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In July, Dr. Vitaliy Sorokun, Vice President of BMI,  had the privilege to speak at the Chapel in Akron, OH. It was a special opportunity for him to thank the church for their sacrificial support of the humanitarian relief work in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine – Vitaliy’s home region – during this war.

You can watch his sermon by following this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYh-fpnZReY

Also, in March, Vitaliy shared a message of gratitude at the Chapel in Green, OH. The sermon is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPfHfDSRD50…

In April ChooseLife radio recorded an interview with Vitaliy. This interview has been broadcast on over 700 radio stations across the USA. You can listen to the broadcast here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/…/Vitaliy…/a-a9suvms

 
Update from BMI SE Asia Regional Director, Dr. Joshua Ngyuen:
 
“Teaching 7 Steps of Christians Living by Pastor Sam. He is the Outreach Director of the School Of Missions in Vientiane Captial, Laos. Pastor Sam also is bi-vocational pastor. He is an owner of hotels in Vientaine and pastor of International Church where the congregation has gathered inside his V-Hotel in Vientaine captial, Laos. That is so amazing. God is moving!”

 
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.
 

Dr. Jonathan Burnham conducted an in-depth mentorship multiplication training event on March 15-18, 2023, for a group of pastors and Christian leaders from SE Asian countries. This group was meeting together for the third time to discuss how mentorship could work in their settings, to encourage one another, and to learn the Christocentric overview of the Bible. Let’s pray for this great team, as they are working on way to advance their mentorship multiplication movements. 

A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM DR. VITALIY SOROKUN

At 5 a.m. sharp on February 24 we woke up to the new reality – the sound of exploding rockets, destruction, and loss. Our lives were uprooted in a moment, and we have not been able to return to the old “normal.” Perhaps, we never will. After a week in the church basement and making sure all our international students left the country safe, Anna and I made a decision to move to
western Ukraine. A month later, we moved Anna to the USA; I followed her in the middle of the summer. Even though we are grateful for the provision of safety and generosity of people in the USA, our hearts are longing to return home. Yet, in the midst of tragedy, we have experienced God like never before. It is privilege to serve the omnipotent Savior!

 

The picture below is New Hope Church, where he pastors. Thankfully, only minimal damage as of Dec. 22, 2022.

 

BMI – Served as a BRIDGE OF HOPE During this War

With the war raging in Ukraine, many churches and individuals in the USA have responded by sending relief support to churches in Ukraine through BMI. Their generous support allowed churches in Kharkiv and its surrounding region to provide humanitarian relief, food packages,  medical supplies as well as to host people in basements as they sought shelter from bombs. During the most difficult months of the war their unprecedented generosity provided for meals and aid for hundreds of hurting people on a daily basis. (BMI is not primarily a humanitarian ministry, but with our over 30 years of connections into Ukraine, coupled with Dr. Vitaliy’s broad influence in the region, we have served as such to help the pastors feed their flocks.)

 

 

MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS: Moving full speed to make a difference in Africa

The war gave a new incentive to ministry. When the window of opportunity to be involved in mentorship closed in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, Vitaliy focused his efforts on developing BMI mentorship movements in Africa. He began to mentor four African Christian leaders to prepare them for a responsible role as BMI Africa Ministry Partners. Vitaliy has been intentionally
investing his time and experience in Kioko Mwangangi, Lincoln Chirochierwa, Pascal Ndagijimana, and Joshua Magwesela. These wonderful men are now ready to launch and lead sustainable national mentorship multiplication movements in 8 countries of the continent: Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Congo. Together we are
ready for the exciting task ahead! (Pictured here, Dr. Sorokun with Dr. Lincoln and Dr. Stephen Mwatha.)

Vitaliy has also continued to oversee the ministry taking place in Belarus and Russia. Even though for security reasons communication is not as easy as before the war, we are still actively involved in leadership development there.
Vitaliy has also been helping BMI Women’s Ministry Director Nadya Morokhvets in leading the training and discipleship of women. Nadya, herself a refugee, has been used by the Lord in ways never seen before. Our Father in Heaven has been opening amazing doors of opportunity for Nadya to mentor, train and serve women far beyond Ukraine – Hungary, Albania, and
Uzbekistan among many others.

 

SEVEN STEPS TRAINING and ENCOUNTERING CHRIST conferences

Even though the war prevented Vitaliy from actively teaching Seven Steps of Christian Living and Encountering Christ in Ukraine, we still use them extensively in Russia and Belarus. Our Russia Director Sergey Naboichenko and Belarus Ministry Partner Sergey Drozd have been traveling extensively, training numerous Christian leaders in conferences and in Minsk Theological Seminary, where these courses have become core courses for pastoral preparation.
Vitaliy has also released our new African ministry partners to train these courses in their regions. What a joy it was to receive their updates and see God open new opportunities for them! BTMP still taught in Ukraine!

For five consecutive years Vitaliy taught BTMP in Irpin Bible Seminary, a leading pastor training school in the Baptist Union of Ukraine. Even though the building of the seminary was dramatically damaged during the war, the brave staff has not given up hope. All the major programs have been resumed in the online format, including BTMP! Indeed, we are grateful for the gift of technology to be able to teach and learn from all over the world.

Irpin Biblical Seminary pictured above – same steps (present and past)

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Even though the war is still raging in Ukraine, Vitaliy looks forward to the future with great anticipation. BMI is developing sustainable national mentorship movements in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Vietnam, Nepal, in South East Asia, in Africa, and Latin America. We have over 30 countries where we are currently serving leaders of have a door of opportunity to serve. It is a joy to oversee our ministry and to partner with wonderful talented leaders who share the vision of multiplying mentors!

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