Vision for Ministry SEND International strongly believes that the Lord wants to have His word shared throughout the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Thus our entire focus is in support of that objective. We will assist Ukrainian evangelicals in the training and sending of national missionaries and church planters throughout the Former Soviet Union, including Central Asia, north- and south-central Europe, the Balkans, and the Baltic States.

Ukrainian Baptist churches have a vision for sending Ukrainians to other countries as missionaries. Thousands of areas within Ukraine have no church, no evangelical witness, not even an Orthodox church. While Russian Christians are not gladly received to teach and preach outside Russia, especially in the Central Asian states, Ukrainian Christians are welcomed. Through Kiev Theological Seminary, SEND wants to help train and prepare Ukrainians for missionary service.

In addition to being a part of raising up and training Ukrainian missionaries to go throughout the FSU, SEND would like to see Bible colleges and seminaries established in the surrounding nations, all employing trained Ukrainian theological teachers. We would also like to be a part of an "every village" evangelical blitz through the approximate 30,000 villages.

For 80 years, under the Communist system, teaching the Bible to women, children, or young people was a crime punishable by imprisonment. Consequently, churches in Communist countries developed a paradigm which saw training these groups as unimportant. Today, SEND helps the Ukrainian evangelical church focus on training church leaders for work with these neglected groups.

Eventually we would like to see SEND missionaries provide two- or three-day seminars in various oblasts [regions] for village pastors. As resources develop, we would like to be able to provide Bible study by extension and/or correspondence courses in some of the more remote areas.

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Ministry Strategy

SEND ministry strategy in Ukraine is simply to help provide the Ukrainian Church with the tools and people to reach their own country for Jesus Christ, and to launch a missionary movement from Ukraine into the former Soviet nations. Whenever SEND enters a country where there is a small church presence, we seek to partner with the local church. In the early '90s the leaders of SEND's ministry activities in Russia and Ukraine established excellent working relationships with the leaders of the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, also known as the Ukrainian Baptist Union. This partnership led to the development and implementation of strategies resulting in significant multiplication of ministry.

SEND is seeking to join God in what He is apparently doing in Ukraine. To accomplish this goal, we develop leadership in churches, seminaries, and Bible institutes. We assist in the establishment and the construction or renovation of churches, the training of Christian workers, the education of Christian families, the evangelizing of villages, and in strategizing with national leadership for long-term outreach. We use TESL [Teaching English as a Second Language] in villages; specialty-trained professionals in unique ministry relationships; and qualified laborers to work alongside the nationals to communicate the gospel.

Ukrainian Christians, who speak mostly Russian, are uniquely positioned to go out as missionaries to remote parts of the former Soviet Union with the gospel. Most of the former Soviet Union countries have negative feelings toward Russian people, but Ukrainians are welcome. Therefore SEND plans to help equip Ukrainian nationals to become a powerful missionary force throughout the former Soviet countries. The Ukrainian Baptist Union currently has 250 missionaries in Russia, mostly in Siberia and northern Far East Russia. In addition, Ukrainian missionaries are already in Kirgostan, Azerbaijan, Kajikstan, and Kazakhstan. They hope soon to reach into Croatia. Ukrainian missionaries also are working in a seminary in Tashkent, and they started eight new churches in Armenia in 1998.

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Ministry Focus

The Communist government in Ukraine severely inhibited all attempts to train church leaders. When the new freedoms came, therefore, the Ukrainian church wanted to provide training for its present and future pastors. Working with visionary Ukrainian church leaders, SEND missionaries helped launch Irpen Biblical Seminary, just outside of Kiev, to address this strategic need. Students and graduates of the initial programs at Irpen were instrumental in developing Bible institute programs in other key locations. Presently about 2000 students attend the three Baptist Union seminaries and 11 Bible colleges spread throughout Ukraine. Hundreds of present and future pastors and church leaders have already been trained.

SEND missionaries and short-term instructors contribute significantly to the growth and effectiveness of these Bible institutes by providing teachers, ministry teams, and construction teams for these schools and connected churches, as well as strategic financial support. SEND missionaries also serve on the faculties of Kiev Theological Seminary and Odessa Theological Seminary.

The tremendous need for training programs to prepare many additional pastors and church leaders exists because of the outstanding success of the evangelism and church planting efforts of the Ukrainian evangelists and missionaries. Over the past ten years, tens of thousands of Ukrainians have come to Christ, and hundreds of churches have been established. SEND missionaries have been privileged to be part of such a remarkable spiritual harvest. Existing churches have grown rapidly, some to as large as four times their size in 1989 when the new freedoms came, and many new churches have sprung up in cities and villages where no church previously existed.

The rich spiritual harvest and the multiplication of churches create a two-fold challenge-preparing pastors for these new churches and providing facilities for these church families. It is hard to describe the overwhelming joy of Ukrainian believers now that they are able to construct new church facilities. Under Communism, church buildings were often destroyed or confiscated by the government. Now Ukrainian Christians give sacrificially and work diligently to see new church facilities constructed. SEND missionaries and construction teams work alongside the Ukrainian believers and also help provide financial resources. These efforts have been a great encouragement to the Ukrainian church and have made it possible for building projects to be completed much more quickly.

In addition to leadership training, evangelism, and church construction, the training of children through children's ministries, camps, and Bible clubs is of highest priority for the next five years. Such camps probably represent some of the greatest returns on investments of money and personnel.

The different lifestyle demonstrated by believers makes a significant impact on the campers, and a changed life becomes very attractive to them. Afterwards, the impact on parents by their children who have observed the godly lifestyle of Christian leaders is seen as a very important ingredient of ongoing evangelism.

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Some of the projects SEND missionaries are working on are:

• Teaching in seminaries and Bible colleges

• Assisting church planting and music ministries

• Assisting in training national children's workers Assisting in training youth and youth workers

• Teaching English as a second language

• Supporting church planters in Ukraine, Russian, and Belarus

• Supporting church operations and building programs

• Supporting seminary and Bible college building programs

• Supporting radio ministry Leading home Bible studies

• Assisting national leadership with planning

• Assisting in village evangelism outreach

• Assisting seminary students

• Literature translation projects

• A fledgling internship plan

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