Ukraine

September Video Update

Dear Pastors and Friends,

Warm greetings in the name of Christ! The following link contains our video update for the month of September. If you are not in the habit of watching every video we send your way, please do not miss watching this one. This one is special. It features footage of Vitaly Bilyak distributing aid right next to the battles taking place in the Donbas region. So much so that he had to pack a bulletproof vest on this journey. Towards the end of the video, you can clearly hear the nearby artillery shelling.

https://vimeo.com/747742946

Praise God for such brave and dedicated people! Please pray much for Vitaly. He plans two more such trips to this war zone in the weeks ahead.

In Christ,

Sam & Amy Slobodian

War Relief Updates Email - May 20, 2022

Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People

Dear Friends of BIEM,

1. Earlier we had mentioned that a third container full of humanitarian aid from the United States was headed to Desna, Ukraine, which is in the Chernihiv area. This shipment arrived on Tuesday. Just hours after everything was unloaded, Desna came under bombardment by the Russian Air Force. At least 8 people were killed, and many were injured. Please pray for the families affected.

2. Praise God, none of our missionary families have been injured, and all our church buildings have escaped serious damage, though some have suffered damaged windows due to nearby blasts.

3. We have more information about Alexander Sevchenko, our seminary student who was killed in Kharkov. Alexander had joined a volunteer group that was bringing in aid and evacuating people from an area on the outskirts of Kharkov. On one such mission his group did not return. Later, all their bodies were recovered, and it was apparent from their injuries that they were killed by shrapnel from artillery fire. Evidently, they got caught in the crossfire of one of the many battles taking place in and around Kharkov.

4. In Ukraine we have now received 3 full 40-foot containers of humanitarian aid from the United States. Each container involves organizing a crew to unload the contents onto a semi-truck when they arrive in Yagodyn, Ukraine, which is right on the Polish border. In turn, these trucks travel across Ukraine to areas in need that are very far from the Polish border. Praise God that He has touched the hearts of many people whose combined efforts make this possible. There are those who provide the goods that are shipped; there are those who enable all the logistics of getting these goods to Yagodyn; there are those who labor hard to unload the arriving containers, load them onto the receiving semi and then unload everything at the destination. Next, many are involved in distributing these goods to the needy, which includes sharing the Gospel and handing out Bibles and tracts. We are also thankful for the Ukrainian Christian businessmen who have provided trucks and drivers to us for no charge. They requested only that we cover the cost of fuel, which is considerable. These huge trucks require an immense amount of fuel, which in Ukraine is now $6 per gallon and climbing. Ukraine is the size of Texas, so these trucks and all the other vehicles we have crisscrossing Ukraine are covering huge distances. Then there are people like you, who read these letters and give towards these needs. Praise God for amazing opportunities to help the suffering and to share the Gospel. We thank Him for the many who are taking part in our relief efforts for the glory of God.

Sam Slobodian
President - BIEM

Ukrainian War Relief & Update

Ukrainian War Relief & Update

Joy and Tears

Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,

We rejoice in Jesus, and we weep with Ukraine. God is very kind to us and to all Ukrainians who were able to flee from the war. Thank you for your prayers! We hear so many testimonies of God’s grace and mercy from the Ukrainian people around us here in Switzerland.

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

New Letter from a Christian College Interpreter

LETTER #3 (Day #41 of the War)

Traditionally, each year, I make a summary of last 12 months and the spiritual lessons associated with it. In December, I shared with my Telegram channel subscribers my thoughts that if I were asked to describe 2021 in one word, I would say “acceptance”.

· Acceptance of my age.

· Acceptance of my place of residence.

· Acceptance of my unmarried status.

· Acceptance of His will for my life because He is my Master.

I didn't come to accept these things because I understood something previously unknown to me; rather, because of the realization that obedience is more important than understanding my situation. God’s word IS ENOUGH for me to be assured of the goodness of God.

The other day I realized that this lesson is still relevant for me. I need to accept the will of God without understanding it, without asking questions, without being indignant.

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Thank you from Borschiv

Peace to you, dear friends.

Thank you for praying and for financially supporting our ministry in Borschiv.

