by Pastor Maxym
In August 2016, Ukraine celebrated 25 years of its independence (from the Soviet regime). The same can be said about the evangelical churches. During this time the Church in Ukraine has been growing dramatically both in numbers and in faith. This happened mostly due to two major reasons: committed leaders and spiritual hunger among Ukrainians.
However, in last few years the picture began to change. While there is still lots of spiritual hunger among Ukrainians, there is something lacking in the new church leaders. It seems like the older generation of church leaders has produced less new church leaders. At the same time, the cultural context in Ukraine has changed in last 25 years and the strategies that worked in the previous generation, do not apply in the current church context.
So, what does the Church in Ukraine need today?
It needs new faithful and capable leaders able to lead the bride of Christ to the wedding feast! And the Church leaders themselves are in a great need of learning how to lead Christian communities in a new and rapidly changing Ukrainian culture. They need to know how to be effective in raising a new generation of leaders who will take the baton to continue the race of faith for the next 25 years.