Trees represent life and growth in Scripture. They sprout lush green leaves and develop deep roots to weather storms. They also provide shade and sometimes fruit on their branches.

This photo of trees in Bucha, Ukraine, serves as a fitting cover image for this Eurasia field report. It symbolizes how God has planted people in this region who continue to do good work despite great difficulty and destruction caused by war.

The Eurasia region includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Consider the progress in four areas.

Team

God continues to grow a strong team for GTP in this region. We have a board member (Dr. Michael Cherenkov) and staff member (Dr. Olena Hetman) fluent in Russian and Ukrainian.

We have a regional facilitator in Chișinău, Moldova (Yuri Boldirev) who has also started serving as a GTP course moderator. He helps with the delivery of GTP on demand certificate courses. Find our courses here.

Additionally, we have country coordinators with whom we can collaborate with GTP program work in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. We think this only represents the early stages of forming a GTP team for the region.

Translation

We have made significant progress on the translation of resources into Russian and Ukrainian in three areas: ECFA Press books, devotional books, and diagnostic tool & templates

In partnership with Mission Eurasia, the ECFA Press books, The Choice, The Sower, and The Council have been translated into Russian. The Choice has just been released in Ukrainian, with The Sower and The Council coming soon.

GTP has also released two devotional books for stewards in this region with others to follow. Download Flourish and Refuge in Ukrainian and Flourish in Russian.

Church and ministry workers can also now access the GTP diagnostic tool and templates in Russian here. This collection of resources helps workers implement good governance and administration for local sustainability.

Telegram

GTP recently activated a Ukrainian Telegram channel. Join the group here. This month, GTP provides a daily reading from the Refuge devotional. Next month, it will feature readings from the Flourish devotional.

We created this channel to try to grow our network of Ukrainian stewards. We also did it to encourage God’s workers in this war-torn country to persevere. Share this channel with any Ukrainians you know.

Travel

In the past year, GTP has made multiple trips in the region. We have traveled and ministered in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Ukraine. We also attended a regional conference where we made valuable connections.

The Russian occupation of Ukraine has greatly complicated travel and work in the region. We anticipate more travel in the months and years to come, but we do this carefully and confidentially.

Looking ahead, we anticipate travel to engage with member schools of the International Evangelical Theological Alliance represented by 36 schools in Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, and Ukraine.

Many of these schools have experienced GTP program work either onsite or online. We believe that serving these schools well will shape the future of church and ministry administration and governance in the region.

Prayer Points

Pray for peace in this region. Pray for the workers to grow strong like trees and for new ones to sprout. GTP has country coordinators in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. Pray for them as they build country teams and work together to multiply stewards to grow generosity and help churches and ministries follow standards to strengthen accountability.

Also, pray for the following countries where we still need country coordinators: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. And pray for the translation of more resources into more languages and for the ongoing work of GTP with the International Evangelical Theological Alliance.