Young people find Christ throughout former Soviet nations
As American progressives flirt with Communism, many young people in formerly Communist nations are turning to Christianity for answers. “There’s a rising hope among the young generation all across the former Soviet Union,” said Eric Mock, senior vice president of ministry operations at the Slavic Gospel Association.
Since 2022, about 1,200 new pastors, mostly young men, have graduated from Bible colleges and seminaries across the region. Nearly 280,000 children and teens have participated in hundreds of summer Bible camps across a dozen ex-Soviet nations in the same period, many of them deciding to follow Christ.
At a single church-run camp in war-torn Ukraine this summer, about 100 young people embraced faith in Christ. “Some parents were so moved that they also knelt down and prayed,” said Pastor Valentyn, whose evangelical church sponsored the camp.
Meanwhile, young ministry leaders across the former Soviet Union have overcome heart-wrenching adversity and now are pouring their lives into helping others. In the Central Asian republics known as “the Stans,” many children face abandonment when their parents fall into addictions.
READ: Ukraine churches is growing
As a boy, Alexander was deserted by his drug-addicted parents, sheltering wherever he could and even sleeping in wood piles. His life turned around when a pastor and his wife took him in. Now in his 20s, Alexander is a youth leader in a local church, encouraging children and teens in a region where young Christians often face threats and children from Christian homes are ostracized at school
Eventually, Alexei ended up in an orphanage where, as a teenager, he heard about God for the first time at a Christian camp called Choose Life. When Alexei chose to follow Christ, he forgave his parents and decided to go find them He found them both drunk and passed out on the floor, lying in filth. After sharing the gospel with them, a dramatic change took place. Both parents quit drinking and turned to God.
“We often encounter stories like Alexei’s,” Mock said. “Thirty-five years after communism, God is moving across this vast region among the new generation. There are many challenges, and they face much pain, but the hope of Christ is winning.”
–Alan Goforth
