Calvary Chapel Pastor Shines Christ in Ukraine War
Photos courtesy of Revekka Yarmil
Calvary Chapel Pastor Illia Yarmil (right), and his comrades defend Ukraine. Faced with the real possibility of Illia being called up for duty, his wife Revekka agreed to his wish to volunteer for service. In January 2025, after three months of training, Illia received his assignment to a drone battalion. Men and women often serve in the same combat battalion.
The sun had not yet risen when Calvary Chapel Pastor Illia Yarmil, a soldier in the Ukrainian Army, left the safety of his bunker. He and another soldier walked half a mile to a rendezvous point to retrieve a generator and fuel, absolutely critical to the work of their drone platoon. In the predawn light, they waited under an open sky for the delivery. Little did they know, over a mile away, that the enemy was watching. Far overhead, a surveillance drone homed in on their position.
As soon as they began the trek back with the supplies, Illia and his brother-in-arms heard a mortar round incoming, then another, and another. Each strike was closer than the last. The two men ran for the cover of nearby trees, lugging the generator and 10 gallons of gasoline. They made it to the tree line just as a shell exploded a mere 50 feet away, throwing them to the ground. Shrapnel flew past their faces. Miraculously, nothing hit them. They both sustained concussions, but they pulled themselves to their feet and struggled on. Making it to safety seemed impossible amid the barrage. But when all hope was lost, they spied a bunker and managed to scramble inside. Illia knew God had protected them and provided a way of escape.
For seven hours, they weathered a storm of mortar and drone fire inside that shelter. Finally, the enemy gave up, and the men completed their mission, delivering the precious generator and gasoline to their platoon.
When Illia got married in August 2019, two and a half years before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he and his bride Revekka had no idea what incredible challenges lay ahead. They both had a passion for God and His Church and served in the youth ministry of Calvary Chapel Kyiv. This birthed a desire to start a church for young people. In preparation, they joined a church-planting team led by CC Pastor George Markey in a very secular neighborhood of downtown Kyiv. The experience taught them how to build a Christian community that lived on mission to the lost.
The team invited friends and neighbors for an Easter celebration. Iliya and Revekka Yarmil loved hosting dinner parties before the war started. They sensed that sharing food opens hearts and cements relationships.
War Strikes
Then came February 24, 2022, a morning seared into the memories of every Ukrainian. Around 5 a.m., a phone call awakened Illia and Revekka.
It was one of their teammates. “The war’s started!” she exclaimed.
They didn’t believe her—then they heard a loud explosion. They leapt out of bed, grabbed the bags they’d packed in preparation for just such a moment, and fled their apartment. More than two months would pass before they returned.
The team spent the first day and night at Pastor George’s apartment, huddling together in the basement while explosions roared outside. The next day, everyone found a way out of the city. Illia and Revekka went to the train station and joined the masses fighting to board any train heading away from the fighting. People pushed their way into the wagons until it was physically impossible to shove in more bodies. Some even climbed in through the windows. Illia and Revekka were lucky. While many had to stand, they managed to get one upper berth in a sleeper car.
They eventually made it 300 miles west to the city of Ternopil, where the local Calvary Chapel was welcoming displaced people. Illia was desperate to help. He wanted to enlist in the army, but the idea terrified Revekka. Instead, he managed to get a van and filled his time delivering humanitarian aid and evacuating people. The couple moved multiple times over the coming months, tossed from apartment to apartment and city to city.
Illia's battalion purchased this Humvee from the USA. Not long after this picture was taken, it was destroyed by a Russian drone. Amazingly, no one was hurt.
Returning to Ministry in Kyiv
While evacuating people from Kyiv in April, Illia was struck to see how life had resumed some normalcy in the capital. While there was constant danger of missile strikes, many people still lived there. Stores, restaurants, coffee shops, and other businesses still functioned. At the beginning of May, he and Revekka decided to return home. It was time to follow the dream God had placed in their hearts before the invasion. They were going to start a church for youth.
They moved into a large apartment in downtown Kyiv and handpicked a team of young people to share it with them. Practicing radical life-on-life discipleship, they taught these youth everything they knew about missional living. Through potluck lunches following Sunday Bible discussions, and fellowship times around board games, the work grew as people invited their friends, who, in turn, invited others. Most were unbelievers, and God was touching their hearts as they experienced true Christian community with the Yarmils and their team.
The Yarmils and their team lived and ministered together for two years in this apartment.
Serving Christ in the War
This season came to an end in 2024 with the passage of a law requiring all Ukrainian men of fighting age to report to their draft office. Faced with the real possibility of Illia being called up for duty, Revekka finally agreed to his wish to volunteer for service. This would give him the right to sign a contract with a specific battalion, rather than being placed anywhere at the whim of the draft officer.
In January 2025, after three months of training, Illia received his assignment to a drone battalion. God’s favor was on him, and within seven months, he was promoted to squad leader. Currently, he is scheduled for another promotion.
Illia has frequent opportunities to share the Gospel in his new context. His call sign, Pastor, leads to many spiritual conversations. In December, he had a dramatic opportunity to witness to his whole platoon. One of the men attempted suicide after racking up serious debt from internet gambling. Illia rushed him to the nearest hospital, saving his life. The rest of the men were deeply shaken. It’s one thing to be shot at by the opposite side. But it’s another thing to discover a spiritual enemy has invaded the mind of one of your own comrades. God used this near tragedy to give Illia an opportunity to share about Christ and the peace He offers when we turn to Him.
But despite how God is using him, Illia struggles to remain at peace himself. “It’s a very difficult, traumatic experience—a constant dance with death. And now I also carry the weight of responsibility for the lives of the men, which makes it even harder. Fear is constantly with me. I have to fight to move past that fear to keep doing my job. And I have to wrestle with God, to believe that He is greater than my fear, than the circumstances and the risks.”
Illia and Revekka taught their team to see celebrations as a perfect opportunity to invite seekers into their lives.
Fighting to Survive
Illia, whom all his friends remember as a fun-loving, energetic extrovert, admits he’s no longer that person. And Revekka, who always relied on him, must endure the terror of war alone, as Russia frequently strikes civilian targets in her city. She makes a point of visiting Illia every month. It takes her up to 14 hours to travel to the place where they can meet near the front. Sometimes they have only a few hours together before he’s called back again, but they know that living separate lives under such incredible stress could push them apart, so they fight for closeness. They dream of ministering side-by-side again, but right now, their goal is much simpler—to survive. And to not let this war destroy their marriage or their faith.
December 5, 2025: Illia was released for a few days to attend a Calvary Chapel conference. The couple tries to memorize every touch in these shared moments so that later, when everything feels overwhelming, they can relive the warmth of holding hands.
June 26, 2025: Illia was granted birthday leave to celebrate in Kyiv with his wife and pet. Two days later, he returned to the front. This is a rare photo of all of them together.
Read more stories about God’s work among Ukrainians: SharonTMarkey.com
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