A Message from Alexandr Rodichev

A message from Alexandr Rodichev, a brother in Christ from Ukraine:

When I was a kid, a lot of churches were established. Big dreams, extensive campaigns. Hundreds of baptisms. A lot of lives changed.

When I was a teenager, Church had its challenges. All beliefs rushed into Ukraine. It was a test of our beliefs, and many congregations couldn’t pass it.

When I was a teenager then, we, with other teenagers, already made classes for our friends in the youth groups that we led. We fight for the church to preserve it. When I became an adult, God blessed me to start a new congregation in Dnipro. And from the start, we saw ourselves as a city on a hill, as a church that would be a blessing not only to the community but will be a help to other churches.

God blessed us and united us into a team. And currently, I know that Sergey and Marina can cover the church's needs in the place. On the 23rd of February, I went to Bila Tserkva - the city near Kyiv, to teach Minor Prophets at the Bible Institute. I woke up with explosions. And my phone was ringing, dozens of messages were there. For the years, we have been involved in many programs in many cities. Each year we contacted about 40-45 congregations about camp Amerikraine, about different summer camps, campaigns, and seminars. People know that we know people in other places. And in Ukraine, we have the call of duty toward our families and relatives. This is the moment for the church when you can know and realize that you have the most significant family ever.

When I was on the floor in the corridor, I heard explosions outside. I was on the phone. I kept telling them that the church family in different locations could help and, of course, that we were with them. It took me a day to get back to Dnipro. During that day, we had about 70 cars with Christians who went west or abroad. When I got back home, my brother Bogdan met me at the train station during a curfew. He was waiting extra 5 hours to meet our sisters from Kramatorsk and me. The train was going slowly because of the missile strikes. When I got back home, I saw a familiar picture. All our first floor, basement, and second floor were filled with people. In the morning, I heard sirens and the work of air defense systems with explosions. The same morning we had a problem with the availability of fuel. We talked with people who gathered in our home, and I explained to them that if the situation with fuel will not be resolved, then we could be stuck. We decided to go.

We were already in constant contact with churches in west Ukraine. Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Chernivtsi, Lviv. We talked with our neighbors in central Ukraine - with other congregations in Dnipro, with the church in Zaporizhzhia and Kam’yanske. It took us two full days for a trip that usually lasted 10 hours. We didn’t plan to go to Chernivtsi; it was the closest location with a limited amount of fuel. Cars without gasoline were abandoned on the sides of a road. Many vehicles were crashed on the way, and cars pulled to the side. Enemies jet fighters met us on the way. They were 100 feet from us on a low height just next to us. Hundreds of calls made on the way.

Wonderful people. Meetings with people we talk to in the morning or a day before. We met people from Odessa with whom we spoke just in the morning. We had the opportunity to sleep in another Christian home that one wonderful family left in a hurry. Eventually, we got to Chernivtsi. Many messages from all parts of the world were giving us all tears to realize how great is our God and how big is our church family. I read many comments. Ukrainians who called me usually said that they saw many messages from thousands of people who pray for Ukraine. It was encouraging to them. To know that they are not alone. They are not left, especially in the times like that. People called and asked where we were and started to come to Chernivtsi. And this is how I was temporarily stuck in Chernivtsi, which is a great blessing. We used our skills from camps and hosting. We navigated people, we sent people further. And this is where the church family helped again.

It helped us to have food and allowed us to have places to go in Europe or even further. Our worship services are different now. They are more profound. God’s living Word lives. We studied 1 Peter and the epistle of James - books to the refugees. Today I finished teaching the students Minor prophets where we could see God’s mercy and His mighty hand amid war. We still don’t have a constant amount of people who stay with us every night in the church building. But we gather together and have a small devo every day. I want to go home, but every time I want to do, I hear about missile strikes on the way back home. And my van is broken, and for a week I will not have it. So for me, it means that it will not be now. If you ever dreamed of living with Christians on an island or you didn’t want for the retreat to be over - this is similar to what we have here now. Except we have more time to carry each other’s burdens and hear each other’s stories. What I want you to say is that the time right now it’s notable for the church. There is a spiritual war going on too. But I want to tell you that we have many victors, who got stronger in faith, more robust in hope, stronger in love. And this coming Sunday, I want you to look on your left and right side - this is your family. If you ever have troubles in life or war - this is your family. The family that God blessed you with.

Let us celebrate it