Karen Zelfimian and his team work tirelessly for the people of Ukraine. The leader of “Ukraine Harvest Ministry” and GO Ukraine has had several convoys of relief supplies delivered to the hard-hit nation.

From time to time, Karen Zelfimian travels to Ukraine with convoys of vans. On board are food, relief supplies and medical materials. In addition, through his ministry “Ukraine Harvest Ministry” and GO Ukraine, he also receives numerous refugees in the neighboring countries of Moldova and Romania.

The churches work in the respective regions, and are doing the works of Jesus through these hard times. “Hundreds of Ukrainians have come to Jesus,” Karen Zelfimian observes. “Their stories are similar. They left their homes, came to unsafe places and found Jesus.”

Karen Zelfimian, who is also part of GO Ukraine, recently held another service for Ukrainians who have become refugees and who are now living temporarily in Romania. The hall was packed with people who wanted to be in church on Sunday to worship and hear the Word of God in their own language. Half of the visitors had not been churchgoers in Ukraine, but something draws people to God in times of crisis.”



More than ten found Jesus in one service

At the end of the sermon, Karen Zelfimian called for a decision for Jesus, as usual. “More around the altar and more than ten people accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives!” This was followed by numerous messages of thankfulness via text message.

Time and again, Zelfimian and his team help on the ground in Ukraine. Recently, for example, a convoy was loaded with three vans. “Thanks to all our partners we were able to make it, we drove to the border, which has to be crossed by ferry across the Danube. God did us a big favor with the customs clearance. Thanks to good relations with high-ranking people in Ukraine, we had no problems in this respect. Odessa and Izmail received all the help, and now our teams there can use all the help to evangelize and reach people for Jesus!”



Refugees met at border

At the border Karen met quite a few refugees, “some of them just needed someone to listen to them in their pain and despair. Most of the refugees were women and children from Nikolaev, where fierce fighting is happening. Some of them have no home to return to while their husbands are in the fighting.”

In Bucharest, the team visited another centre for refugees and held a special animated program. “At the end, 12 children asked Jesus to come into their hearts, as well as some mothers found Jesus.”



Former persecutor finds Jesus

Karen Zelfimian goes on to explain, “Despite all the madness and war in Ukraine, people everywhere are getting saved and turning to Jesus.” Among other things, he heard the story of an elderly man: “During the Soviet regime, he was one of the communist activists and atheists, who furiously persecuted believers. But now he was alone and abandoned by everyone. For two months no one visited him. Our people came and brought him a food parcel and shared the love of Jesus with him, and he gave his life to Jesus. As I always say, better late than never!”

One of the convoys brought blankets, pillows, towels and food to a small church that houses over 100 refugees. “Every child deserves to be able to sleep in the warm because they had to leave everything behind and flee the war zone.”


Finding refuge with Jesus

At a reception camp, hundreds found Jesus. For example, Ksusha, who could not travel with her husband because she did not have a passport. “So she decided to stay with us at the headquarters and help us as a volunteer. All the days she was in the church building, surrounded by believers, she heard the gospel from different sources. Finally, Ksusha gave her life to Jesus, at the call I made at the evening service! She told us that in Ukraine, if someone had tried to tell her about Jesus, she wouldn’t have even wasted the time to talk, but when she arrived here as a refugee, she sought refuge with Jesus. We see miracles in the darkest times of our lives. God is good and he will not leave us or forsake us.”