From: Mission to the World By Robert Kramer, Feb 24, 2025
Russian drones travel stealthily like lethal birds in the night skies over Odesa, a strategic port city in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Snizhana Kadyan knows a drone could drop a bomb on her or one of the remaining members of the Odesa church her husband, the Rev. George Kadyan, planted and faithfully pastors.
“I try to speak to my brain,” says Snizhana of the anxiety. “I tell myself, If I hear an explosion, I’m not dead. Just a few people are dead. So calm down. You’re OK.”
George leads one of 15 Ukrainian churches planted with support from Mission to the World. MTW has raised in-country evangelical leaders in Ukraine with Reformed theological education, encouragement, and financial support.
From October 24 to November 17, 2024, the Kadyans visited the United States. Their trip had several purposes. They attended the MTW Global Missions Conference in Atlanta and stopped in Washington, D.C., where they were interviewed for this story. A highlight was visiting their daughter, Katya, a student at Covenant College.
Throughout their visit, the Kadyans raised awareness about the gains and potential losses of evangelical Christianity in Ukraine.
The Bible Belt of Eastern Europe
From 1922 to 1991, the Soviet Union ruled Ukraine with an iron fist, suppressing religious expression.
MTW and other missionary groups succeeded in bringing the gospel to Ukraine after it became an independent nation that guaranteed religious freedom in its constitution. According to a government estimate, Ukraine now has 800,000 to 1 million evangelicals, roughly 4% of the population, making it the Bible Belt of Eastern Europe.
Voice of Ukraine 