Ukraine
He Was Going to Serve: Remembering Dmytro Panychuk
Dmytro Panychuk was a husband, father, and a servant in his church who knew how to feed people-both with food and steady words of faith. When war came to Vorzel, Ukraine, he turned his kitchen into a ministry of survival, sheltering 35 people. On March 3, 2022, Dmytro was killed by Russian forces while carrying food to neighbors hiding in a basement. His final earthly act was a testament to his life’s mission: he wasn’t going to his death, he was going to serve. “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” – Matthew 25:35 Dmytro Panychuk was killed on March 3, 2022, in Vorzel, Kyiv region. He was 47. Russian soldiers shot him on the street while he was carrying food to people hiding in a basement from shelling and occupation. He died…
A Brother Who Could Not Walk Past: Remembering Viktor Maniushkin
Remembering Viktor Maniushkin, a young Ukrainian believer killed by rockets in Mariupol while running to save his neighbors’ burning home. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13 January 19, 1999 – March 10, 2022 Viktor Maniushkin was 23 years old. He was killed on March 10, 2022, during a Russian shelling of Mariupol – one of the first cities Russia tried to destroy in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. His family describes him simply: he was the kind of person who could not walk past someone in need without trying to help. That sentence is not a eulogy ornament. It is the most accurate description of how he died. A Faith That Was His Own Viktor’s faith in God and his baptism were a mature, personal decision. He once told those close to him: “I don’t want to do…
The Pastor Who Stayed Close: Remembering Leonid Skumatov
Pastor Leonid Skumatov stayed in the frontline city of Myrnohrad to serve the elderly and wounded. He was killed by a Russian drone on September 20, 2025. “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to Him.” – Luke 20:38 By September 2025, Myrnohrad was living in the shadow of the front line. The mining city had been steadily losing the markers of ordinary life. Homes were damaged, pharmacies and shops no longer functioned as they once had, communication was failing, and the roads grew more dangerous with each passing week. The people who remained were mostly those who could not leave – the elderly, the sick, the wounded, and those without the strength, resources, or relatives to carry them out. Among them was Leonid Stepanovych Skumatov, pastor of the Evangelical Christian Baptist church in Myrnohrad. He could have left. People urged him…
Story of Nikita: A Ukrainian Boy’s Dream in a Frontline Village
Growing Up in the Shadow of War Nikita is nine years old, and he lives in the small Ukrainian village of Mykhailivka, where the war is not something you see on the news but something you feel in everyday life. Here, the echoes of explosions are often heard in the distance, evenings pass without electricity in darkness broken only by candles or flashlights, and air raid sirens slice through the silence to remind families that the front lines are not far away. For Nikita, this has become part of his childhood-not the childhood he would have chosen, but the only one he has known, like so many other children in Ukraine who are learning to grow up in the shadow of war. On the day when Russian aerial bombs fell on Zaporizhzhia, Nikita was standing near his yard, looking up at the sky. He heard the adults speaking in tense…
Story of Eva
Eva Korniychuk lives in the small Ukrainian town of Korosten. Since the first days of the war, her father has been serving in the army. For a long time now, there has been no such thing as “peaceful time” in Eva’s life. Every morning she wakes up with the same prayer-for her father, for his fellow soldiers, and for Ukraine. Eva goes to church and likes to help with everything. She helps with the youth group, sings on the worship team, and sometimes organizes games for the teens. But in her heart there had long been one question. At night, when she closed her eyes to pray, Eva often said: “Lord, I’m still a child… can You use me? What can I do for You and for other children during this time of war?” The answer came unexpectedly. During one youth meeting, the group leader shared something special. Mission Eurasia was…
Victor
Living in a war is terrifying, and going through it alone is incredibly challenging. Victor knows this firsthand, as he has to hear with daily explosions in his crumbling house. Ever since his wife died, his once cozy home has gradually transformed into a place that barely resembles the welcoming place he used to return to after a hard day. Despite that, Victor stays home, unable to part ways with a place that holds countless cherished memories. In the war-torn village, life progresses from one shelling to the next, leaving Victor in constant uncertainty about the danger he will face each day. A rocket’s devastating impact recently struck his garden, causing irreparable damage to his home. There are now cracks in the walls, and the chimney isn’t working. With no other alternative, Victor continued to heat his stove. All the smoke stayed inside, making the house look worse, and causing…