Ukraine Ministries

This page describes several ministries we support in Ukraine. Read the stories of how Christians in the Ukraine are providing the Gospel along with clothing. You can see a larger picture if you click on the small picture. Use your browser's "go back" button to return to this page.

Kherson   (Map of area)

Blagodat "Blagodat", meaning "Grace", was established in 1994 under the oversight of the Kherson Christian Church. They provide jobs for 90 people. The clothing ministry partially funded construction of the beautiful new 1,200 seat sanctuary dedicated in August of 2003. And, they subsidize operation of Tavriski Christian Institute, a university-level school that trains future Christian leaders in Ukraine. Under the direction of Alexander Dubonosov, Blagodat assists 1,500 disadvantaged children with clothing and they have contributed money to help with renovation projects at local orphanages. They also provide daily education and offer room and board for street children in Kherson. The pastor of Kherson Christian Church, Zhenia Siney, said: "There have been months where we could not have paid our electric bill without the clothing ministry."

Here are more details of the work in Kherson.

1) What is the name of your ministry? "Grace"

2) What does the name of your ministry mean? We live according to God's grace and we want people to have that grace too.

Container being unloaded 3) How many jobs has your ministry created? In our company there are 20 workers who are the members of the church. Many other people who buy wholesale from us can sell it to make money for themselves. Among those people there are pastors and ministers of different churches.

Workers 4) How do you evangelize with your ministry? In our store there are different flyers and invitations for the church services. Our people go to different factories, hospitals and other places selling clothes and telling people about Christ and inviting them to the church. Our vehicle is used for any help that people from the church need and also for the mission trips to Crimea or around Kherson region.

Church family 5) How is the clothing used for Jesus? Grace donates clothes and shoes to the orphanages, invalids and organizations who help invalids, street kids, families with many children, to the churches. Through these acts we share Jesus' love to them. Also we donate clothes to the prisons, hospitals where our brothers minister and share Gospel.

6) What are your ministry's plans in the next two years (Future plans?) We would like to extend our enterprise, to cooperate with other people, churches, organizations and give help and hope to those who need it. We plan to make more work places as it is a big blessing for the church members. We are praying about our own store as now we rent it. We would like to create new ministries with Master Provisions Inc. and use different kinds of goods. We invite to Ukraine those people who help to collect and pack containers for us. We would like them to see the ministry and the results of their work.

Kakhovka   (Map of area)

Shishkin "Miloserdye", meaning "Mercy", was established in 1998 under the oversight of the Kakhovka Church of Jesus Christ. They have created 75 jobs for people in the region. Funds generated by Miloserdiye are used to plant village churches and to distribute evangelical materials. 6 churches have been planted and supported by Miloserdiye since 1998. Their work has fanned out to surrounding villages within an 80-kilometer radius of Kakhovka. In addition to the two main shops in Kakhovka, mobile clothes shops ("Threads on Treads"???) are set up in smaller rural villages and workers travel each day to set up outdoor booths and evangelize while they work. The ministry is directed by Ludmila Shishkin, the wife of Oleg Shishkin, pastor of the Kakhovka church. Oleg states: "God wants us to build souls, not just buildings made by human hands." We anticipate 7 shipments to Miloserdiye this year.

Simferopol  (Map of area)

"Tabitha," the work in Simferopol, was established in 1999 as a private business directed by Simferopol Christian Church. They provide employment for 80 Ukrainians in several cities in the Crimean peninsula. The Tabitha ministry offers tuition scholarships for students to attend Crimean-American College and supports local church planting and construction work while evangelizing and assisting the poor. In addition, Tabitha sponsors a crisis intervention hotline, Christian camps, family Bible festivals and conferences and supports missionaries in other parts of Ukraine and the world. SouthEast Christian Church in Louisville, KY partners with MP to fill 3 of the 6 containers shipped to Tabitha each year. The Tabitha ministry operates under the direction of Andrei Taran. Andrei said, "Even now, we begin to include in this ministry some members of our church and people can get paid for their labor. We have many different missionary projects in mind - please pray that God would give us wisdom in how to use these profits to support these projects and our church. Almighty God has almighty plans - we just don't know them all right now."

Brovary District (near Kiev)  (Map of area)

Brovary "Bethlehem" commenced operations in 2000, under the oversight of Grace Baptist Church in Brovary, a suburb of Kiev. The first container was shipped to Bethlehem in February of 2000 as part of an MP partnership with Berean Baptist Church of Mansfield, Ohio. Berean's pastor Bill Heaton said that many Ukrainians have told him they will come to church when there is room in the building for them. Construction for the new building, shown here, is partially financed by proceeds from the clothing ministry. They are working on adding heat and putting the final touches on the building. The director of the Bethlehem ministry is Nikolai Siman. In addition to church construction, they are using the clothing ministry to spread the Gospel. 5-6 shipments are planned each year to Bethelem that provide employment for 45 people to sort and distribute clothing in shops and market places. Nikolai is a retired military officer who lives in housing provided at a military compound. Think about the irony of that! The director of a Christian clothing operations is a former Communist military officer. Onward Christian clothes soldier!

Belogorsk (Map of area)

Olga Belogorsk Belogorsk is located in Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, 50 kilometers east of Simferopol. "Eden" began a partnership with MASTER Provisions in 2002 and acquired one of the largest warehouse facilities in their region. With funds generated by the clothing ministry, Eden renovated the worship facility for the Evangelical Church of Belogorsk and bought land for $500 for expansion when the initial building is outgrown. Great faith and vision! Eden also runs a local "coffee shop" gathering place and supports a traveling music team that presents the Good News with lively, non-traditional song. They have baptized many Muslim Tatars into Christ as well as scores of other Ukrainians. Church pastor Igor Shtykhno and fellow members also built a rustic camp/retreat center by the Black Sea that is used by our summer mission teams for 2 days of worship, prayer and training. Igor's wife, Olga, manages Eden and they employ 30 workers. As God provides, MP plans to ship 2 containers of good used clothing and shoes to Eden each year.