Stu Interviews a Ukrainian pastor –-Saved out of communism and bombed by the Russians

Listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com the Cold War, the fall of communism. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall really seems worse and Ronald Reagan will today.

You're gonna talk a man who grew up right in the middle of all that in the Ukraine and he is seen communism upfront that he is a pastor remarkable conversion story remarkable ministry of seminary in the middle of Ukraine and the guy who introduced him to true thought, we can a Stu Epperson is right here with me.

I got a welcome release say I got a lot of Scott Reed. God bless you guys later come in on a day and in visiting with us.

Thank you. Thank you Stu for having us well what a treat to be this guy even work on the sooner we talk you before we had other of your colleagues on. This is he's doing it.

He's over there. But when you start to seminary or how many how many are there now totaling what God is… Right that like it's a wonderful story. The Ukrainian Baptist theological seminary, which is an evangelical seminary, has a long history of being a Bible college with 35 students enrolled in 2013 today God has blessed it with over 700 students just miraculous growth and their training young men and women to go on the man to be preachers, church planters and to spreading the gospel throughout the Ukraine.

Many of them are coming from the east, which is war-torn. The Russians have taken it over the destroyed churches. They persecuted Christians and these people have come to love Eve Ukraine which is in the western part of the Ukraine to the seminary to learn God's word so you're to get the uncensored of what's really going on in this Russian Ukrainian dispute in this this undeclared war from a man was right in the middle of it at least a component chronicles of undeclared warrior get it right now in the true thought, we can project podcast and podcasting broadcast and you're here things today that you probably may not hurt in the media get I can hear it you know, in general, maybe even on social tales, but this is real stuff and elicit your right to bill this this is right where you live, where you grew up.

Tell everyone a little bit about who is Elise Abe Cronin I was born in 1978 I was born in completely theistic family. My grandfather was strong and committed communism and we didn't have Bible in our home. We did not go to the charge.

We did not pray and we when we did not talk about God and everything changed when we got religious freedom and 1991. Ukraine became independent concrete and I first time I hear about God from my mom.

She accepted Christ through the ministry of international and missionaries and she stopped to talk with us about God and she was inviting us to the church and she was praying for us and through short testimony all my family became believers and even my grandfather communism. He became a Christian do what was it like to convert from communism, which is effectively atheism right socialism as all those things with it into becoming a born-again Christian, probably for older people. It was little bit different process but when my mom accepted Christ. I was 15 years old, did major wild and crazy and stupid and I thought, God thief is if God is real itself and for older people and I believed in this world so many cool things like alcohol or drug girls, Armani and all of these things can bring happiness into my life and that's what that was.

My believe that was my way over like to live, and three years I tried to do all kinds things and finally I was completely destroyed and disappointed and addictive and that too. It was bent and and I just decided to try to find exit and I just tried to ask God to help me with with all my like my troubles, and in this way, I just repented and I just ask God to please change me change my life. Help me to understand sense of my life and that's that's what happened with me.

Wow. And so did you ever think that is a teenager receiving Christ and go through all that from communism to Christianity that you be a pastor and that you deleting the largest seminaries ever in the history of Ukraine.

No no no no no I did not think of this way and everything what I could see in my life, or that I mean it was like a big miracle from from the Lord. That is some else. So Ukraine Russia, communism. So many things going on there that this Cold War between a course us in the Soviet Union here in New England. Us American America verses of union but then there's a war did and you caught the chronicles of an undeclared war. Can you explain to our our listeners to so many folks we have missionaries, pastors, leaders from all over the world. On this program because there's 2 billion people on the planet who've never heard the gospel and there are thousands of people in your homeland that you're still trying to reach and we want to help you do it we just put a thumbtack in our conference room right in the middle.

Ukraine thanks to Scott here and he got a picture of it to tell people that we are now engaged in that area through this show through this man of God. We want to tell her what to support this, but tell us a little bit about this chronicles of an undeclared war while before the thousand 14 in my life I can say was perfect. I had family we own business. I was pastor of the largest George and Lou gone school region and I was really really KP and I was really satisfied by my life but as you know Sprint the thousand fortune put in a Mexican hit Duke part of Europe's southern part of Ukraine Crimea at the same time she could buy eastern part of Ukraine and we lived at the eastern part of your brain just probably 4050 miles from the border from Russia yes really closely you are in a war zone. As a yes. Yes. And in this way I could see everything. I mean, what does war mean in reality we were staying there. We tried to help people in the war zone, where each yell we were involved in evacuation of the people of the night.

