Underground University Russia enables the church in Russia and the former Soviet Union to prepare for martyrdom and persecution amidst escalating legal restrictions. Such preparation must focus on helping the church here to remain one body with the faithful church around the world today and throughout history.

In September, as the war continued to rage between Ukraine and Russia, pastors from both countries gathered together at our VOM office for a time of Bible teaching, prayer and encouragement. In the below photo, the pastors listened intently as a North Korean defector shared about her country and how Christians live faithfully in the midst of severe persecution.

One of the Ukrainian pastors who attended (Pastor S.) had a stroke before the training. We never expected him to come in that condition, but he continued to express the desire to come, so we left his spot open.

When we picked him up from the airport, he confidently limped over to us (he was using a cane) and boldly shook our hand. He said that he knew we really wanted him at the training, so he made an extra effort to come, despite having suffered two strokes.

We were of course thankful he came but also nervous for his health (as he had some trouble walking and climbing stairs).

Pastor S’s determination was known to us before the training, though. We’ve been supporting him and his brother for the last two years as they’ve traveled around Ukraine preaching the gospel and delivering supplies to those in need, in addition to pastoring local congregations.

In February of 2024, Pastor S lost all of his earthly possessions when a Russian rocket completely destroyed his home. The church building that was attached to his home miraculously remained intact, except for a few broken windows. Perhaps even more miraculous was how on that particular night, Pastor S. and his wife stayed with his daughter at his grandson’s behest. If they had stayed in their own home on that night, they would have been killed. He received this as a sign from the Lord that he was to continue in ministry in his present location.

Interestingly, before this happened, he was warned that he would be targeted by the Russian government due to his gospel ministry.

What did Pastor S. do when he received that warning?

He continued to faithfully do gospel ministry despite the warning and the risks. Only on August 25, 2024 did he leave, as his city was officially occupied by Russian forces and he was forced out.

At our training were also several pastors who had their churches seized, church members assaulted and even rockets fired intentionally at their church buildings.

Pastor S and the other participants were perfect fits for our training, since the theme of the training was “faithful witness.”

Although the active phase of the war began on February 24^th, 2022, the pastors at our training have been faithfully serving in gospel-hostile areas long before the war started in 2022.

For several of our older participants, they didn’t learn about persecution and faithfulness in 2022 or even in 2014; they learned it during the time of the Soviet Union. Pastor V. shared that he experienced threats, detainments, interrogations and beatings (amongst other things), so now he is not afraid to go into the most dangerous areas of the war and do gospel ministry.

Pastor B. shared that the biggest lesson he’s learned over the last three years of the war was that “God continues His mission, His work” regardless of the circumstances.

Pastor E. shared that despite the fact that he lost his home and all his belongings, he is thankful that the Lord has allowed him to preach the gospel to thousands of people. Despite the difficulties, he simply prays that the Lord’s will would be done.

• Please pray for participants from both of our Russian language 2024 faithful witness trainings. Pray that they would be able to apply the principles from our trainings into the lives of their churches and families. Pray that they would continue to be faithful in difficult circumstances that each of their countries presents.
• Please pray for the health of the pastors that VOMK supports. Pastor S suffered a stroke before coming to our training last year. He continues to serve, despite his health problems. Pray that he and the other pastors who attended our recent training would remain healthy while they do God’s work.