They came, they saw, they went

            You may have met, or heard about, at some point, the “Ukrainians in the basement.”  Immersion Church was meeting here at St. Luke’s Zion as a fledgling ministry for Ukrainian refugees and residents who didn’t go to church anymore.  It is a ministry envisioned as something different from the average congregation – something along the lines of enrichment classes and leadership training for Christians.

            Valerii and Helen (Lena), the leaders of this ministry, experienced God’s call to begin this ministry in this place.  They had already been meeting with a group online for many months, but wanted to have a physical location as well.  They (like so many others) had left their home in Odessa in order to escape the war and found refuge in Canada.

            Initially, a number of our members encountered them in the church parking lot.  They were in their car attending a prayer meeting on Zoom, and praying that this place might become a home base for Immersion Church.  They even had the police come and rap on the car window to see what they were doing here.  When we first signed a covenant agreement with them, Valerii joked that all of the bad stuff had already happened.

            However, the ministry did not grow as much as they had hoped it would, and those who came were not able to offer any financial support.  Thus, by the end of April, they concluded that they, as pastors, could not continue to pay for everything, and the ministry would need to take a different form.

            While they have continued to meet with the online group (which is scattered all over the world), they have now moved to more of a house church model for their “in person” gatherings.  At the same time, they have insisted on paying the amount that they agreed to for the previous months.  We hold them in prayer, and pray that God will show them what comes next.

            A few months ago, we welcomed Pastor Anatoliy, who came to worship with us and shared the story of how he and his wife ended up coming to Canada.  It was an amazing story of faith, as they experienced a clear call from God to come to this country where they did not know anybody – apparently to prepare for the influx of Ukrainian refugees that was to come.  He and his wife had also helped Valerii and Lena when they first came to Canada as refugees.  As it turns out, Pastor Anatoliy and some people from his congregation had also come and prayed in our parking lot.

            There is much that we can learn from these brothers and sisters in Christ who have navigated leaving their homeland and answering challenging (and perhaps even scary!) calls from God.  Ultimately, we are all on the same team – seeking to share the love of Christ with others in our community.

            May we, too, continue to learn and to grow as we seek to follow Jesus.  After all, who knows what the next thing is that God has in mind for us!

           In Christ,

            Pastor Lynne Hutchison