Several refuges camps in nearby wars on and that was like our ministry and I meant chronicles of undeclared war because all the world around us and I mean people just worry about that or be people just cure something about that, and Russia would say there is no war in Ukraine. There is no Russian and military's in Ukraine, but in reality I experienced a real war and many people they died and almost all my home thousand was destroyed by Morgan and that was a real war and they really wanted to share this experience with people around all the walls and I wrote this book and it's available through Amazon for people could read and know the truth about what's going on in my country yes about this brochure is quite graphic and highly we were honored to have you as a special guest at Wednesday in the word of our men's group we get together every Wednesday. Dario was a great restaurant group in the North Carolina and we go through the Bible in you that you got it will normally have speakers but what testimony you know so you have assured a quick everyone got it. I would do this brochure. This is not just ordinary brochure initially structures just like sales pitches right this is got a picture of the church before the war. Brotherly see in a picture of the church. After war right just had or any so basically Boudin and his guys just started bombing you guys just just throw these and acknowledging them around island not only born but I mean it was really tough and difficult time for Christians because it was time of and is still going on, time of persecution. Yeah they asked us to, and personally I had been meeting with leader of that group Russian like superlatives and they asked us to support them and they asked me publicly to tell about to tell people about all support. But of course I did not want to do it because it was wrong and when I rejected. They started their securitize and they promised keel like my people from the chosen is a promised burn down our church building and that picture you just you could see that's our charge billion and burned out by Russian troops just unbelievable tragic in the printer the price it Christians pay in other parts the world just to follow Jesus and they get stronger in the rebuilt organ to hear about how they rebuilt and how they've grown the seminary be the theological seminary out of the ashes of this devastating undeclared war from Russia more on the inside of that more of this man's testimony more on the Ukraine and what God is doing there in all over Russia with my special guest we come back to the podcast will keep rolling through make it one big podcast your cable not that big, but the broadcasters can take a break. We got wonderful radio to affiliates all over the country, the Wilkins radio group and others to carry this program that I know are being encouraged by this.

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My Stu Epperson Facebook page were to follow each other on Instagram and on Twitter stating folks more of this man's testimony wait to hear about the seminary and how you can get on an airplane to go to Ukraine and be used by God or you get on your knees and views may be more to the power prayer. Hang on, were covered up to talk weekend were headed to Ukraine today and I with two men of God who one of these guys is been working me hard for the last decade or so to go over there him another medicine everybody to Ukraine to denote all these things are doing with businesspeople Scott reacher doing things with with all kinds of churches, and then this Ukrainian Baptist theological seminary. What can be more powerful. What what could be more plausible than the support an institution that is equipping men and women in the word of God to counsel people that are stuck on hooked on vodka hooked on the opioid just happen over there to and there stuck in life and they have no hope when they were in atheism and Scott recently they walked by Lisa's church early walked by the Ukrainian Baptist theological seminary. What happens will pay hopefully fall in love with it as my wife Pam and I have and they want to go and they want to learn about their father and about Jesus Christ and they want to go in and share it. The seminary trains, pastors, church planters worship leaders.

They have some very talented musical individuals to go to school.

They are to lead worship.

It's a wonderful they do women's ministry and our wives. My wife and others are involved in helping them with thought expanding the women's ministry and again God just keeps blessing.

It him blessed it better fact they far outgrown their facilities and were in the midst of raising money to help them expand and have enough room to teach and to house into feed the 700 students that they now have such a it's a fun ministry stood okay in this guy right here.

Police say Cronin.

It's only taken me like six hours to get his name right but I finally got really sick.

I bless you man. Thank you way to my grand families. We are Instagram live right there and will unbelievable and we got Scott Reed, who introduced us to each other.

He brought you to Wednesday in the world this morning right Scott, yes I yeah and then the lycée wrote this book chronicles of undeclared war, you testified earlier about how you got see you or communism right and your mom so mom got saved and that's really what happened after that and after my mom accepted Christ to join Baptist Church and should start the work with us.

She was praying for us and she was inviting us to the church services and she was sharing with us busters slight sermons and through your testimony all my family became a Christian's and even grandfather, unused.

He became a Christian to wow so say say that communism he came to Wednesday in the war this morning and shared it.

Testimony was tremendous at another time on another station. We have listeners all over the world. They listen to the truth to enter to talk we can podcast as well. Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and we are live on Instagram right now my daughter hope destroying so she's hearing your story as we speak right there. Hey, hope everyone else in in your on Instagram as well. He has us your name LEC ELISA Y_prominent TRO and IN right right in so doing talk is get out.

