Sergiy and Vika Kravets, members of the church at Denghi, felt challenged to pursue new areas of service and so in 2022 they began making a weekly trip to the city of Cherkasy, taking hot food and drinks to share with homeless people and refugees (mostly from other parts of Ukraine). Over time, the ministry grew and developed in Hope Church, which started officially meeting in November that year. Sergiy shares the story of one man from Kharkiv who briefly attended the church.
“There were many refugees that were part of the church, who were coming along and had become Christians. But once Kharkiv was liberated, they went back. In some ways I didn’t really want them to go back, and we were saying to them that they could stay here and seek God and seek peace and then return at another time if it's safe. But obviously, people just want to be at home. So I’m in touch with some of them, and just praying for them.
“One of the men who came, he was waiting for an operation. When he was in Cherkasy, he came to us, came to the church and repented and became a Christian. Then he went back to Kharkiv and was preparing everything for the operation. He was going to go to Poland to have it done; he was communicating with us and keeping us updated about how he was. I spoke to him one evening and he was fine, just getting everything in place for the trip.
“But in the morning he just didn't wake up. He died in the night and we don’t really know why, maybe from medical complications, I don't know. But I feel sure that God brought him to this place in order to hear his truth, so that he would give his life to Jesus. He was only here for about three weeks, and then he went back to Kharkiv, but I am sure that was so that he would hear the truth before he died.”
