Ukraine may not seem like the most obvious place for a church to get involved. You may not have even known until now where to find Ukraine on a map. But in fact, Ukraine is a very needy country indeed, but is also a country that has seen great fruit from the involvement of missionaries from the west since communism fell in 1991.
Ukraine has 46 million people. That's more than countries such as Canada and Australia, by quite a bit. It used to be part of the Soviet Union, and ever since it has been struggling to find its identity as an independent nation. The people have been struggling, too. Here are some not so impressive statistics about Ukraine:
- Fastest spreading HIV/AIDS epidemic outside of the African continent
- Suicide rates double the European average
- Life expectancy 10+ years less than European average
- Alcoholism responsible for 12% or all disease
- Preventable accidents are the leading cause of death among men (usually caused by alcohol)
- 100,000+ orphans in the country, countless others living on the streets
For our community, we've been drawn into Ukraine by the relationship and invitation of Oleg Vasilevsky, President of Radooga Ministries. Our community also has a background there, as two of our founding elders have been deeply connected to the nation from before our church even existed.
Midtown took its first team in 2008 to work with Radooga at an English language camp. Recently, the ministry has focused around a particular group of orphans in Kharkov, Ukraine, in conjunction with Radooga.
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