Ukraine Here We Come!

In one week, we will be leaving for Ukraine.  After an 18 month pause due to the war in Ukraine, we have decided it is time to return to visit our friends and partners in Ukraine.  Travel is not as easy as the past as we will have to fly to Poland and drive across the border as there are no commercial flights into Ukraine.

We are going on this trip for three primary purposes:

LISTEN

We will spend our time in Ukraine meeting with pastors and friends that we have worked with and supported.  We want to hear how God is working, what challenges they face and what needs that they have that we can help with.  The challenges that they have faced since the escalation of the war in February of 2022 have been enormous.  They have had to deal with people leaving, refugees coming and working to meet the physical needs of people but also the spiritual needs.

ENCOURAGE

We also want to spend time with pastors to encourage them by letting them know that we have not forgotten them and that we want to return to continue supporting and working with them to reach people for Jesus.

TRAIN

This is a hard one for me, but it is also needed.  It is hard to think about training and thinking about the future when they have gone through so much and they live in a world of continual threats and uncertainty.  But we have to prepare for the future!  God is working in Ukraine and people are turning to Jesus for hope in a sometimes-hopeless situation.  We will be leading a conference of church planters and their spouses.  We will spend time helping them to develop a vision for their church and helping equip them for the challenges they will face as they work to reach their communities for Jesus!

We will be spending a little over two weeks in Ukraine.  During this time will be traveling across the country and trying to meet as many pastors and church leaders as possible.  We ask that you pray for us as we travel and meet with pastors and their wives.  Specifically pray for the following:

SAFETY

We are entering a war zone.  There are missile strikes and threats every day.  While we know that God is in control and He is our protector, we still pray for safety as we travel and meet with pastors.

IMPACT

We want our trip to make an impact.  While we often do not know all the meetings and places we will go before we arrive, we know that God has a plan for us and that every meeting is what God has for us.  Pray that God will use us to encourage pastors and that God will be glorified in all that we do.

Over the past year we have been able to send a large amount of money to Ukraine to help our partners in their ministry and to help with the humanitarian needs caused by the war.  Thank you for all who have given to us or other organizations to help Ukraine.  On this trip we hope to learn what the needs continue to be for Ukraine and bring back their prayer requests and needs so that we continue to support them in the future.

Thank you for your prayers and support and we will share what we learn when we return.

If you have questions about Ukraine or how you can be involved, reach out to me at Rick.Post@potentialendeavors.com.