What is your ministry?
I am the director of the Eastern European Leadership Forum, an event similar to the European Leadership Forum that is targeted to Russian-speaking Christians of Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, and other Eastern European countries. I teach theology courses at seminaries in Ukraine. I am a regular speaker in various churches and conferences in Ukraine. I am an initiator of the “Christians for Ukraine” initiative.
When did you trust Christ?
I trusted in Christ in 1987 at a youth camp.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
One of the strongest defining moments for me occurred when I heard God’s call to preach the Gospel in the Soviet Union. Several teachers also helped me at various other stages of my life.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
I first attended the European Leadership Forum in 2009. I received good teaching regarding how the Spirit speaks to the church today. I also received beautiful and deep messages that I have used in my work in Eastern Europe. I want to build Christian networks and I have met Christian leaders at the Forum who I have invited to visit our locations in Belarus and Ukraine. Some of them have been able to help us with seminars, conferences, and round tables on apologetics during our autumn and spring conferences. I am thankful for this knowledge and these relationships.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
I planted a church in Minsk, Belarus, in which almost all the members were young, highly educated people. After 13 years, I was deported (like many other missionaries and Catholic priests) and I moved my family to Kiev, Ukraine. In 2001, several of us started the New Reformation Movement, which served to create unity among the evangelical churches and denominations, assisting Protestant churches in Eastern Europe in their activities in society, and spreading the Christian worldview into various spheres of society.
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
I’m very open to what the Lord wants to do in my life and ministry through His servants. We are trying to host regular house meetings near Kiev with young people, working with them for evangelism and integrating a biblical worldview into their everyday lives. I especially want that worldview in the people of Belarus and Ukraine.
