About the Ministry
Ruslan serves as the Director of Church Planting and Evangelism for the Baptist Union in Ukraine, where he helps equip and encourage leaders to plant healthy, multiplying churches. Since the beginning of the war in 2022, the Baptist Union has seen 65 churches planted across Ukraine. Ruslan has also been directly involved in planting six churches in Odessa over the past 12 years. Today, he and other church planting leaders are working toward an ambitious vision to see 1,000 healthy churches planted throughout Ukraine over the next 10 years.
Ministry Focuses
Meet the Leader: Ruslan
I repented and came to faith at the age of 17, when I first came to the House of Prayer in 1993. That same year, I was baptized. Afterward, I served in the army, where I met my future wife, Natasha. Following my discharge, we got married, and I went into business with hopes of becoming a successful businessman.
In 2009, I received an invitation to join a short-term missionary trip to Tajikistan. During that trip, God began to work in my heart and showed me that our family should return to Tajikistan as missionaries to preach the Gospel to the people there. God changed my dreams. Instead of pursuing a career in business, He placed a desire in my heart to serve as a missionary.
That same year, we answered God’s call and moved to Tajikistan for missionary ministry. It was a special season, filled with both challenges and God’s blessings. In 2014, we returned to Ukraine and moved to Odessa to plant a new church. The Lord gave us a clear vision and opened the door for us to begin a church in the city. Three years later, another church was planted in one of Odessa’s new districts.
In 2020, God gave us a special vision for the city of Odessa, and we launched the “Odessa for Jesus 2025” project. The goal was to plant 25 new churches throughout the city. When the war began in 2022, we faced significant challenges. Yet, despite the war and the many difficulties, God remained faithful, and 10 new churches were planted.