The Church in War—The Gates of Hades Will Not Prevail
Pastor Zhenia Chekushkin clearly remembers that night in spring 2022, within the first week of the war. When he arrived at the church building of Calvary Chapel in Ternopil, Ukraine, and opened the back door to let himself in, Zhenia came face-to-face with two enormous black dogs. They were so huge that their heads were level with his chest. He was alarmed and froze to see what the beasts would do. He breathed a sigh of relief when they let him enter without molesting him.
The dogs belonged to a family of five that had just arrived: a dad and mom, two children, and a grandmother. They were all haggard and ghost-like, their skin, hair, and clothes gray, as if they’d been coated in dust from a construction site. They listened mutely as church volunteers told them they could eat and sleep on the premises. When they heard there was a shower they could use, the grandmother broke down sobbing. What had they endured to put them in such a state?
A Narrow Escape
After they got cleaned up, the dad told Zhenia their story. They were from Irpin, an idyllic suburb of Kyiv with beautiful parks and green spaces. Like everyone else in Kyiv and its environs, the family awakened to explosions on February 24, the day that Russia invaded Ukraine. Taking their dogs, they quickly fled to the basement of their building. A neighboring building was hit, and clouds of choking dust filled their hideout. Then came the soldiers. In the first days of the war, Russian troops quickly advanced on Kyiv, and places like Irpin were overrun.
Sitting across from Zhenia, eating a meal CC Ternopil had provided, the father described how he and his family hid in that basement for four days without food and water, cowering in terror as they listened to explosions and shooting outside. From a window slit located near the basement ceiling, the man could even see some of what was happening. The horrors he witnessed convinced him the Russian occupiers would show no mercy if they found his family.
After four days, silence descended on their street. The father crept out to check on their car. Amazingly, it was undamaged. The family and their pets quickly got in, shutting doors quietly to avoid alerting any lingering Russian soldiers. As he turned the key in the ignition, the father worried that the sound of the engine would attract unwanted attention. The engine roared to life, but everything else remained silent. He breathed a sigh of relief and pulled onto the deserted street.
When he rounded the first corner, he immediately saw the muzzle of a tank, and soldiers began firing. The family screamed and ducked for cover as bullets whistled into the interior of their car. The father slammed into reverse, racing to get his loved ones to safety. He took to back lanes and plowed through fields and finally lost his pursuers. The car was in terrible condition, but miraculously, none of the occupants had been hurt.
Their relief was short-lived. With a sick feeling, the father saw that the way forward was blocked by a military outpost. They were already close enough to see the soldiers’ weapons. Brokenly, he asked his family’s forgiveness for failing them. Then, when all hope was lost, he heard the soldiers speaking the Ukrainian language. This was a friendly outpost—they were saved!
“We should always help people, because that’s what we were created for.” - Yuri Zahurskiy
The soldiers gathered around as the family told them what had happened. Surveying the bullet-riddled car, one of the soldiers observed that it wouldn’t make it far. He gave the father the keys to his apartment in Ternopil, instructing him to find his car keys in the apartment and borrow his car to take the women and children to the border.
A day later, they were in Ternopil, eating a meal with Pastor Zhenia. The next day, they were able to find the soldier’s car and continue their journey.
“I never saw them again,” Zhenia said. “I don’t know the end of their story, but theirs was just one of hundreds that I heard during the first few months of the war.”
It’s What the Church Should Do
On Day One of the war, CC Ternopil was ready to receive evacuees, thanks to proactive leadership. The first people showed up on Day Two. The small church had converted their sanctuary, basement recording studio, and upstairs offices and classrooms into sleeping areas for thirty-five. Some nights they sheltered almost double that number. Most were passing through Ternopil on their way to other cities or the border. Some stayed in Ternopil, and the church helped them get back on their feet. In the coming months, over 30,000 displaced people would settle in Ternopil, which had a pre-war population of 225,000.
CC Ternopil was not the only Calvary to rise to the challenges of war. CC Svitlovodsk evacuated people and delivered aid to frontline areas. The church also became a safe haven for many fleeing the violence in the Kharkiv region, which borders Russia. Many evacuees stayed in Svitlovodsk and discovered new life in Christ through the ministry of the church.
Katya Postilniak, a pediatrician who serves in the children’s and youth ministry at CC Svitlovodsk, remembered that time. “We supported each other like a family; we cried together, because we heard so many hard stories. When we couldn’t find words, we cried together. It’s what the Church should do.” Beaming with the joy of Jesus, she continued, “They ask us why we are still smiling, and we say, ‘It’s because of God, because we believe He has a plan, and He is doing it.’”
The city of Chernihiv came under siege by the Russian army in the early days of the war. Many of the city’s inhabitants fled, but one brave Calvary pastor, Oleksiy Ivontiev, stayed. Equipped with only a bicycle, he made it his personal responsibility to deliver food to many pensioners who were left in the city. While Russian snipers indiscriminately shot people down in the streets, he courageously continued his missions of mercy. After the Russian forces destroyed the bridge over the Desna River, cutting off his route to one half of the city, Oleksiy acquired a boat with donations from other Calvary Chapels and continued his deliveries. Once the Russian forces were repelled and people came out of hiding, the pensioners he’d been serving began attending the church. Suddenly, CC Chernihiv was overflowing with elderly people filled with joy and the new hope they’d found in Jesus.
“The Church is doing what it always should have been. It is a light in a dark place and time, and it is showing the world what Jesus is like.” - Pastor Joel Brown
CC Kaharlyk also took an active role in alleviating the suffering caused by war. The church evacuated people and provided shelter to those fleeing. One man was especially active. Yuri Zahurskiy owned and operated a small trucking company. As war threatened his home, he immediately pivoted from delivering cargo to evacuating people. Kaharlyk is situated just south of Kyiv. With Russian troops trying to encircle the capital from the north, Yuri was perfectly positioned to rescue people from Kyiv and its suburbs.
