By the grace of God we were able to go to Ukraine. Many people asked us why we’re going to a country at war. In the words of Wycliffe Bible Translator Marilyn Laszlo, a NW Indiana very own bible translator in Papua New Guinea’s Sepik Iwam tribal people, which we had the privilege of knowing personally and hearing her speak, while she was alive, “there’s no safer place to be than in the center of God’s will”. We felt the same going to Romania and after a month of ministry there, driving up to Ukraine, where we ministered and have been for over 32 years. Cornel has been our driver once again, taking on the 12 hour ride from Alba Iulia, Romania to Chernivtsi and surrounding villages in Ukraine, and the same going back at the end of our ministry there, with a team of 9 from the U.S. Crossing the border between Romania and Ukraine were non eventful, with just a bit of waiting in line. We had an emotional arrival after passing into Ukraine, where Pavel was waiting for us with Ukrainian flags for each of us. We had a young lady from Michigan Grace - a member of our U.S. team who was born in Ukraine and adopted into the U.S. as a baby. This was her first time returning to her country of birth, and her emotions were overwhelming for her and all of us. We always enjoy going to Ukraine and serving side by side with our national missionaries, being open to helping in whatever way we can and are needed. Some or our goals were to encourage all of them, to help the evangelism efforts, to boost the effectiveness of the events we were involved in, to provide supplies and financial aid, and to be “the wind behind the wings” of our national missionaries and workers.
We don’t want to repeat what was already said by each of the missionaries. We were also encouraged by our PIE nationals that our presence and direct involvement was precious and much needed for them. We thank the Lord that we were able to see the second generation - sons and daughters of our PIEI national missionaries there in Ukraine involved in ministry and serving with so much dedication and using their God’s given gifts, whether teaching, singing, encouraging, praying, leadership, organization, etc. in obedience serving not only at the annual PIE Camp at Boiany, but in ministry throughout the region.
Gabi served with the Camp team in teaching and also mentoring. Cornel was involved with the eye-glasses ministry giving our optometrist Debbie a helping hand and driving the team daily from the camp site to various villages. Two Sundays we also visited and participated in church services, morning and evening in several locations, visited several of our PIE national missionaries in their homes, where we were fed so well, and where we had the opportunity to catch up with each of their lives and also get a bit of rest. God gave us a good weather and a few days of relief from the heat while at Camp. We are so thankful for His provision and protection. What a joy to witness so many young people making decisions for Christ! It is a rare thing these days, as this PIE Camp that we have there every summer is a special place where God’s Word is touching and changing lives. Please get to read a few of the testimonies that the kids have shared when they are posted. It will touch you deeply. We thank the Lord for all the PIE Ukraine national missionaries, for their dedication in serving and for letting us be part of their lives.
We are so thankful for Pavel and Larissa Petihachniy, for opening their home and hosting our whole team, preparing meals and loving and encouraging us daily. At the PIE Camp we felt safe and well taken care of by them. Larissa was our “water lady”, making sure everyone on our team has bottled cold water several times a day, everyday, and coffee early in the morning. I don’t know if they got any sleep while our team was there or at the Camp. Pavel is the most passionate and enthusiastic missionary, leading our PIE national team with wisdom, kindness and love.
We felt loved everywhere we went, and we believe that our PIE partnership with the Ukraine national missionary is healthy and thriving in spite of the ward that is still going on. We joined them in praying that the war will end soon. People are overwhelmed, tired, discouraged, with lots of needs, especially among the refugees who settled permanently in our missionaries’ areas of ministry. These are people who lost their homes, have no place to go back to, also lost family members and everything they had. We witnessed refugees attending our missionaries’ churches, where they would be accepted and loved, and where they would also receive food and clothing each time they would go. Someone would personally talk and pray with them, and they would not leave empty handed. It’s amazing how this war brought the mission field right at the steps of our missionaries, and in their villages, churches, and homes.
In closing, we are thankful for an effective ministry. It is not easy to do so much traveling and minister into two countries, Romania and Ukraine back to back. Gabi left for this trip with recent injuries to her right shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle, having pain and having to wear an orthopedic boot for the first three weeks of the trip. We felt the prayers of so many of you, our partners in ministry, personally, and for the ministry. Your support, love, and encouragement helped us every day. You are our support team which helped us be effective and do what the Lord has called us to do. From the bottom our our hearts, thank you and may our Lord bless you richly for your faithfulness.
Cornel and Gabi Stef
Here are testimonies from our missionaries working together in Ukraine
Pavel Petihachniy. https://www.piei.org/pavel-petihachny-blog
We are grateful to our Lord for His protection and peace that He gives us in our region. Even though the situation in Ukraine is terrible, God had mercy on us and we had the possibility to serve God in different ways this summer by organizing youth camps and other outreach events for the Lord. We were concerned for the American team’s safety during their stay in Ukraine, but we thank God that He protected them at they came in, during their service here, and during their departure. At the beginning I had trouble finding interpreters for such a big team, as we were in need of at least 6 interpreters. We prayed and fasted and God answered our prayer and God provided 7 interpreters – Praise the Lord!