“I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” Psalm 91:2

In recent days, these words from the Word of God have become very relevant, our God is our protection, our stronghold. And the church in the town of Borshchiv has become a refuge for many people, both adults and children. We are very grateful to our Lord that He is with us, giving us strength to serve our brothers and sisters who fled their homes during the war.

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Lost in Switzerland

Our dear prayer warriors,

Greetings to you! We feel your support and your prayers. Many of you have become friends with us on Facebook and we appreciate each of your comments under the posts about Ukraine. We are grateful for every prayer. The Lord also hears your prayers and He answers.

As you know, we are in Switzerland now. It's strange to find ourselves in a country where everything is calm and peaceful. We are tormented by a sense of guilt and a desire to be among our people, where the fighting is going on. Pray for A's sister L. She stayed in Kyiv where she helps people with food distribution, shelter in the basement of the church and sending them out of Kyiv by bus. Pray for a young man Vitaly has been discipling named Zhenya. He is now in the military and is guarding a checkpoint in Kyiv. Please continue to pray for a turning point in the war. Pray that Ukraine will endure and have the victory. Pray against Satan who controls Putin. Beg God to intervene and protect our Ukrainian people!

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Thank you Letter from Mikhail

Greetings in the Love of the Lord Jesus Christ!

At this difficult time for our country, and from each of us we and I personally want to express our gratitude. In some photos you see elderly people. When you don't have food, you have to make an effort to find it, and for the elderly who find it difficult to walk, it is a big problem. Therefore we thank you for the money provided so that we can buy food and fuel to deliver it to these needy people. We also thank the brothers from Western Ukraine who brought this food, putting themselves in danger. We are grateful to God that there is an opportunity to help by such means. But most of all we are grateful for your prayers. Now more than ever we feel them. Right now we are all whole, healthy and alive. In each of our journeys, and in any business in general, we see the Hand of God truly and guiding us. God continues to protect our home and so we hold youth meetings online, and there we read the Word of God, pray for our country, and support each other as much as we can.

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Our New Reality

“Don't lay up treasures for yourself on earth...” Before, I never fully understood the meaning of these words. And now it’s such a time that while you thought you had something material .. but at the same time there is nothing. Right now there is a huge rethinking of our values ​​going on. So when you have to choose what to take even if something small, you really think - it is really valuable and necessary for you ... or you can do without it?

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Update from American Missionary in Ukraine

I haven't written for a couple of days simply because there hasn't been much that is new to write to you. Surely, we've still had air raid sirens at various times of the day and night, but normally without any following explosions. Last night, though, we could hear many explosions in the distance, and over an extended period of time. Igor told me that, apparently, at a town between us and Kyiv - Vasilkyiv - a depot of Ukrainian military hardware, bombs and ammunition was set afire; hence, all the explosions. Curiously though, we haven't had any further news concerning that. But that's something we've come to expect. It's difficult to know exactly what is going on. What's worse is that we don't know what is coming, and when. I guess that's a primary reason why all of us feel weary most of the time. I suppose that I've at least hinted at this in previous updates . . . the issue of an almost continuous tension. It may not be a conscious matter but is at least subconscious, and wearying.

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Thank you from Pastor NR

Peace be with you! We sincerely thank you for your prayerful and financial support during this difficult time for us! We rejoice that in Christ Jesus we are one body, and all respond to the pain of one member of the body.

We work in Kyiv. About 80 members of our church remained in the city. We deliver food to those who need it (not only to church members, but also to unbelievers). We feed people with hot food in the basement of our church building which is equipped as a bomb shelter where not only believers, but also non-believers find shelter. We hold 2 prayer meetings a day: we sing, we preach, we pray…

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

BIEM Update on Help and Aide to Refugees

We are so grateful for the concern and prayers so many have expressed for Ukraine and for the many Ukrainian national missionaries we have there. We are also very grateful for the kind and generous donations many of you have contributed to our Ukraine Relief fund. It’s a fund we never expected to create, and it’s one we wish we had never needed to create. However, in light of all the destruction, displaced persons, and hardship now happening in Ukraine, we believe this fund will be crucial. By the end of the banking day today we will be approaching $150,000 that has already been wired to those in Ukraine positioned to provide assistance. We will resume when banking opens on Monday.

