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Where is Ukraine?
Ukraine was one of the
15 republics of the former USSR. It is situated between Russia
and Eastern Europe and was once considered the bread basket
of the USSR.
Ukraine is about the same size as Texas, and
has a population of just under 48 million people.
Less than 2% of the population is affiliated
with any evangelical church.
What is East Central Ukraine?
East Central Ukraine includes
three "oblasts", or state regions, with a total
geographic size equal to the state of Indiana (34,000 sq.
miles; 87,900 sq. km.) These three oblasts and their populations
(in thousands) are Dnipropetrovsk (3,560), Poltava (1,630),
and Zaparozjya (1,926). The total population is approximately
7.2 million people, or 15% of the total population of Ukraine.
The region is located east of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev
in the central part of the country. The majority of the people
in the region are Russian speakers, although most know Ukrainian
as well.
Although Eastern Orthodox Christianity
came to Ukraine over 1000 years ago, Evangelical Christianity
began in these regions in the late 1800's. Evangelicals were
persecuted and suppressed during Soviet rule. With the breakup
of the USSR, the door is now open to sow the gospel and see
God's harvest.
East Central Ukraine has over
3,000 population points with no evangelical church. The ratio
of evangelical churches to the population is approximately
1:20,000. The ratio of evangelical churches to communities
is approximately 1:10, and at most 1 % of the population is
affiliated with an evangelical church.
The prayer and goal of our team
is to see hundreds, thousands of new churches springing up
across this region of Ukraine. Read on to see how God is doing
His work in the region, and how you might be involved.
About Dnipropetrovsk
 The
Dnipropetrovsk oblast (region/state) of Ukraine has a population
of 3.5 million people. The city of Dnipropetrovsk (Dnye-pro-pe-TROVSK)
is the third largest city in the country
with a population of over 1.2 million people
and serves as the hub of our church planting activities. The
primary language of the people is Russian.
Dnipropetrovsk was a closed, or "secret"
city during the time of the USSR because it was a
primary center for rocket research and development. It remains
a major industrial center and one of the most important economic
regions in Ukraine. Dnipropetrovsk sits on the banks of the
Dnipr River, the primary river in Ukraine, which splits the
city in two. The current president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma,
is from Dnipropetrovsk and was formerly the director of the
large rocket factory complex here.
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