The war in Ukraine is not over, and our churches there continue to face challenges and to suffer loss.
In the midst of the war, Jesus still calls his people to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. It is a costly discipleship. Jesus says, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25).
As we lay down our lives in love and obedience, we don’t always know what this will look like. I’d like to share the sobering story of an everyday disciple in Ukraine named Andriy Shpak, a precious brother and church member who laid down his life for others.
Andriy was serving as a non-combatant in the Ukrainian army when his wife, Antonina, heard that he was missing in action. She put out a plea for intercession immediately, but three weeks later his body was found.
Andriy had been evacuating his injured and fallen comrades from the battlefields when the vehicle he was driving came under intense shelling. Andriy and his team of four managed to jump into a dugout, but a direct hit killed them all. Antonina was asked to come and identify the remains.
At Andriy’s funeral, Maxym Oliferovski, director of the New Hope Center in Ukraine, paid tribute to his lost friend. “Andriy was a builder by trade,” he said, “but not just of houses. Andriy was a builder of lives.”
Andriy had been instrumental in building up the ministries of New Hope for over ten years, since the founding of their vocational training program for orphans in 2012. He joined the ministry team to teach and disciple orphaned youth. Over the years he also started a boys soccer team and various summer camp programs, through which he built up the faith and fragile self-esteem of youth-at-risk. He built people in the same way that he built houses—slowly, thoughtfully—with whatever resources were at hand.
“Andriy never stopped building,” Maxym reflected. “Even when he joined the army in 2022, it was not to kill or destroy, but to build up—his comrades, his country.”
Having himself grown up without a father, Andriy’s vision was to mentor the next generation in the words and ways of Jesus. When he first came to faith as a teenager, the pastor of a local church became a father figure to him, and Andriy wanted to do the same, to mentor as many young people as possible.
“The soccer team that he started in 2006 still plays!” Maxym exclaimed. “Those boys love him. And at our summer camps, dozens of children—and their parents—learned about the love of Jesus through him. Andriy was a man of influence in this community. We will miss him.”
Before he joined the army, Andriy was building a house for his family. It was a slow project to which he faithfully gave his time and attention. Though many friends and ministry partners were quick to share their resources with the orphaned family, today that house is still unfinished. In the same way, the task of discipling youth and families in Ukraine awaits the attention of others like Andriy.
What about you? Do you reveal our caring God, as Jesus revealed his Father? Are you serving others even when it becomes costly? Are you, like Andriy, sharing your life compassionately and generously with others who are lacking family and support?