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Ukrainian War Relief & Updates

Statement from BIEM concerning Russian Christians

Many have contacted us asking about the status of our church planters and ministry partners in Russia. We are purposely limiting our contact with our Russian personnel to just absolutely necessary details. They are certain that they are being monitored and have reason to believe so. Keep in mind that as Putin cracks down on opposition, jailing thousands who protest and banning the use of the words "war" or invasion, our people are in danger. That is because anybody with connections to the United States is suspect and could be targeted. Therefore, our people are very, very vulnerable. Following is a statement from one of our pastors who needs to be anonymous.

Sam and Amy Slobodian

Sam Slobodian was born on May 1, 1954 to Ukrainian missionaries, Peter and Mary Slobodian, in Saenz Pena, Argentina.  Although he had come to the United States at the age of three, he did not have a real introduction to the English language until his first day of kindergarten.  As young children do, Sam learned the language quickly and one of his more vivid memories of those days was the time his father came home with a small green AM radio.  The idea was that somehow the knowledge of the English language would be imparted to the immigrant family as they huddled around the radio and listened to it in their small but very clean fourth-floor apartment, located in a run-down neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Childhood for Sam and his sisters, Ann and Debbie, was quite normal and saturated with church activities since their parents began establishing Ukrainian and Russian Baptist churches to reach the Slavic population of Minneapolis while they both were studying at University of Northwestern – St. Paul and Central Baptist Theological Seminary.

When Sam was ten, he began to do some serious thinking after his Daily Vacation Bible School teacher asked each boy in the class to give not only the date of his birth but also the date he was born again, his spiritual birthday.  Having been raised in a preacher’s home and having heard the Gospel preached continually, Sam reasoned that he must have been saved at some point, even if he could remember neither the date nor the circumstances surrounding his decision.  However, the Holy Spirit soon convicted Sam that the reason he could not remember anything about this event was that it had never happened!  And so by the end of the week Sam received Christ as his personal Savior and wrote the date down in his Bible:  June 24, 1964.

When Sam was twelve, his family moved to Chicago, Illinois. Having completed their studies in Minneapolis, Sam’s parents were drawn to Chicago by the opportunity of ministering to the huge Slavic population of the city.  Though he was not thrilled with spending Saturdays in a Ukrainian grammar school, looking back it seems that even in those days God was preparing Sam for his future ministry.  As a dedicated Christian young man growing up in Chicago, Sam was active in church and youth activities and had an effective witness for Christ in addition to always managing to find employment.  Even though Sam earned academic honors in high school, being named an Illinois State Scholar, his main interest was trumpet, which he hoped to pursue professionally.  Sam became a serious musician and eventually was recognized as one of the outstanding high school musicians of the city.

As a senior in high school, Sam began to struggle with a call to preach.  After the Lord dealt with Sam through the Word and some specific circumstances, Sam surrendered for full-time Christian service.  As a result, he did not audition for any of the talent scholarships available from many major universities. One day the band director called Sam aside and told him the exciting news that he had been offered a talent scholarship that had no audition requirement; others and his reputation had spoken for Sam.  Indeed, the document was on his desk, and it had only to be accepted.  When Sam responded by saying he was planning on the ministry, the director replied, “Sam, that’s wonderful. I’m not even going to try to talk you out of that!”

After high school, Sam served as the youth pastor for East Maine Baptist Church in Glenview, a northwest suburb of Chicago.  The youth group multiplied under his ministry, and he involved many of the youth in the soul winning and bus ministries, starting several new bus routes  During this time, Sam attended Northeastern Illinois University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree.  Feeling the need for theological training and preparation, Sam resigned the youth ministry at East Maine in order to attend Central Baptist Theological Seminary, where he earned a Master of Divinity.  While a student there, Sam served as the first assistant pastor of the Valley Baptist Church in Golden Valley, Minnesota, where he developed the youth ministry into an extremely active program featuring camps, retreats, and cross-country bus trips.  Eventually brother Sam earned a Doctor of Missiology Degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

While at Central Baptist Seminary, Sam met Amy Lindner, whose family attended Fourth Baptist Church, which housed the seminary. Amy, too, had grown up in a Christian home, where she was saved at the age of 10 as a result of evangelistic meetings in her home church in Littleton, Colorado. Amy attended Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, and after they were married she completed her education at Hyles-Anderson College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Amy and Sam were married on June 6, 1977.  After Sam’s graduation from seminary, they immediately moved to Chicago, where Sam had been called as pastor of Southside Baptist Church of Chicago.

