These people. Each one. Our newsletter is focused this month on the people we know and love in Ukraine and Russia. These people love Jesus. They are our friends. For over 25 years we have been partnering with them to reach the younger generation for Christ. We have served alongside them in their respective countries. We have prayed for them, resourced them, trained them, learned from them, and worshipped with them. We were Zooming with them long before “Zoom” became commonplace in our world. Read their stories. And pray for them today…as they work through their fears and confusion…as they wake up in places that are not their homes…as they filter through feelings of anger and disorientation…as they continue to serve those around them, even in the fog of war.
The following people are Reach Out Country Leaders, as well as a few of our Eagle Leaders and other Reach Out trained youth leaders in both countries. They all have a passion for Christ and a desire to reach the next generation. I encourage you to use their stories as a catalyst to pray for these leaders, as well as for all those they represent who are followers of Jesus in these countries….that they will draw near to God and walk in His power, discernment, grace, mercy, peace, and refuge at this time.
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Pictured: Christina
In Christina’s bio, she wrote: “At the age of 16 Jesus met me and I still remember the choice He gave me that day. And my response to His question was yes, I do.”
Christina graduated from our youth ministry school in Ukraine and was invited to the JFYM Eagle Leaders’ retreat in May 2009. Then, fast forward ten years, when Christina became our Ukrainian leader for Reach Out!
She continues: “The younger generation is my passion. I’d like to see them grow in love and freedom and know their Savior…in February 2019, Randy flew to our first-in-five-years-national conference for youth leaders. We had over 150 leaders attend from all over Ukraine—from more than 15 different churches. (You can see the video by clicking HERE.)
We held many local one-day Forums, presenting the JFYM strategy to over 300 youth leaders. Also, we re-launched our youth ministry school. Basically, we presented each element of the strategy in a year’s course including implementing the strategies. We mentored youth leaders. We coached churches. We saw more than 300 young adults and teenagers come to Christ at the churches who are implementing the strategies…and when COVID brought so much confusion and fear to the church, we didn’t stop. We launched online prayer meetings, forums, and support for the youth leaders, encouraging them to continue running the great race." (For complete bios of all our country leaders around the world, visit the Where We Reach Out page on our website by clicking HERE.)
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Pictured: Pasha and Tatiana
Pasha leads Reach Out in Russia. He and Tatiana have been married since 2004 and have two sons—Yegor and Fyodor. Pasha, a native to the city of Kemerovo in Siberia, came to Christ in 2001. That same year, he was given a fatal diagnosis by doctors, but God miraculously healed him! He is married to Tatiana, who was saved in 1993, as a 15-year-old teenager attending a church started by US missionaries. Currently, they lead the School of Youth Ministry (JFYM), which encompasses 16 regions of Russia. Already, more than 500 youth leaders in 50 churches have gone through the training, and more than 50 leaders with rich experience in successful, practical youth ministry have been trained as teachers. Every year these numbers continue to grow. Finally, in the city of Kaliningrad where they live now, they are also busy in local, practical, boots-on-the ground youth ministry – organizing outreach to non-believing teens and students, developing evangelistic soccer clubs for children, and heading up short-term teen mission trips to the Balkan countries.
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Pictured: Doug and Marina
Doug has lived in Ukraine since 1997. He is married to Marina. They have two children, Bogdan and Krystal. He currently works with One Collective. He has served as the founder and former president of RD Ukraine (Reach Out’s ministry in UKR); president of RD Press, a Christian publishing house in Ukraine; and a founding member and chairman of the board for IT Ukraine, an organization that mobilizes Ukrainians as missionaries. Doug continues to train and equip youth leaders in Jesus-Focused Youth Ministry in Ukraine. He is currently leading the effort to house and care for IDPs and refugees in Western Ukraine.
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Pictured: Randy, Igor, and Alyona
Igor and Alyona have been an integral part of our Reach Out team in Ukraine over the years. Igor is a seasoned and very well-respected youth leader in Ukraine who has led our team there, facilitated many training events for youth leaders, provided oversight and leadership for the RD publishing house, and given oversight in a variety of other ways to Reach Out’s network of leaders throughout Ukraine.
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Alexey is an Eagle Leader in Russia. He joined us for the filming of JFYMO in Novosobirsk in 2019. Those of you who register for JFYM Online will be encouraged by his teaching on building leaders in Session 4.
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Pictured: Christina, Olya, and two of her students |
Olya is a youth leader in Ukraine who started a small discipleship group with teens last year. They have been praying for their classmates who do not know Jesus. Six of the students they were praying for recently came to a party they hosted and then began attending their Bible study the next week. God is moving in the hearts of the students there.
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Pictured: Randy, Eva, and Barry |
Eva is one of our Eagle Leaders in Russia. She described her commitment to a weekly ride on the back of a truck for 4 hours (one-way) to disciple 4 high school girls who recently became believers but have no one in their small village to teach them the Bible. Committed!
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Vladimir is a youth leader in Novgorod, Russia. His leadership team walked through our training, and he described their team as being more focused now on prayer, fellowship, and experiencing deeper spiritual experiences together.
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Pictured: Christina and Sasha |
Sasha is an Eagle Leader in Ukraine who focused on helping her team implement a discipleship-making strategy for their students in 2021. At the beginning of this year, due to that strategy, 3 teens joined the youth ministry leadership team in their church.
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Vitaliy is an Eagle Leader in Ukraine. He has applied JYFM in his own church and watched as God doubled the ministry there. He has also coached multiple churches in JFYM, even holding a youth leader conference in his own church for the youth leaders and teams around the area.
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Thank you for praying…and giving. The younger generation in these countries needs leaders moving forward who lead like David, with integrity of heart and skillfulness of hand (Ps 78:72). We are humbled to be in partnership with men and women there who lead in that way. Our friends. This team. These people. Each one. |
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info@reach-out.org
(214) 897-2118
Thank you for your commitment to Reach Out!
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