
Gelu Paul Faina in Romania
In 2022, together with nine Evangelical leaders, I launched Romanian Leadership Forum (RoLF), a ministry designed to unite, equip, and resource Romanian Evangelical leaders.
read moreEach week, our prayer community of ~700 intercedes for a Christian Majority World leader. If you join, you will receive an email that contains an introduction to that leader’s work and home country, followed by a personal message from the leader with prayer requests.
Eastern Europe is often identified with countries that were once part of the Soviet Union or under its sway. Despite post-Communist atheism, the Eastern Orthodox Church wields considerable influence in the region. Protestants remain a small, often opposed minority.
After the fall of the Communist bloc, many Eastern Europeans came to faith in the early 1990s through Evangelical missionaries, who planted churches and established seminaries. Although Church growth has slowed substantially, Eastern Europeans continue to take up Christ’s Great Commission.
Decisions from Moscow still affect the entire region. The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 led to war in Eastern Ukraine that portended the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In response, Christian schools like Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary, Odessa Theological Seminary, and Tavriski Christian Institute are evacuating and housing the vulnerable, transporting food and medical supplies, and feeding hundreds daily – while also offering prayer, distributing Bibles, preaching the Gospel, and responding theologically to urgent questions of identity, trauma, and theodicy. Even as war continues, the schools have resumed online courses, training pastors and chaplains during this difficult time.
Neighboring countries in Eastern Europe – especially Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova – have since received millions of Ukrainian refugees. University Divitia Gratiae in Moldova has taken its place among a network of Christian institutions caring for displaced Ukrainian women, children, and elderly people, and helping them make arrangements for long-term safety.
Through the Vital SustainAbility Initiative, ScholarLeaders has collaborated with University Divitia Gratiae in Moldova; Kuban Evangelical Christian University and Saint Petersburg Christian University in Russia; and Odessa Theological Seminary, Tavriski Christian Institute, and Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary in Ukraine. Currently, we are helping the Ukrainian seminaries and other affected schools rebuild theological education in the wake of war. Through LeaderStudies, ScholarLeaders has supported 18 Christian leaders from Belarus, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine.
Through the generosity of many donors, ScholarLeaders has mobilized over $800,000 in funds for relief and rebuilding theological education in Ukraine. Our 2022 Annual Report includes an update about the Ukrainian Relief Fund. The latest issue of our InSights Journal for Global Theological Education features Ukrainian voices. Read Taras Dyatlik’s Global InSights, Speaking of Pain and Waiting. A Ukrainian, Taras works for our partner in ministry, Overseas Council, and advises our Vital SustainAbility Initiative in Eastern Europe. He also helps coordinate our Catalytic Ventures – Church & Society initiative on gospel-driven responses to war.
Join us in praying for our sisters and brothers in Eastern Europe, as they “shine like stars in the world, holding forth the word of life” (Phil. 2:16). Pray for war to cease in Ukraine and for God’s righteousness to rise “with healing in its healings” (Mal. 4:2). Pray for wisdom and resilience for all who call on Jesus’ name, that they might persevere as agents of hope in Eastern Europe and beyond.
Photo: “Kyiv, Ukraine” (2019) by Robert Anasch (Unsplash)
In 2022, together with nine Evangelical leaders, I launched Romanian Leadership Forum (RoLF), a ministry designed to unite, equip, and resource Romanian Evangelical leaders.
read moreThe Easter attacks of 2019, the unforgiving pandemic in the following year, and the economic and political crisis that reached its apex in 2022 all weigh heavily on the Sri Lankan spirit.
read morePray that the Church can be wise in handling these difficult times while standing firm in the truth as His witnesses and providing holistic care for the people.
read moreCelebrate, because wise men and women from east and west, north and south, continue to honor Jesus of Nazareth, God eternal become incarnate through a poor virgin, born to rule all humankind.
read moreAlthough the Qazaq Church does not have much, we have the most important treasure – our Lord Jesus Christ.
read moreAmong Isaiah’s prophecies about Judah’s future defeat, exile, and return, there is this prophetic vision of a child who would represent God’s presence, embody His characteristics, and govern His people.
read moreRefuge-seeking, internal displacement, and premature death are themes that resonate from the land of revelation in ancient days to the land of a thousand islands in the current day.
read morePray that our Christmas can be the celebration of Christ’s birth in our lives every day that we have breath.
read moreAs we celebrate Christmas in Ghana and throughout the rest of the world, may the reason for this season overshadow all other traditions and purposes.
read moreAs we look back on 2022, we give thanks to God through Christ!
read moreDespite all these obstacles, please pray that we will continue to equip students to proclaim Christ faithfully and winsomely in an increasingly hostile environment.
read moreLiving in a country where diversity thrives, I enjoy friendship with people from other faiths. At the same time, I seek godly wisdom to be relevant to the needs of my local and national community.
read morePray for current institutional leaders to plan for smooth leadership transitions and to raise up the next generation of transformational leaders who can engage their contexts prophetically.
read moreDue to our complicated political history with India and the failure to reach a ‘solution’ to date, Nagas continue to search for peace and reconciliation within our fragmented society and with the Indian government.
read moreThe Nagaland Baptist Church Council has initiated a ‘Clean Election Movement’ to advocate electing God-fearing, righteous, and honest candidates.
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