God Is Growing His Church in Villages That Never Had One
We still remember when there was no evangelical witness in any of these thirteen villages. Not one church, not one small group, not one gathering of believers meeting in Jesus’ name. Today, One Community Church exists — and it is bursting at the seams.
By May, the home group meeting in the living room of one of our homes built for internally displaced families had grown to nearly two dozen people. The living room simply couldn’t hold what God was doing. We needed a bigger space — and He provided one in a way none of us expected.
That same month, a combined team from Christ Fellowship (West Chicago, IL) and Christian Fellowship (Columbia, MO) traveled to Ukraine to pour into the leaders of our two community alliances, Uzhhorod and Apostolove. (You can read the story of that outreach here.) During the trip, we discovered a budgeting error had led us to overcharge the team by a few thousand dollars. When we moved to return the funds, they made a remarkable decision instead: give it to One Community Church.
What looked like our mistake became God’s provision.
The church office building was already finished, but it too was too small for the growing group. With that gift, we were able to tile the first-floor fellowship area and finish the plumbing and electrical work — just enough to open the space for gathering. It isn’t polished. The walls and ceiling are still unfinished, and you can see it in the photos. But it is standing, it is usable, and God’s people are filling it.
And now, right on time, the small group has grown enough that we’re preparing to divide it into two — multiplying, not just meeting, in a region that had never known a gospel witness before.
Would you partner with us?
None of this — not the growth, not the provision, not the open doors in these thirteen villages — is something we could have engineered. It’s the Lord building His church, and we get the privilege of watching it happen up close.
That unfinished ceiling and those bare walls? They’re the next chapter waiting to be written. Just as God moved through a team’s generosity to get the floor tiled and the lights turned on, He may be inviting you to help finish the room where two churches will soon be born from one.
Would you consider standing with us in prayer as these two groups form and new leaders step up? And if you’d like to help finish what’s been started — walls, ceiling, and beyond — you can give here marked toward One Community Church: [Donate Here]
All glory belongs to Jesus. We’re just grateful to be along for the ride. Here you can read how Christ has blessed this church.
Awesome!
Praying for the groups and emerging leaders!