And I thank the Lord that our and the American ministry here was not in vain. The Word of God sown in the camp, at the church services, did not return without fruit. There was repentance and decisions for Christ among young people and among people of different ages. The American team split in two teams. One team served at the PIE camp by talking and teaching the campers. At the camp, 50 teens repented and responded to the Gospel invitation, and we saw how the Spirit of God worked in the last evening through brother Will Holifield. May the Lord be glorified! The ministry of the second team, together with sister Debbie Conry, every day, for 5 days, visited 5 churches, where almost 250 people received eye glasses and more than 70% of them were non-Christian people. Those people could hear the Gospel, through the counseling brothers from the USA, and actually through the service of our sister Debbie. We thank God for protecting our brothers and sisters from the USA, and they turned back safely at their homes and in their families. Let us continue to pray for those children and young people who accepted the Lord from non Christian families. We continue to get in touch with these children and youth. May the Lord continue to work in their hearts. We will continue to pray for our mission, we will pray for each other and we will also pray for the sponsors in the USA. Please, pray also for our church in Nesvoia, where we are going to have a New Testament baptism in the beginning of September, and where 2 people will make a covenant with the Lord through the water of baptism. May the Lord help us in this work of service and beyond, and may He come with His peace in our hearts, in our churches and in our country. Only He can help this war to end as soon as possible.
Mihai Gortopan. https://www.piei.org/gortopan
I want to thank God for the shield of His protection this summer, so I had the opportunity to serve the Lord. I thank God because we could organize a VBS in the church, before the youth camp in Boiany, where there were more than 100 children and teenagers for the week of camp. This year we split the VBS in two. The program for kids was in the morning and in the afternoon, we had a program for teenagers. Our youth leaders worked very hard in the VBS and we were happy because more than half of those children were from non-believing families and from the refugee families. We were so happy that many children were able to hear and learn the Word of God, and many of these teenagers even signed up for the youth camp in Boiany. We pray for Amelia, a teenager girl, who repented at this week of camp, but her parents do not let her come to our church. May God work on the hearts of her parents. We thank God for the American team who served not only in the PIE youth camp in Boiany, but also in the churches. Sister Debbie gave eye glasses to more than 50 patients from our village. Many of them were non-believers and refugees. Praise God because many of these people visited our church.
The counselors from the USA, Cornel Stef, Will Hollifield, Stephen and Skip meant a lot. People had the opportunity to listen first to the Word of God, then they received eye glasses. We also pray for all those people that they all understand God’s love and come to our Savior Jesus Christ. On August 6th we had a New Testament baptism in the church, where 3 people were baptized. Pray for them that the Lord may strengthen their faith on the new path in Christ.
Alex Paskar. https://www.piei.org/paskari
I praise God for His shield and protection in this difficult and dangerous time we have now in Ukraine. We prayed a lot for the team from America who came to us and served alongside with us, both in our churches and in our PIE youth camp. There were 5 leaders and 3 singers and musicians from our church who served God at this camp. We praise God for the salvation of the 50 young people at the camp, 4 teens were from our village and we thank God for them. We are grateful to the brothers from the USA who, together with sister Debbie, did such a good service with eye-glasses for men and women here who needed them so much. In Fdojzhok, a village where there are just a few believers and no pastor, 53 people received glasses and they also heard the Word of God. We pray for these people to receive the Lord in their hearts. We are happy because we had fellowship with brothers from the USA in our church too. We thank God that He listened to our prayer and the American team arrived home safely - Glory to God!
Grigoriy Kioresco. https://www.piei.org/kioresco
I thank God very much for the protection of our youth camp, for the protection of the team from the USA, for the work of the Holy Spirit both at the PIE Camp and through our churches. It was a wonderful work led by the Holy Spirit and we continue to pray for those who repented and accepted the Lord, for the Word preached this summer, both at the camps and at the evangelistic meetings. Not long ago I went to Gostomel where, together with my team, I brought food and other necessary things to the needy people there. We enjoyed the Christian Church which was formed in this military town during this war. We pray for this church that the Lord will multiply it. Thank you for praying for me. Please continue to pray for me and for all the volunteers who go to help the people who live in the war zone. So that we are all protected by God’s strong hand.
Valeriy Popov. https://www.piei.org/popov
I thank the Lord because he worked so wonderfully through His Holy Spirit this summer. Our church organized two VBS programs, in our church and in the church of Podvirna, a village that is 20 miles away from our town and where there are just a bunch of believers. There were around 200 children attending the VBS who could hear and learn the Word of the Lord. There were also the children’s parents in the last days of the camp and they had the opportunity to listen to the Word of the Lord too. We pray a lot for all those who listened to the Word that the Lord would work on their hearts. I also thank the Lord for 4 people who accepted the Lord and were converted in our church during the evangelization with the American team. All these people are refugees who often visit our church.
