Editor's Note
This story is the first in a two-part series featuring stories of ministry in Ukraine,in the midst of the ongoing war. Part 1 features Anita Grigas, who is involved in discipling children through the AWANA ministry, even as the war rages on. Part 2 of this series tells the unique story of Ivan Rusyn, president of the Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary, church planter, and pastor. The interviews in this series were conducted during the Fourth Lausanne Congress in Incheon, South Korea.
Day 3 of the recently concluded Fourth Lausanne Congress in Incheon, South Korea, focused on the persecuted church. From Iran, India, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East the message rang loud and clear: Persecution is not the end of the story. The church continues to thrive amidst suffering. And over the centuries, beginning from Jerusalem as told in Acts 8 to the present day, it has risen above the perils of fire, bombs, incarcerations and deaths.
In this article we celebrate the courage of Anita Grigas, who for the love of the course of Jesus Christ, faces the threat of death each day, and whilst at it, broke all barriers to participate in the Fourth Lausanne Congress.
Ukraine: Gospel Ministry, War and Children
Anita Grigas is from Cherkasy, a city in the central part of Ukraine. She has been involved with the work of Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed (AWANA) among children in Ukraine since 1991.3 AWANA is a ministry aimed at reaching out to children with a long term goal of discipleship and developing leaders.
An estimated 1.5 million children are at risk of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health issues, with potential long-term effects and implications.
According to UNICEF, since the start of the war in Ukraine, ‘a generation of children has experienced 12 months of violence, fear, loss, and tragedy’. In fact, a ‘UNICEF analysis suggests the percentage of children living in poverty has almost doubled from 43 percent to 82 percent. The situation is especially acute for the 5.9 million people who are currently displaced within Ukraine. The war is also having a devastating impact on the mental health and well-being of children. An estimated 1.5 million children are at risk of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health issues, with potential long-term effects and implications.’4
The work that Anita and her team in AWANA do, in the current context, is crucial.
Political and Spiritual Climate of Ukraine
Since the fall of communism, Ukraine has been politically and religiously relatively stable with a significant penetration of the gospel. However, since 2022, Ukraine has been at war with Russia in defense of its sovereignty. According to Anita, ‘We live in the war right now. And the war started in 2014, though the full invasion from Russian Federation started in 2022. And this has changed the climate in our country. Christians are not under persecution as we had been when we were under Soviet Union. We have a voice right now, but it’s very difficult to serve when you live in war because many people have moved out of the country.’
Impact: Anchor in Life’s Crisis
Anita illustrates God’s work though her and AWANA by sharing the story of her good friend. According to her, her friend participated in AWANA’s programs when she was two and a half years old. She had a difficult childhood because she was adopted and she was like a ‘hedgehog’ to all the people around. But she went through AWANA from the Sparks, Flame and Torch clubs (SFT) until she became a leader. The Awana SFT Clubs cater to children from kindergarten until Grade 6, with some extending until high school. They focus on evangelism, discipleship, Scripture memorization and service.
She later got married, but her marital bliss was cut short by the unfortunate death of her husband during the war, leaving her a widow at only 23 years. Naturally, she’s struggling in her faith, questioning God about the tragic loss of a man who was a gift for her. But at the same time, she has returned to what she learned when she was a child at AWANA. As she said to Anita, ‘I want to stand on the foundation I received, even though it’s so difficult and, sometimes I’m angry with God and I quarrel with him. However, I believe him and have this hope in him.’
The Challenge of Labourers and Air Alerts
‘We do not have enough workers right now’, Anita names this as her primary challenge. Her eyes fill with tears as she describes how several ministers of the gospel have had to move out of Ukraine, especially those near the border since it was very dangerous for them and their families to stay there. This has drastically reduced the gospel labour force making it more difficult to do ministry effectively. ‘And we still have kids to work with and we need to develop leaders, future leaders for future generations,’ Anita adds.
Second, Anita describes the difficulty of ministering amidst sporadic air alerts in different parts of Ukraine. During these air alerts, which can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 10 hours, Anita and her team carry the children to find refuge in bomb shelters until the air alerts cease. Anita recounts how during a camp this year, they had to take the children to the bomb shelter every day: ‘[There] we would tell the stories and communicate with them. This is our reality, unfortunately,’ she says.
In spite of these difficulties, Anita responds with courage.
‘But at the same time, I want to say that when we face challenges, God is opening new opportunities. And right now we have a great field of opportunity to work with kids who are affected by war; to work with soldiers; to help them go through the situation and to bring them hope. That’s what we do on a regular basis when we gather together and we share the Bible. We want them to understand that God is real, the Bible is alive, and they can depend on it in these circumstances of their lives, even during the war,’ she says with a beaming smile.
A Call for Prayer and Logistics
In deep appreciation to the global church for its prayers, Anita shares, ‘We wouldn’t stand without the prayers of Christian all around the world.’ However, she calls for more prayer—not just for herself but for more labourers, for Christ-honouring resilience in the face of adversity and that the war may cease. She also requests the global church to send support and logistics which are urgently needed as well, to help do ministry effectively.
Conclusion
Anita’s story represents several of other courageous men and women who have put their lives on the line for the sake of Jesus Christ, his gospel, and his kingdom, and who like the Apostle Paul, proclaim, ‘However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace’ (Acts 20:24, NIV).
Endnotes
- Lindsay Brown, Shining Like Stars: The power of the gospel in the world’s universities. (La Grange, KY: 10 Publishing, 2015), p.24
- Lindsay Brown, p.24
- Interview by Nana Kojo Aboagye-Obeng
- UNICEF, ‘War in Ukraine pushes generation of children to the brink, warns UNICEF’ https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/war-ukraine-pushes-generation-children-brink-warns-unicef Accessed 3 October, 2024.