Meet Kirill and Sofia From Ukraine

I had the delightful opportunity to meet Kirill and Sofia while teaching on “Leadership and the Kingdom of God” in Kyiv, Ukraine, and let me tell you, their infectious smiles caught my attention!

After the training, Josue and I were thrilled to spend some quality time with them strolling through the streets of Kyiv before sharing a meal together.

Their story is nothing short of inspiring!

After fleeing the chaos of war this incredible couple made the bold decision to return to Ukraine, embodying a profound faith and commitment to serve the Lord, which beautifully aligned with what I was teaching. Kirill enrolled in seminary to become an army chaplain and Sofia began to work with foster children.

Kirill’s pursuit of seminary education to become an army Chaplain is a shining example of how we nurture future leaders in the church, and Sofia’s dedicated work with foster children showcases the Lord’s heart of compassion that we strive for. Together, they are making waves of change as they bring the Kingdom!

Kirill became an ordained Army Chaplain one week after we met. Take a minute and read Kirill and Sofia’s May Newsletter copied below. It’s pretty exciting!

 

The following is from Kirill and Sofia’s May Newsletter

It’s been two weeks since I stepped into the position of battalion chaplain—thanks be to God! A lot has happened during this time: getting to know the team, handling documentation, and entering a completely new field and reality. Right away, I found myself in the thick of things, with a huge number of new people, challenges, and needs. Every day is a big mission and full-time ministry, where I literally pray daily as a priest for dozens of people, provide pastoral care, hear confessions, preach the Good News, learn about their needs and try to meet them, offer comfort and support, search for necessary items for their service and safety (like camouflage nets, generators), deliver humanitarian aid, and much more.   Just in the second half of May: I traveled over 1,000 kilometers visiting defenders in different corners of the region — and this is only the beginning, as there will be even more trips. By my rough estimate, more than 120 people heard the Gospel from me—this includes both public sermons in military units and individual conversations. About 60 people received personal prayer. One man received healing in his hand and expressed a desire to start attending church. Over 50 Bibles were gifted to soldiers upon their request, and around 100 warrior’s prayer books as well.

In addition, there were confessions, anointings with oil, hours of spiritual conversations in a warm atmosphere, and daily moral support for the troops. I delivered 17 camouflage nets and 1 generator to the frontline positions—and that’s only the beginning, because the needs are many!

 

I couldn’t have imagined that God could do so much through me in such a short period of time —glory to Jesus! This pace of ministry is truly exhausting: from early morning until late night I am with people, and when I get home, I barely have the strength to brush my teeth, call my wife, and go to sleep. Thankfully, I have one day off per week when I can regain some energy and attend church! That’s important for my own recovery.