May the Lord strengthen their faith! There were also 7 more teens from our town who repented and accepted the Lord at the PIE youth camp from Boiany. There were also refugees among them. We are happy for them and we pray for all of them. At the evangelization with eye-glasses there were more than 50 people who received eye-glasses. Many of them were refugees. And they were very satisfied with the service of the team from the USA and of sister Debbie who served these people with so much love. We thank God and the brothers from the USA, for sponsoring this camp and for having the opportunity to come to this camp and serve so many children from refugees, orphans and poor, so that they had the opportunity to listen to the Word of the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord worked on the hearts of these children to come to the Lord and accept Him as their Savior.
Grigoriy Pastushak. https://www.piei.org/postusak
I want to thank God for his guidance and protection this summer. In our church we also had a VBS, with about 200 children. It was a busy week at the church, but thank God because everything was fine. We also had a baptism at the beginning of June. There were 10 people from our church and we also had people from other churches who were baptized. We praise God because there are people who come to our church to repent and receive the Lord. Now we are organizing a seminar for young people in the Carpathian Mountains. We pray that everything will go well. We thank God for the American team who was also at our church and more than 50 people received eye-glasses. These people who received glasses are very grateful to sister Debbie and the counselors from the US team for their service. Thank you to all those who sponsored the PIE youth camp from Boiany. It was something wonderful. I went there on Friday, the last day of the camp, and I saw how the Holy Spirit worked in the hearts of those children. I have not seen so many tears such as in the eyes of those children for a long time. May the Lord help them so that they may all be living witnesses of the proclamation of the Truth of Christ, first in their own homes, then in the whole world!
Vasily Preutesa. https://www.piei.org/preutesa
I thank the Lord endlessly for everything He has done for me so far, that He strengthened my health and I can still serve the Lord at the church and in the village of Fagadau. We were very happy for the guest team of brothers and sisters who came from so far, from the USA, to serve here with us. We thank the Lord for their work in our mission youth camp in Boiany, as well as in our churches. The people who received eye-glasses are very grateful to sister Debbie and the pastors-counselors for their service. Similarly, the children who were in this camp told us how much they enjoyed this camp. I told everyone because the camp is very expensive, but brothers and sisters from America paid for you so that you can come to the camp. So, the children from my church were very happy with the sponsorship of this camp. They also liked the organization of this camp. Everything was set up and organized very well.
We prat for all the people who had the opportunity to hear the Gospel this summer with different opportunities to receive Jesus as their Savior.
Alex Pastushak. https://www.piei.org/alex-pastushak-blog
I praise God because He helped me to do many works this summer, in camps, VBS, on the radio and in the church in Hertsa. I thank God too, because He gives us strength and peace in our parts and we can serve God here. At the PIE Candela youth camp from Boiany I was able to serve as one of the translators of the American brothers, as well as in 5 churches in the Noua Sulita district in the work with the eye-glasses. I am glad because the Lord used me in this work and may the Lord bless His True Word which was heard by many people and children. My wife Nadia and I took videos and pictures from the camp. May the Lord continue to help us in His work!
Igor Dzyadik. https://www.piei.org/igor-dziadyk-blog
May the Lord be praised because He gives us a pleasant and quiet time for serving Him. This summer we held a children’s VBS in our church in Coteleu. We were happy because there were over 50 children at this camp. They were very satisfied afterwards. And even 10 of them signed up for the camp of our PIEI mission in Boiany. At the PIE youth camp, I was able to serve as a leader, together with my wife. I saw the hand of the Mighty Lord and how the Holy Spirit works among these children, many of whom were from unbelieving families. In truth, the Word of God sown does not return without fruit. Therefore, I thank you all for your prayers and to those who supported this camp. May the Lord bless you abundantly! On August 6th, we had a New Testament baptism in our church, where 4 people made a covenant with the Lord. We were very happy for sister Valentina and her husband Teodor. They repented and accepted the Lord last summer when another PIE American team came to minister with brother Cornel Stef. Then we had sister Marta Hauk, Sarah Stef and Elizabeth, a young Chinese Christian girl. The Lord worked wonderfully, because first sister Valentina repented and then her husband Feodor. Another joy is that one of our nieces, Suzanna, repented in the camp in Boiany and two weeks later she also received baptism. We had a great evangelization full of joy. Brother Pavel Petikhachniy visited us with his wife Larissa, and we had a choir from Chernivtsi that glorified the Lord through songs and poems. We are happy because many men and women that are not believers, visited our church and could listened to the Word of the Lord which was proclaimed by the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray for these people that the Lord will work on their hearts. May the Lord help us minister even further in His work as well we pray for the end of this terrible war in Ukraine. Be blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ!