Sam and Amy devoted themselves completely to the inner-city work and God blessed with a harvest of souls and a wonderful congregation of loving people.  After three fruitful years, Sam led the church in a move to the southwest suburb of Oak Lawn, where the church had already started a Christian day school.  This proved to be an excellent move for the church and the school soon numbered over 300 students.

In 1982 Sam became increasingly burdened and challenged by the ministry (Baptist International Evangelistic Ministries- BIEM) that he and his father had established the previous year to reach behind the Iron Curtain. This burden and challenge continued to grow to the point where it was evident that this was the calling of God to leave the pastorate in order to serve as a missionary with BIEM reaching Russia and Eastern Europe.

In 1990 dramatic changes came to the ministry of BIEM with the advent of glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union. The collapse of Communism resulted in many new opportunities for ministry in Russia and led Sam and Amy to consider moving there. Discussing the matter with BIEM’s board and with others with longtime involvement with the Slobodians and BIEM, both in Russia and the West, helped Sam conclude that they would be most effective operating from the United States. Today Sam serves as president of BIEM, and Amy works in the ministry's office. BIEM specializes in Russia and Eastern Europe, where the mission has planted numerous churches by supporting, training, and equipping nationals. BIEM also distributes Bibles and Gospel literature; maintains a seminary in Kyiv, Ukraine; translates and prints discipleship and pastoral training materials; conducts evangelistic outreach ministries; sponsors Christian summer camps for children and youth; provides material aid; and helps new congregations to build churches.

In 1993 the Slobodian family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, to establish a new office for BIEM. God has greatly blessed this move and the ministry has steadily expanded. The Slobodians are members of Gospel Grace Baptist Church of Lebanon, Indiana, and have 5 children: Sarah, Susan, Steven, Sharon, and Stephanie. Susan married Mat Harvey in 2007; Sarah married Nathan Crouch in 2007; Stephanie married Aaron Anger in 2011; and Sharon married Ashton Brandyberry in 2012.

The Slobodians’ Reports

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Vitaly and Katerina Bilyak

Vitaly and Katerina Bilyak are Ukrainian national missionaries to the western part of Ukraine in the city of Ternopil. They have three children, Karina, David, and Mark.

Vitaly's Testimony

My parents are Christians of deep faith. From childhood I have known much about God, but as I grew up, the idea of being a Christian pleased me less. I preferred to live according to my own pleasures. I enjoyed being with my own friends. In time I began to lead a double life. On one hand I wanted to be a good son; but on the other a “hip” friend.

At first everything worked out the way I wanted, but in time it became harder to live the double life. Everyone knew that I had a Christian family. I never hid this and was not ashamed of it. I was never in the “Octobrists” or the “Young Pioneers” [Communist clubs for school children]. And because of that I experienced various gibes and mockery. But when I went to church, I could not feel like a genuine Christian. What’s more, as time passed, I grew farther apart from my friends and from the church.

Besides that, I began to see that I could not be a good person on my own. The more I desired not to sin, the less successful I was at this. Our pastor almost always ended with an invitation to repentance. I began to feel the crucial importance of this. But I could not imagine life without my unchristian friends. In order to not hear the pastor’s invitation, I began to slip out of church services 15-20 minutes before the end of his sermons. For a short time this “solved” the problem. But God continued to knock at my heart. And one time I opened it to Him. In 1992 I was baptized. Christ was victorious. Now, looking back, I see that the Lord was drawing me to Himself. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44).

Vitaly's Call to Preach

In 1993 I went into the army. I ended up serving much of my duty in the south of Ternopilskaya oblast near the town of Skala-Podolskaya (Borschovsky region). When I was permitted, I went several times to worship services in the city of Kamenets-Podolsky, which was 60 km away (Khmelnitskaya oblast).

