WILDWOOD – Slavik Pyzh, Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary (UBTS) president, reported to the Fellowship of Wildwood congregation that leadership was still a focus despite the ongoing war.
“I would like to report that the war is over,” Pyzh said, “but it is not. The city of Lviv where our seminary is located was hit with missiles. About forty apartment buildings were destroyed. The home of one of our partners who works with the Young Leaders Program was hit. He has a pregnant wife and a 2-year-old daughter. Our good God protected his family, but they lost their home.”
Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary President Yaroslav “Slavik” Pyzh
“Every night,” he continued, “we hear sirens and drones fly over. The first question we have is, ‘Why?’ is this happening, but we must move on to the second question, ‘What do we need to do?’ We must look for opportunities. Evil is Evil, but God’s children are on the redeeming side to bring goodness out of this war.”
Pyzh said they were called to provide leadership and train leaders. “The war has an impact on leadership,” he said. “We discovered a major leadership gap with so many leaders gone. They moved out of the country or just gave up. To survive after the war, we saw the opportunity for new leaders.”
One of the first things the seminary did was to freeze the tuition. “We told the students to come anyway even though they didn’t have the money,” Pyzh said. “War does not just have an impact on the infrastructure and economy, but it has an impact on leadership. We need prayer for this gap.”
Next, they established the Institute for Leadership and Coaching to develop more leaders. “We have no economy because of the war, so we hope to start new businesses,” Pyzh said. “We want to start a lot of non-profits to bring hope to the people.”
The most significant contribution by the seminary according to Pyzh is the WeCare Centers.
“We currently are serving 25,000 people each month in our 17 centers located around the country,” he said. “These centers are meeting physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. A couple of the centers are drilling for water because the Russians damaged and destroyed hydroelectrical plants.”
“The centers are serving children and families,” he continued, “to counsel spiritual needs. After the war, we want our country to represent Christian values. We want to minister in these opportunities and to be a light to the world.”
Pyzh thanked the congregation for their partnership. “We are so thankful for your prayer support,” he said. “The United States has helped us stand strong throughout the war.”
Lead pastor, Ryan Bowman, acknowledged, “Slavik Pyzh and his partners are examples of faithfulness in times of trial.”
More information is available at www.upfmissions.org.