Mid-2023 update from Nadia Morokhovets:

Powerful explosions still rock the city of Kharkiv, and the people often receive cell phone alerts stating, “ATTENTION! Residents, the occupiers are striking! Stay in shelters!” Can you imagine living like this? Yet, despite the air raid sirens and explosions, my husband Vitaliy and I keep serving God through serving people. During the war, Vitaliy has actually mentored two new young pastors and two deacons! I have also been teaching the Steps of Christian Living to the women in the area in person and online. The mentoring movement is continuing even in this horror.

A few months ago, Dr. Vitaliy Sorokun got acquainted with some Ukrainian displaced families in Poland. He gave me a brilliant idea to start Zoom meetings with two ladies, pastors’ wives Helen and Olha, for mentorship relationships. Helen and Olga are very active in women’s ministry in Poland now. They got really interested in the BMI materials. I worked with them for 5 months. We successfully completed the Seven Steps of Christian Living via Zoom and Google Classroom. They are ready to begin to mentor other ladies and to continue multiplying mentors.

Olha has already started a Living With Your Emotions group with several Ukrainian displaced women. Helen, Olha, and I became good friends during this time. We agreed to continue our meetings, either online or in person, pray for each other, and practice the long-term Discipleship in our lives.

Lilya Sheveleva is my best helper in the Women’s ministry of the Kharkiv region. The sisters in our women’s committee jokingly call her “Nadia’s Timothy”. I started the Seven Steps of Christian Living with her and Olya Boyarina, who leads Women’s Christian Education in the Baptist Churches of the Kharkiv region, several weeks before the war. The war ruined our plans – all three of us fled to different cities of Ukraine, escaping constant bombing in Kharkiv. Yet, we continued our meetings via Zoom and Google Classroom.

Not only did our group meetings help us grow in mentorship, but they also helped us to encourage each other in such difficult circumstances. Later both of Lilya and Olga started mentorship multiplication groups in Kharkiv.

One night we had guests from Poltava over – my sister-in-law, Sveta Morokhovets. She asked me if she could be present at my Zoom call with Diana. She really enjoyed it and asked me to start a group with her and another key lady from the Poltava region, Lena Novikova. So, I simultaneously led several Seven Steps groups. It was not easy, but we did it. My husband turned 60 in February, and we were able to travel to the USA to visit with our children and grandchildren. Since I didn’t finish my Poltava group before the trip (I was on Step 4 with them), I decided to ask Lilya to finish this group for me. And she did it gladly. I feel so blessed that my disciples are able to continue our ministry! In fact, Sveta was commissioned to be a women’s minister in the Poltava region two months ago.

I have been equipping and encouraging all the sisters under my leadership to start mentorship multiplication in their countries. Some of them have already started their ministry in this direction and are successfully working. I am sure, God will be glorified, and His Kingdom will enlarge thanks to our mentorship multiplication projects.