International Messengers is an evangelical, interdenominational missions organization comprised of an international staff team. We are committed to making disciples of all nations through partnering with local churches to renew, train and mobilize believers for active involvement in reaching the world for Christ. See www.internationalmessengers.org for more information.  

History of the IM Ukraine Ministry

We are thrilled that you are interested in the ministry of International Messengers, Ukraine!

We, the IM staff in Ukraine, take very seriously Jesus words in Matthew 28:19-20. We pray that God would use us to make disciples in Ukraine and enable us to teach these disciples to observe His commandments. In every nation there are souls who still need to hear the gospel. Here we meet them-- some are caught up in impressing others with a display of material wealth, others are dying in tuberculosis hospitals, many are struggling to better their life with education, others are making their homes on hot water pipes beneath the city streets. In Ukraine there are many who need to hear! Some identify themselves as Russian, Ukrainian, Moldavian, Jewish, or Muslim. We are especially concerned for the young people of southern Ukraine, born just after the fall of the Soviet Union. They are the future of their nation. We long to see eyes, which were once dark and lifeless, filled with the sparkling vitality of new life and purpose in Christ.

In 1996, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Oehler family moved to Odessa. They had been miraculously invited by a Jewish association, which distributes compensation benefits to survivors of the Holocaust. When they arrived in Odessa they found a gray, depressed and dirty city with no restaurants or modern stores. God had inspired them to spread the bright light and hope of Jesus there. At first the Oehlers ministered to the elderly Holocaust survivors. Later, their ministry shifted focus to the children and grandchildren of these survivors. God opened great doors of opportunity for inviting these young people to Evangelistic English Camps. Through the camps, God lit souls of young people with His fire! These new believers formed a home youth group and later grew into Light Christian Fellowship church, founded in 2002. From this initial "core" group He has continued to expand His ministry.

Today the IM Ukraine team is composed of seven local staff members. We are a multi-national team with members from Ukraine, South Africa, Germany and USA. We are expecting this team to grow as new graduates from IM Training join us! We hold weekly staff meetings for the purpose of team unity, mutual support, and prayer.

Current Ministries

We seek to develop and grow relationships with local churches in Eastern, Central and Southern Ukraine. We prayerfully desire to encourage these local bodies in their task of reaching their part of the world for Christ. Recently God has opened up opportunities to partner with an influential Baptist Church located on the Crimean Peninsula. It is exciting to see how God will grow and develop these and other churches in coming years.

Check out the brief outline of some current ministries!

Church Planting and Revitalization

Light Christian Fellowship was planted by IM staff in 90's.   This church is transitioning into Ukrainian leadership.   IM is also involved in helping several churches reach the next generation of leaders, discipling and training them into church leaders and missionaries.  

Summer Evangelistic Camps

Each summer we invite churches to take part in hosting Evangelistic English Language Camps. Camps are either tailored to youth or families. Each camp requires the partnership of a local church in Ukraine and a ministry team from the US. The Ukrainian church invites the campers and works with the US team to carry out the camp program. The Ukrainian church also agrees to follow-up with the campers after the camp.

Winter Discipleship Camps

New believers are invited to winter camps with the goal of providing training and encouragement in faith and, if they are not, to get them plugged into a church. Typically these camps are also a partnership between a local church and a visiting team from the US. In 2005, the first Ukrainian lead team conducted a discipleship camp in Odessa.

International Missionary Mentoring

IMM was born to equip a young generation of missionaries from Eastern Europe. The training program functions much like International Messengers Mountain Side Missionary Training Center (its counterpart in Libby, Montana) but majors more on the life and rigors of ministering in the Russian Speaking World. In October 2004 the first class of students entered into this missions training program. Our first class was comprised of seven individuals from Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland. IMM training consists of two parts, classroom training and a ministry internship. Three months of classroom training are conducted in Odessa. Local and visiting teachers teach classes. Following the classroom training, each intern is assigned to a location for 7 months of internship ministry.

Evangelism Ministries

IM Ukraine staff may also be found participating in Evangelism alongside local churches and believers. We believe in taking progressive and creative measures in order to share the gospel with the hearts around us. Methods such as running an evangelistic Internet Club, a Christian Cafe in downtown Odessa, movie discussion nights, Bible and tract distribution at local outdoors markets, and of course relationship based evangelism with the ethnically diverse population of Odessa.

Ministry to Children at Risk

This ministry began in 2003 when God raised up a team consisting of one IM staff member and others from Light Christian Fellowship. This team began nightly visits to children living in the streets. During the night the children are at home in parks, on city hot water pipes, or in "bunkers" (underground concrete boxes which house city utility pipes). The team began sharing gospel stories, skits, tea, and cookies with the children. Currently this team is lead by one of the Ukrainian young men who graduated from the IMM training. Two other graduates are team members. Other outreaches to children at risk are in the beginning stages. Two other IMM graduates are in the process of setting up an orphanage ministry. Another intern is planning to start a children ministry in a Crimean village.

Discipleship Ministries

Consistent with our IM mission statement, Ukraine staff can often be found planning and meeting with members of local churches for the purpose of renewing, training, and mobilizing them for active involvement in reaching their world for Christ. This is accomplished by the enabling of the Holy Spirit through activities such as one-on-one and group Bible studies.

Ministries to Women

Many of our discipleship and evangelism efforts are geared toward women. Often Bible studies are combined with activities such as crafts, baking, English speaking and package wrapping. In 2003 we participated in the sponsoring of a first-annual multi-denominational discipleship conference for women. These conferences have been focused on developing encouraging relationships among women across the city.