All my time in the army I tried to find there (in that general region) evangelical [non-Russian Orthodox] Christians. Here are results of my almost year-and-a-half long searches. In Skala-Podolskaya (population 5000 as of 2003) there were no believers; in the city of Borschov (population 12000) there were 3-5 Pentecostals who visited the small Pentecostal church in the village of Mushkativka, which consisted 80% of grandmothers of retirement age.

And then God showed me the need for Baptist churches in Ternopilskaya oblast. When I returned home, I said, “If I become a missionary, then it will be in Ternopilskaya oblast.”

But life went on. I took part in the work in my own church, I fulfilled various ministries: was involved in the Christian library ministry, sang in the choir, preached, and was later the youth leader in the church. My last ministry was to be responsible for the youth in independent churches of the western region. At various times the Lord reminded me about Ternopil oblast, but at that time I was not able to do it.

During this time I became a dentist and got married on July 14, 2001, to a wonderful, humble girl named Katya.

I also completed my studies in the Kyiv Theological Seminary.

Since we did not own our own place, and time was passing, I decided to go to England to earn some money. Beginning about that time, God began especially to speak to me through the reading of the Bible, various sermons, conferences, and seminars. A fearful thought occurred to me: “While I am earning money in England, many sinners in Ternopil oblast will go to Hell!”

That is when God specifically called us to the full-time Christian ministry of church planting in Ternopilskaya oblast. After that decision, we began to gather information about Ternopilskaya oblast. Everything that we learned strengthened us even more for this direction.

 

Under the Bilyaks' guidance, a church has grown up in the city of Ternopil.  The congregation is actively engaged in evangelism, youth ministries, runs a Christian rehabilitation center, and now owns their own building! Praise God!

 

The Bilyaks' reports

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Sergiy and Karina Koop

SERGIY AND KARINA KOOP

About the Koops

Sergiy is originally from eastern Ukraine but after graduating from Kyiv Theological Seminary he moved westward to Ternopil, where he served as a youth pastor under our experienced missionary, Vitaly Bilyak. While ministering in that church, he became acquainted with the Bilyaks’ daughter Karina, who had dreamed of being the wife of a missionary someday. Their friendship blossomed into romance, and in God’s timing they married, each one committed to the goal of planting a new church for the glory of God.

The specific area that the Koops have pinpointed for a new church is the Druzhba district of Ternopil. This sector is not only well-populated, but it has become home to thousands of refugees who fled the eastern battle zones. Typically, refugees’ lives have been turned upside down, and they are more willing to meet new friends and listen to talk about the Lord and His love.

Since August 2022, the Koops and their team of volunteers have been working with children and teens. These relationships yield opportunities to meet and talk with parents and grandparents. In addition, the Koops and their church-planting team are looking for innovative ways to connect with more locals in the community.

The Koops' reports

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Eugene and Sophia Buyko

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Eugene Buyko (who also goes by the nickname “Zhenya”) oversees BIEM’s team of church planters and children’s workers in Ukraine. He has been instrumental in helping church planters to get established even in difficult areas, and he frequently preaches in their churches and joins them in evangelistic outreaches. In addition to ministering the Word of God, Eugene is exceptionally gifted in navigating governmental bureaucratic requirements and processing paperwork connected with such projects as receiving 40-ft. containers of humanitarian aid, purchasing a building on a military base for a church, and establishing our homeless children’s ministry. Every summer Eugene organizes BIEM’s Ukrainian camping program, which involves over 800 campers in several camps. As BIEM’s director in Ukraine, Eugene is able to offer an excellent overview of Christian ministry in this corner of the former Soviet Union.

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Andrei and Anna Eliseev

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Andrei serves as Director of the Christian Rehabilitation Center located just outside Ternopil, Ukraine. In this role, he and his fellow ministers at the center have been used of God to free men from their dependencies on drugs and alcohol. Even more important, the Lord has blessed them with opportunities to free men from the bonds of sin and to lead them to new life in Jesus Christ! Anna doesn't work directly with the rehabilitates, but supports her husband in this ministry and is involved in their local church.

For more information about the Eliseevs and their ministry, please contact our office.


