FAIR Blog

During the dedicated “evangelism stories” portion of the weekly Sunday evening prayer meeting at Hespeler Baptist Church (HBC) in Cambridge, ON, Ryan, a member of HBC, shared about his God-ordained conversation with a “not-yet believer”, Marko, in Ukraine. Both men share the same trade, custom leather-crafting. Marko discovered Ryan through his YouTube channel, “Little King Goods”. Ryan openly shares his faith and credits his Maker for the gift of creativity instilled in him. He and his wife desire to serve our triune God with their whole being and bring glory to God through the work of their hands. This approach to business did not go unnoticed by Marko, and so, after a few years, the Holy Spirit impressed upon Marko’s heart to reach out to Ryan to “talk shop” but also inquire of this “faith” Ryan has at the foundation of all he does as a leather crafter and as a man.

After sharing Gospel truths at length with Marko, Ryan eagerly brought this evangelism story and request to his local church, who in unison, brought Marko before the Lord in eager anticipation of what the Lord might do through this relationship.  There was another call planned, but Ryan thought it would be meaningful for Marko to hear from others as well. In God’s providence, one of the pastors at Hespeler Baptist is trilingual — speaking French, English, and Russian. Though not Marko’s first language, Ukrainians often know both Ukrainian and Russian. In God’s loving care, Pastor Sergei Li was able to join the call with Ryan and speak right to the heart of Marko. Ryan shared with Marko that there were others who were praying for him as well; a whole church. Though not yet professing faith in Christ, it was apparent that this hungry seeker needed to be connected to a healthy local church rooted in rich ecclesiology and firm in God’s Word as the only authority for life and godliness. 

This is where FAIR enters the picture. As part of the ongoing work to support the local church in Ukraine as they meet the needs of those affected by the war, FAIR had already established a Ukrainian FAIR ambassador, Pastor Andriy. Pastor Sergei, from HBC, was able to confidently connect Marko with Pastor Andriy. Once the connection was made, Andriy introduced Marko to the church that he leads, Spring of Hope Church in Kyiv, which is located five minutes from where Marko lives.

This is a beautiful picture of how FAIR seeks to work through the local church both “here” and “there”.  With the local church at the centre, FAIR continues to work from, to, with, and through the local church to produce Gospel fruit amongst the suffering and the lost. We couldn’t have written a better story ourselves. 

Will you join us, the FAIR team, and the brothers and sisters of Hespeler Baptist Church in praying for the salvation of Marko, his family, and those lost in darkness in Ukraine, including the Russian opposition?