith!”

In a video filmed in the town of Avdiivka before it fell to Russia last year, Pastor Vlad explained, “Jesus used to go where there was pain, where it was difficult, where people needed Him. We’re going where Jesus would go.”

Mock said that SGA aims to equip 1,000 new missionary pastors over the next 10 years, providing training in shepherding and evangelism through church-based training in more than 10 locations. The organization is also helping to rebuild Irpin Seminary, near Kyiv, which was heavily damaged by missile strikes but is up and running again, training and graduating pastoral recruits.

In addition, the mission agency is supporting and encouraging the wives and widows of those called up to military service or who, like Vlad, minister near the front lines.

Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) chaplains and Samaritan’s Purse have been ministering together in Ukraine almost since the early days of the war, as shown in the Billy Graham TV special Finding God in Crisis. Since the beginning of the war, RRT chaplains have prayed with nearly 10,000 people, and more than 1,600 have prayed to put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Our goal is not just to offer momentary relief,” said BG-RRT chaplain coordinator Vitaly Tkachuk. “We aim to bring real hope—hope in a God who sees every tear, who walks with us through suffering, and who offers peace that surpasses all understanding. Real transformation begins not with changed circumstances, but with a changed heart.”

Above: Pastor Vlad, far right, wears body armor as he ministers near the front lines.

Photo: Courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association