Written by: Christ for all Nations
Article source: JOY! Magazine
For many decades, Christians around the world have believed the lie that Europe is not ripe for the Gospel, and yet we know from John 4:35 that the fields of Europe are white for harvest, the same as anywhere else. With simple faith in this reality, on February 25 2022, the day after the war began in the Ukraine, Christ for all Nations (CfaN) sent out a team to the Polish-Ukraine border to begin humanitarian efforts, and to scout out the possibility of leading many to Christ. This team was headed up by Matthew McCluskey, the director of European Outreach. Upon landing in Poland, their objective was simple: to find the places where refugees were gathering, to give aid, and to preach the Gospel with boldness and love. We asked Matthew to tell us what’s been happening there…
How did the outreaches start?
The day the war started, two Ukrainian graduates from our CfaN Bootcamp reached out to me, as well as Ben Fitzgerald from Awakening Europe. The next morning, Ben messaged me, “Matt, you should come over here right now.” By Friday evening, I had a ticket to Krakow. The plan was to gather our friends, get close to the border, and see what was happening. What are the needs? How can we help? But the biggest question on our hearts was, “How can we preach the Gospel in this time?”
Our team boldly preached the Gospel. We were yelled at, persecuted, rejected, and laughed at by news reporters and social media. Still, we knew the greatest thing we could ever offer anyone in this world was salvation through Christ Jesus. When others ran, our teams drove the opposite way towards the fire, towards the bombs, because every person is worth it. When we met people, we told them, “We have come to tell you that you are not alone. You are not forgotten. In this chaos, when government fails, when people fail, when homes burn down, there is everlasting peace and salvation in Christ Jesus. When the world falls apart, Jesus will never leave or forsake you.”
Denis Artyushevskiy (Bootcamp graduate)
The top priority is always Jesus
At the train station where refugees were being offloaded, we set up tables with aid items and began interacting with them. Between our loudspeakers and Awakening Europe’s worship team, we made that space our own. This was all at the “crazy” train station where CNN and the international press were staked out. We worshipped and preached the Gospel freely. No matter what else we were doing in a humanitarian sense, we never lost sight of the importance of always sharing the Gospel. We truly saw revival break out. For those first seven weeks, it was impossible to cross the border without hearing the Gospel!
Over the border – into the Ukraine
For the first week, we were on the Polish side of the border. Then we decided to base a team on the other side, and that’s where the rich harvest really began. We had around 20 people in teams of two or three, usually a Bootcamp evangelist with a translator. As time went on, we heard about other refugee centres and started bringing aid and sharing in those places too. There were so many kids, we started doing a “Kids’ Hour” every day.
How did CfaN Bootcamp evangelists get involved?
18 Bootcamp graduates came, as well as many Fire Camp graduates. After three months, there were no more long queues at the border. 15 people then travelled further into Ukraine to the conflict zones. They were often invited to preach to whole units of soldiers who would then head into battle, where many would die. What an honour to lead many of those men to Christ. In August 2022, we were in Rotterdam for Awakening Europe, and felt the Lord telling us to hold another Fire Camp in Ukraine three weeks later. We wanted to train up Ukrainian-speaking evangelists who would not need to leave, like those from other countries. They saw around 10 000 salvations in two months.
‘Now that you are saved’ in Ukrainian
It was amazing how fast CfaN got follow-up booklets translated, printed, and in our hands. Every booklet was given to new believers. Many times, we ran into people weeks later who got saved at the border, who shared with us the truth of their testimonies and the lasting change in their lives. Having books in Ukrainian was vital, as it was difficult to connect new believers to churches in that situation.
Reaching out into the chaos
What really had an impact on me was seeing ordinary people act heroically and sacrificially. It was beautiful to see the fruit of people who have worked for decades to build churches where they understand the love of Father God and the power of the Gospel. To see the first wave of that reaching out into the chaos, building the Kingdom in the midst of war – this is something I will never forget.
At CfaN, we believe that the fields of Europe are indeed white for harvest. We believe that what was seen at the borders of Ukraine is merely a foretaste of what God has planned in the coming decade.
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Date published: 13/04/2023
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