Yuri completed one of his most daring evacuations during the early hours of February 28, 2022. As Russian and Ukrainian forces battled for control of Bucha, a Kyiv suburb, Yuri drove into the middle of the violence and chaos to rescue two Calvary Chapel families from the basement where they were hiding. According to neighbors, they made it out just five minutes before Russian tanks claimed their street. The one-month occupation of Bucha that followed made international headlines for the merciless brutality of the Russian soldiers, as they tortured, raped, and murdered hundreds of civilians.
When asked what motivated him to risk his life, Yuri said, “We should always help people, because that’s what we were created for. This is especially important in difficult times, when people are panicking, when no one knows what to do, when people are confused. Some people can operate under those conditions. I did. Other people did other things that were also important and necessary. I’m not a superhero. People have different fears, and I was not afraid in those situations. Especially since there were children involved—there was no other option. Thank God, He saved everyone.”
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1
Situated on the Ukrainian border with Hungary, CC Living Water Mukachevo helped multitudes. They housed 14,000 displaced people, fed 100,000, and evacuated close to 5,000 from areas of active warfare. They tried to share the Gospel with everyone they helped, and as a result, 80,000 people heard the Good News. This church of fewer than 100 people continues the same ministries today, on a smaller scale. When asked how ministry had changed during the war, Pastor Joel Brown commented, “In some ways, it became more pure. The Church is doing what it always should have been. It is a light in a dark place and time, and it is showing the world what Jesus is like.”
Several Ukrainian Calvary Chapels organized youth camps, serving youth from their own churches and from other cities. The camps were places kids could forget about the war and just be kids.
Stirring Each Other Up to Love and Good Works
After the initial wave of evacuees subsided, Ukrainian CCs began a new phase, focused on acquiring and delivering humanitarian aid. CC Ternopil became a main hub, receiving donations from all over the world via a warehouse hastily set up in Krakow, Poland. Donations were trucked into Ukraine and stored at a warehouse in Ternopil, and volunteer drivers took them farther east to the hardest-hit areas. Eventually the Ukrainian warehouse was moved closer to the front lines to simplify delivery.
About half a year into the war, many Ukrainians started returning home. Most of the CCs came back to life, for a total of 16 churches, but a sense of isolation and overwhelm prevailed among the leaders. There was more work than ever before, but there were fewer workers, because not everyone came back. In answer to this challenge, God gave Pastor Zhenia, who had become the CC overseer for Ukraine, a vision to encourage and equip the saints across Ukraine and beyond. CC Ternopil started an online school of ministry to train Ukrainian Christians, no matter where in the world they were currently located.
Zhenia also made it a goal to organize frequent retreats and conferences to bring together the Calvaries from across the country. In 2024, there were five CC conferences, all of them uniting multiple churches. The main goal of these retreats was to encourage, support, and challenge each church to look outward and serve their communities.
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. Hebrews 10:24
Last year also saw huge growth in children’s and youth ministry. “Every child in Ukraine is a child of war,” Zhenia shared. The horrific stress of growing up with air-raid sirens and the constant threat of danger is shaping the next generation. Even kids in safer regions carry a heavy burden: At any moment, they could receive news that someone they know was killed. Those with a positive outlet like music, art, or sports are the lucky ones. The others become withdrawn, sullen, and angry. Children’s and youth ministry is needed like never before, and Calvaries in Ukraine are responding.
In 2024, CCs in Ternopil, Mukachevo, Svitlovodsk, and Nizhyn all organized youth camps. They served youth from their own churches and also drew together youth from other cities. These camps are bright spots in the grim landscape of a war-torn childhood. “They can forget about the war and just be kids again,” Dara Markey, one of the leaders of the CC Ternopil youth camps, shared. “It’s incredible. We are just allowing the Holy Spirit to work, creating possibilities for encounters with Him.” Kids are meeting Jesus and learning to rely on Him to cope with the uncertainty and pain in their lives.
“Calvary Chapel Ukraine is still here. ... and we are doing whatever we can to preach the Gospel.” - Pastor Zhenia Chekushkin
A Personal Message for Calvary Chapel USA
When asked what he would like to tell the American Church, Zhenia had four thoughts. “First, Calvary Chapel Ukraine is still here. It never went anywhere. We are here, and we are doing whatever we can to preach the Gospel.
“Don’t believe everything you hear on the news. If you have questions, contact me. I can put you in touch with churches around the country. I know it would be enlightening for you to hear what we have to say.
“Next, come. There are many opportunities to serve, even in the midst of war. There are safer areas or more dangerous places, if you feel like it. But you can definitely come, and we’ll do our best to assist you with your trip.
“Finally, pray—and don’t stop. Pray for peace. Pray for the strengthening of all the churches. Every day I see the results of prayer, in big and small ways. I wish God would have answered my first prayer for the war to stop on February 24, 2022, but He didn’t. But that doesn’t mean God has stopped answering prayer. He still does, in His own way. Trust in the Lord, because He knows. Trust in His timing and His answer and the way He works—even if it’s not the way we expected Him to.”
Connect with Sharon T. Markey at MommyJoys.com
Many Ukrainians began returning home about a year and a half into the war. A total of 16 Calvary Chapel churches found they had more work than ever before. As overseer of the Ukrainian CCs, it was Pastor Zhenia Chekushkin’s vision to encourage and equip the faithful across Ukraine through online schools as well as organizing frequent retreats and conferences that united multiple churches, exhorting them to find ways to serve their communities.
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