Excerpts from an Interview with Eugene Sologubenco – An Update on the War in the Ukraine
Pastor John:
We are getting the opportunity to visit with Eugene Sologubenco and we're so excited. We've been partnering together for many years. You are a good friend and I have had
the opportunity to be in Moldova. Our church has given to help with the refugee efforts in the Ukraine. You just mentioned there have been a lot of people that have been
very generous and once they prayed, once they kind of saw the need, God pointed them in that direction. Tell us a little bit about, first of all, just what you've seen need
wise. What is the current situation and some of the ministry that has gone on and continues to go on?
Eugene:
Thank you and it's great to be in a safe area here in the United States with you, John, and with Crestview. First, I want to say thanks to everybody at Crestview who has been
generous and prayed and sent us emails and messages supporting us. It was an unreal situation on February 24th when the war broke out. We've communicated a little bit
about the potential that the refugees would come. We didn’t even realize how big the need would be, but one of the greatest things was that through this, almost
immediately, we could find out who our friends are. We knew that people cared because of the immediate response. We didn't even put out a request for funds, but people
had seen what was happening. We received a lot of encouraging emails. We received emails from the church. You told us that people were coming up and asking how
they could help, and the need was so huge. Within the first week, we were looking at thousands and tens of thousands of people pouring into Moldova. We probably
calculated as many as 15,000 to 20,000 people in the first days. They would just try to cross into the country. Everybody was feeling like the Ukraine was going to fall.
People were afraid…the bombs were exploding. We were receiving requests for food in the places that had been left without. So, with the funds that came in we were
able to immediately respond without even thinking “Are we going to have it or not? “ We had some funds available to our ministry and our Board just said, as long as you
know that you can use it, you know you're going to have a resupply. One example was when somebody came to us and asked us to buy food - baby formula. It was worth
about $3000. Now, in a given year, $3000 was almost like a couple months support from the church. We knew this lady. She was part of the Young Life ministry in Odessa
(Ukraine). She and her husband just happened to be in Moldova when the war broke out and they were representing a church out of Nikolaev, which is just down the road
from Odessa. She said there's this need that came in that the children need food. We didn't realize what it was. I walked to the grocery store, and I talked to the director.
They gave us a discount and I charged $3000 to our ministry card. We loaded up the food literally in their private vehicle and it went to the Ukraine. Two days later, I get an
email…actually, it was a text message through one of the messenger apps and it said “Pastor, you wouldn't realize what just happened.” I knew it was dire straits need, but
what we found out is that near Nikolaev, there was a smaller town where in a basement for a couple weeks, or a little bit more than two weeks, there was a group of
women from a maternity hospital who were hiding with their brand new babies in the basement and they were being evacuated. So, the church came alongside the key
people who were doing the evacuation. A lot of questions were involved. They found out that there were sixteen babies in that basement, and only one of the mothers still
had milk because of the stress, all of them pretty much had lost their milk and one lady was feeding 16 babies for two weeks. When we came alongside, obviously the
kids were malnourished, and when they brought the food it was a huge response. So just the one small $3000 is a lot of money but when you're talking about children's
lives, it suddenly becomes not so much. Yet, God knew at the right time to provide for the right people. That story in different forms has repeated itself so many times.
Pastor John:
That’s kind of what's been happening. How would you describe the current situation in the current ministries that you see going on? You mentioned some things about human
trafficking, and I know you've mentioned some things about just the continued needs, though it may not be the same level as it was, but there seems to be a lot of need
that people are just dealing with this ongoing reality that is everyday kind of hanging over them. So, I think there's some of that too. What are any of those areas you see
as far as ministry right now and what do you see as opportunities to serve God for you guys right now?
Eugene:
On February 24th of 2022, a little bit more than a year ago, we were getting together with a group of about 24 pastors. We came together to prayerfully consider how we're
going to continue church planting. Our ministry has been developing at a very fast pace, especially since the COVID restrictions are lifted. We didn't know it was going to be
the day that in the morning Russia was going to be beginning its attack on Ukraine. So, as we prayed (the 24 pastors) we all talked about what we could do, and we pretty
much went all the way from the border of Moldova. Some went and started setting up checkpoints where we would give direction to people. Some went to convert their
churches into refugee centers. Most of us organized a group of drivers who would be willing to offer their vehicles or drive because it's a 2 1/2-hour drive to the actual
border crossing. One of the biggest things that we saw is that people that started crossing the border were women and children. The drivers, 95% of them, were not even
elderly. But, it's unfortunately the prime time for human traffickers to snatch them somewhere as they're trying to get them to safety. Many of them would travel to
Europe. So as the church, one of the biggest considerations we know was that we want to help prevent that from happening. At the checkpoint on the Ukrainian side is
where we fed people and gave them water. We gave them hot food, and we gave them directions too, and provided gasoline. At first, people were using their own
gasoline, but after a while we we're buying it for them. This was gasoline for people who would be giving free rides to people to the Christian centers, to the churches. We
helped purchase mattresses. Crestview has contributed funds, so we were able to do that. We fed people with an organization that was paying for the buses to go all the
way to Karlsruhe, which is on a German French border. Over the last year, more than 10,000 people were helped, even though they could pay for the bus and they were
taken to safety. Only one meal could be provided, so we came alongside them and we said we can't help over 10,000 people, 130 buses, to be able to travel to safety. So
that was the church today. The Church of Jesus Christ from that day on has grown closer. The walls have come down. In November of this year, we put together a
gathering for the discipleship for disciple makers of the 24 pastors that came. All of them were there, but they were also joined by what we calculated as more than 220
attendees. From every known discipleship, we were making an organization from every known evangelical denomination who came together and said we want to continue to
serve. One of the challenges is that 100,000 Ukrainians are still in Moldova. Over one million people have gone through the country, which is the largest per capita in Europe
of other countries in Europe. And we still have 100,000 Ukrainians, which is still the largest per capita. That's where our challenge is today. We as a church instead of doing
the one-time touch as we did at the border crossings or as they travel, we now have these people that we can continue to touch their lives.
Some of our churches, one which is just a little bit north of the city of Kishinev, our church planter, who's a second-year student in the seminary. Crestview is supporting
the seminary. He started with a small group, now he's got 70 to 80 Ukrainians that show up every Sunday at 2:00 PM. And he's having to serve them now. He's looking for
bigger facilities (because it's a small room) that he was hoping to fill one day. There is continuous work with the people, but his church's challenge and our challenge is
the need because there are really no jobs in Moldova and there are really no jobs inside Ukraine either. So, we're finding that we have to fill their needs. Basic needs as
far as food, sometimes basic medical needs, buying medicine, and sometimes just buying them clothes because they have no other ways of providing for themselves. These
are some of the challenges we're seeing. But, we are seeing this as a great opportunity that makes our churches stronger and it continues to unite us as the Church of