Igor and Alexandra Fomichov

Igor Fomichov was one of the first converts of BIEM's church-planting outreach in the military town of Desna, Ukraine (on the edge of the Chernobyl region). As he grew in the Lord, Igor felt the Lord's calling to preach. In time he attended BIEM's Seminary in Kyiv and graduated with a fervent desire to be used of the Lord

Igor and his wife Alexandra originally served with BIEM in the military town of Goncharivske, some 20 miles farther north. But when the position of pastor opened in Desna and the church invited him, Igor felt this was God's call for him to minister in the area where he formerly lived. He and Alexandra moved to Desna, where they continue to minister in that church. 

The Fomichovs have two children, a daughter named Anna and a son, Daniel. Please pray for the Fomichovs as they lead this congregation in evangelism and discipleship.  

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Vitaly and Alexandra Keller

Vitaly was born and raised in Communist Leningrad, USSR. Marxism-Leninism was the main religion of the day, both for him and his peers. Russian schools were full of Communist propaganda. Growing up in this atmosphere, Vitaly became a follower of the system. By the age of 16, Vitaly was already a member of the regional Komsomol group (Communist Youth League).

Starting with the perestroika of 1986, drastic changes occurred in the Soviet Union. The “strongest country in the world” dissolved in 1991, and without moving to another location Vitaly became a citizen of St. Petersburg, Russia. In May of 1994 Vitaly was working as a teacher in one of the local high schools. It was at that time he met a born-again believer for the first time in his life. A Canadian evangelistic team of schoolteachers came to share their teaching skills with Russian colleagues. The team witnessed to Vitaly and other teachers and brought them to a newly established Baptist church. It was started by an American missionary named Charles Hoblitz. It was then that Vitaly finally came to an understanding of the sacrificial gift of Christ’s death for his sins  Since then, Christ began to gradually take total control of Vitaly's life.

After Vitaly decided to go to the United States to learn more about the Word of God, the Lord used local missionaries in St. Petersburg to buy him a ticket and to provide additional funds to help him on the way. It was truly a provision from God, as with an average Russian salary of about $30 a month Vitaly could never even dream of buying a ticket and flying to America. That first year at Word of Life Bible Institute was filled with the joys of grasping what he desired to learn – the Word of God.

The following four years at Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary were filled with the same joys of spiritual growth and grounding in the Scriptures.  While in the seminary, he completely devoted himself to his studies and ministry in the church.  The last two years were a little different.  At that time Vitaly was already thinking of going back.  Now that the Lord allowed him to learn His Word, it seemed quite natural to go back to his country and proclaim it to his people in their own language.  God gave Vitaly a desire to follow Him in His calling to St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1998 Vitaly began deputation to raise the necessary support for missionary work in Russia.

At the same time Vitaly had an opportunity to go to the country of Ukraine with a team of professors teaching at the seminary in Kiev.  This trip turned out to be another important step in Vitaly’s life as well as in the life of a beautiful Christian girl, Alexandra.  A year and a half later they were happily married.

Alexandra comes from the country of Ukraine, which was formerly a part of the Soviet Union (After the break-up of the USSR, Ukraine became a separate independent country).  Alexandra was born to a Christian family at the time when believers were persecuted for their faith.  She remembers growing up in a situation when Sunday services were held secretly deep in the woods far away from the eyes of police. In spite of all the precautionary measures, many Christian gatherings were disrupted by the police, preachers were hunted down and all participating believers were fined with a penalty of a month’s salary.  All Christian literature was confiscated.

Alexandra is the oldest of six children in the family. The faith of her parents and grandparents became her own saving faith at a very young age. Alexandra considers her grandmother to be the one who had the greatest impact in her decision for Christ. She feels very privileged to serve the Lord as a missionary in Russia, even though she misses Ukraine.

Vitaly and Alexandra returned to Russia on June 13, 2000, for the ministry of church planting. September 2000 marks the birth of New Life Baptist Church of St. Petersburg, Russia.  The Kellers’ plans include planting of other indigenous independent fundamental Baptist churches in the country of Russia and Ukraine. Their ministry also includes training other national church planters.  As a family, their greatest desire is to be pleasing to their Lord and Savior and to be sensitive to His leading throughout their lives.

In 2018, the Kellers moved to Ukraine to continue their ministry of planting churches and evangelism there.

Vitaly’s favorite verse is found in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth....”

If you are interested in receiving updates from the Kellers, please contact the BIEM office at missions@baptistinternational.org or 317-718-1633.