You guys will know what really happened in Ukraine will really happen in it was a 2000 13,000 10. Everything was was rolling well for you or your wedding well and I was busted in the largest church and I was owned in a big business and I was sitting and family we doing we were doing the really good. It's really well but the thousand 14 war came into our theology and the war destroyed almost everything so narrowly that right there.

There's the church before Scott pointed out his arm, holding both my phone and my point out the church before the horse got report or see that nice church.

This is a large Easter celebration that is limiting that in a church after the war the bombs the Russians prudently just came down to shellac you guys and people were killed and they told you you were to kill you if you if you reject Christ and get line right you physically as they asked us to support them or the same way as overlooks or supports boredom that expected from us well but yeah so so this may not be the most popular thing to talk about you know on podcasting and radio on Instagram, and the fact is there are 40+ million 45+ million people in the Ukraine and these are people need Jesus.

And that's why you're here and you're here in our offices to the audience zero talk these guys a second to buy their amazing ministry in their challenges going on. That's why he wrote this book chronicles undeclared wars, got your test results. Christian book is that your testimony is that I the church right but tell them what what's happening with this amazing seminary.

The Ukrainian Baptist seminary would put the phone or that the camera back on user Windows was going out at new president. He has built a new team and he got completely and you will listen and we have really symbolism reason it's not about us would really want to help local churches to grow through baptism and discipleship, and through all and you is in and through allowing you my thoughts work with our students. Seminary is started to grow and is still growing and the thousand for Archean theme in their heads are 35 students but now we have 700 of them 700 students and is through this exercise and to spread our reason growth.

All gone to Ukraine and also our missionaries from international mission vocative. They do ministry in 16 different countries and we able to share the gospel and share our vision, Ukraine and many other condors around us now, so this guy here with me. Scott Reed and Scott you're supposed to be retiring and chasing a little white ball. What you doing going to Ukraine.

What you do and try to build a seminary man you got it you got to Samantha's days did to tackle your buddy while I hunt. I have a comfortable many American dreams. I have a tremendous slice on my drive in it went from Pinehurst all the way to the Ukraine to him.

So I'm still chasing the ball just happens to be over that. But no, I love this guy's been a real mentor and friend to me is an affront to Christian radio. As long as I've known him, and miniatures with everything and effectively. Scott Goss called you to help him write to reach the Ukraine with the gospel and the cool thing about a seminary that teaches the word of God that honors Christ and his gospel and teaches evangelism is it's much a multiplying thing you're training more guys like him to go out and change the world for Christ right very much so Stu, we I go over and with another with other men and women and we teach business people, men and women good business course.

But then we share the gospel with and we share our lives. We share our testimonies and we obviously share the gospel with them. In doing that when we went to leave.

We went to visit a seminary and we met the president Slavic peas and when he fell in love with it and we now go all the time we've given money we've given resources. We met a lycée at the seminary, and we said we gotta have him come over here and so sort that is so cool okay so I would go back to lycée Lisi were also type Jasper looking at in… This is real radio here Jasper a way that everybody and Holland. The signs tell me we got a minute left, which means you have a minute lycée to tell us first of all, before you do. Thank you for your testimony. Think of her standing up for Christ. Thank you for holding firm to the truth of the suffering and persecution in the war that's that's fallen upon you. Tell us how tell our listeners how they can pray theology and get your book chronicles of an underage of an undeclared war leaves find on the granting of finance and yet I pray for you my friend will spray for the Ukraine for elections. What's going on right now in Outlook on three and please broil pray for religious freedom, for we could continue to share the gospel with old people. Please pray for the ministry of Ukrainian Baptist theological same that if we could pick weep Julie this and they could reach Alicante for Christ.

A man and put little screen appear 42 million+ population, Ukraine hundred 23,000 on the part in the best Unionist 3% population .3% and that still war going on. Please waive for me it's okay. Pray for peace. Pray for that country and go over there with these guys got a lot to take your time and see, not any friend, be partners with LSU. Thank you for what you doing.

Thank you for being on to talk weekend. What a treat. The podcasts commencing share this with everybody. Praise Ukraine and we get so selfish gets absorbed to realize that there's millions of people on the other side of the world that have never heard the glorious name of Jesus so young. I promise big you know what my problems is not what I promise is not that I'm had in hell right now because Jesus saved a wretch like me right but there's millions who've never heard of this good news that we tell about Jesus knowing who you know you are you which ones you are involved in persecuted up to me and I guys bounce you that thank you very much. The