Thanks to Mike Stubbs, World Missions Deacon at Guildford Baptist Church for this blog post. It was originally published in the ‘Millmead’ Magazine and describes the partnership between Guildford Baptist Church, Dnipro Hope Mission and Salvation Evangelical Church.

Mike writes: ‘In 2024 we established a partnership between Millmead, Dnipro Hope Mission and Salvation Evangelical Church, Poltava in Ukraine; this followed a visit to the UK in January 2024 of Pastor Serhii and his wife Olena; Serhii led Salvation Evangelical Church, in Poltava.

Serhii and Olena’s son Oleksandr, who is in his mid-teens, has significant heart problems that Serhii had no confidence could be addressed in Ukraine.  The family (5 of their 7 children) relocated to Germany on 27 April 2025 under a German government scheme that will provide them with some funding; they are temporarily living in a church apartment whilst applying for residency.  Serhii was concerned that his move would mean we would stop supporting Salvation Church – we reassured him that we remained committed.

Through our partnership we gave a significant sum from our 2024 Christmas appeal towards the house for internally displaced people (IDPs), which is now complete and occupied. The first person to move in was Ala Vasylivna, who fled the war from Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, she lives there with her grandson.

In April, this year Pastor Oleksandr Yarmoshevych was appointed as Senior Pastor by Serhii to lead the church in Poltava, he is supported by two other pastors. Each month we meet him online along with Serhii and with Mark and Anna (translating) from DHM. Pastor Oleksandr is married to Yulia, and they have two teenage children; he is learning English and is doing well.

We now send a regular financial support each month and pray regularly for SEC. We are learning from each other. Pastor Oleksandr has repeatedly thanked us for our partnership which has enabled the Church to continue and extend its ministry to the people around Poltava in Ukraine.

Some highlights Oleksandr has reported:

• Our church since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, has received large numbers of displaced people who came to us for help for the first time. We regularly distribute the products that you help us buy. In addition to material support, they also receive spiritual support – the Word of God, which changes hearts. Over a cup of tea, snacks, and discussion, we see how God touches souls, gives hope and peace in the most difficult moments of life.

• So far this year we have baptized five people, two of them are refugees who came to us for food packages.
• A special ministry for me is serving the military on the front lines and in hospitals where the military is being treated. Once a week we deliver aid to the front lines, we pray for our defenders, and we do chaplaincy work. We can typically minister to 600-800 soldiers on a visit; we find that many exhausted guys are waiting for us to arrive as we come to pray with them as well as provide gifts.

• On Easter Sunday we held an evangelistic service for internally displaced people and guests, 600 people listened to the Word of God, we were able to organize a celebration and party for the disadvantaged and refugees. We prepared delicious food and distributed it to all guests; many are suffering with little food.
• We had the incredible honour of visiting a specialized centre for people with visual impairments, where about 100 participants gathered. These people are very unhappy, and with broken hearts; we invited them to our regular services, and we have been holding Bible based meetings with them. One man who has only one eye cried because the Lord touched his heart. At the end of the meeting, everyone received a gift – a grocery set, so that Easter would be not only spiritually, but also practically blessed.
• We are actively developing the ministry to teenagers aged 10-15 years who have also become internally displaced, we hold meetings for them every Thursday and Saturday. One activity was the “No Phones” challenge, where the teenagers agreed to not use their gadgets for a day and devote this time to live communication and active recreation; they actually enjoyed it. We also raised important topics for discussion; one was how to avoid commitment waiting for the next life event.
• We are creating a group of eight missioners in two cities in Ukraine to particularly help widows and those injured in the war, an investment now before any peace.
• We will be holding our summer camps in late June and July when different groups from the church go away for a few days. There is a camp each for children, teenagers, whole families and couples, the couples camp is to support marriages and encourage couples to stick together through the huge pressures caused by the war.

Oleksandr asks: ‘Pray for me to have wisdom in ministering to our people, for instance one deacon came to me as he was considering joining the army to gain a salary as he couldn’t afford to put food on the table for his family.’

Oleksandr says: ‘We sincerely thank Guildford Baptist Church for such support, for the fact that you do not stop your charity, your open hearts and generosity are an answer to the prayers of many. Send a big greeting to the church and everyone who prays for Poltava and for each of us.’

If your church or group would like to form a partnership with one of our partners in Ukraine please contact our Chair of Trustees, [email protected].

 Partnerships offer friendship and support; personal connection and solidarity; prayer support; financial aid and sharing expertise.

We are thankful for the partnership between Guildford Baptist Church and Salvation Evangelical Church in Poltava. We are incredibly grateful for the support given by New Malden Baptist Church to Yevhenii and Polina and Dnipro Independent Baptist Church and for the long-standing friendship between Epsom Baptist Church and Pastor Sasha and the Dim Nadiyi Church (House of Hope) in Vasilkivka.