A ministry report from SGA-sponsored missionary pastor Evgeniy Taran in Ukraine

The warmest greetings to you in the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

I tirelessly thank God for the SGA mission — for that essential, always timely, and very important support of the family and ministry. With your support, new ideas and new projects become reality.

I’ll start with family. I am very pleased and happy with my wife and children, who are my greatest support in the ministry. This year, my wife was chosen to be the senior sister in the women’s ministry in the region. My two eldest daughters, who are the coordinators and organizers of the children’s camps, have had three camps. I rejoice that ministry to the Lord and to people is the most important part of our family life for all of us.

Church Construction

In March, this year, we began the construction of the House of Prayer. In a previous report, I wrote about a construction team of 13 brothers, who in four days set up the walls of a House of Prayer. At the beginning of July, they arrived again and put on the roof, windows and doors in 10 days. In two weeks, they built us a House of Prayer. It is incredibly fast, high quality, and most importantly, they did their job for free.

Women’s Ministry in Novotroitsk

Now, a little about our ministry in Novotroitsk. In the fall we finished the school year and the sisters received certificates of successful completion of classes. My wife Lyuda is engaged in women’s ministry. And also this year we wanted to hold a women’s meeting again, which we have been holding for the sixth year. Our sisters invite their friends to a women’s party, which is arranged in a cafe. They eat there, tell their stories, and in memory of this meeting they give presents and make crafts. This time there were 60 women at this meeting of whom only 20 are our believing sisters.

It is true that the brothers are not allowed there. So the brothers and I had the opportunity to have a good time in another cafe, where we talked about the development of men’s ministry in our county.

Outreach to Those on Probation

I wrote to you earlier that last year I was invited to a volunteer center assisting to people who have problems with the law of Ukraine and are on probation term of imprisonment (including men and women). My job is to talk to them about Biblical topics and to help these people not violate the spiritual and state laws. From the beginning, even some of the center staff treated me with suspicion, and now they are happy to sit in our meetings and listen to God’s Word.

It is not at all easy and not always our conversations go quietly. Sometimes we have to argue and prove something to these people. Recently, the theme of our meetings was “Resolving Family Conflicts.” Of course, this discussion was filled with arguments and disagreements. But with God’s help it was possible to defend the truth.

In closing, I thank you very much for the opportunity you give me to serve, bring to life new ideas, and think and help others while preaching the Gospel of God. I thank God for being close to you during this period of my life, and your help is very, very helpful. We love you.