A ministry update from Transform Ukraine
There is a kind of tired that conferences and to-do lists can’t touch. It’s the tired that comes from leading a church through blackouts. From comforting families who’ve buried sons. From pouring yourself out, week after week, for people who have lost everything to a war you didn’t start and can’t end.
That’s the tired sixty of our local leaders were carrying this spring. And this April, God met them in it.
Thank you for making that possible. Every prayer, every gift, every quiet act of faithfulness from partners like you set the table for what happened next — and we wanted you to see the fruit of it.
A Retreat Called Refresh
From April 17–26, teams from Christ Fellowship (West Chicago, IL) and Christian Fellowship (Columbia, MO) traveled to Uzhhorod to serve our local leaders through a retreat simply called Refresh. And refreshed is exactly what happened — not through another week of only lectures and meetings, but through rest.
One leader admitted she almost didn’t come. She was too exhausted to imagine sitting through another conference. What she found instead was something different: each morning, brief, practical seminars on how to actually rest — not abstract theory, but real tools for leaders running on empty. Then, every afternoon, the schedule cleared completely, and they were sent off to practice what they’d just learned.
That practice looked like worship, barbecues, hikes, swimming, sauna, and s’mores by the fire — hours of unhurried time to simply breathe. Children were cared for so parents could truly rest. Families reconnected in the evenings, present with one another instead of pulled in a hundred directions.
It wasn’t a program. It was a gift. And leader after leader left it thanking God for a rest they didn’t know how badly they needed.
Then They Went to Where the Ministry Lives
The retreat could have been the whole story. Instead, it was just the beginning. In the days that followed, the visiting teams went out to see — and serve alongside — the very ministries these leaders pour their lives into.
At Nadia (Hope), a ministry serving adults with special needs, the team sat down with young adults who make and sell candles — a small business built years ago from equipment provided by generous partners like you. This time, the roles reversed: these precious adults taught the visiting team how to make candles, while the team brought new craft ideas and simply loved on them with their attention.
With Pastor Victor, the team learned about the Rroma ministries he leads and toured the Rroma Social Life Center under construction, built to serve three nearby camps. But they didn’t stop at a tour. They walked into those camps themselves and prayed over Rroma families for God’s protection and healing — an experience the team later called the highlight of their entire trip.
At the Veliky Lazy IDP Community, they met families now living in homes built for those displaced by the war. They saw the church being planted at the center of thirteen villages — 10,500 people — with no evangelical witness among them until now. In the local school gymnasium, they watched (and were cheerfully defeated by) children playing floor hockey, and in that same gym had the chance to share the good news of Jesus with kids who couldn’t get enough of adults willing to simply play with them.
With Pastor Robert and his wife, who lead Happy Rroma, the team joined a weekly meal for the homeless — some even serving in the food line themselves.
At Blossom Cottage, under construction to house special-needs orphans, and at Rainbow Home, which currently cares for three children in its group home and eight girls in its transition home, the team spent time playing and doing crafts with kids and young women who have known real hardship. Without homes like these, many of these young women would have no path except the streets. To date, 156 girls have walked the full journey through Rainbow Home’s transition program into stable, independent lives — 156 stories of rescue made possible because people like you believed it was worth funding.
And they didn’t leave their own church family behind. Both visiting congregations support sister churches here through our Sister Church Association, and they spent meaningful time with their pastors — Christian Fellowship even got to see the new worship center rising for their sister church in Uzhhorod.
The Ministry That Wasn’t on the Schedule
Some of the sweetest fruit wasn’t planned at all. Over their days at the hotel, the team simply lived like Christ in front of the staff — and one young woman, moved by what she saw, came to church with her family.
That’s what happens when God’s people show up not to perform, but to love.
All of This Is His
None of this happened because of clever programming or a well-run itinerary. Sixty tired leaders were refreshed, families were prayed over, children heard the Gospel, and a hotel worker found her way to church — because Jesus is at work in Zakarpattia, using ordinary, willing people as His hands.
We give Him all the glory for it.
And we want you to know: you are part of this story. Your prayers carried these leaders long before this retreat began. Your giving built the homes, funded the equipment, and sustains the ministries these teams visited. When you partner with this work, this is what your faithfulness produces — rest for the weary, hope for the vulnerable, and light in dark places.
Thank you for standing with us. Keep praying. The harvest here is far from finished.