A young Ukrainian man is the first to come to faith through the new English Bible study groups led by Christians in Lviv, Ukraine, reports CMF missionary Dustin Mullinex.

“Andriy made the decision to follow Christ and be baptized in mid-February,” said Dustin. “He is in a group with three university students led by Pavlo, the pastor of our church in Lviv.”

“God is working with many other people through these groups, using what for some was primarily an interest in English to draw them to Himself,” he added.

Lviv, a city in northwest Ukraine, is solidly pro-Western and Ukrainian-speaking. The primary effects on the city from the war with Russia are emotional difficulties and the challenges posed by the steady influx of refugees from Crimea and the break-away regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

“Since our return to the field in September our primary focus has changed to evangelistic English Bible groups, primarily with university students and recent graduates,” said Dustin. “We are seeing that by using a simple meeting format that relies on the Holy Spirit to reveal truth about Christ through stories from His life, and by building relationships with and praying for people in the groups, God is drawing people closer to faith in Christ.”

Ukrainian believers take part in two of the seven groups, which is critical for discipleship after conversion.

“Our vision is to train people who come to faith through these groups so they can start new groups in Ukrainian with those in their circle of influence, resulting in multiple generations of disciples,” said Dustin.