Igor’s 4-year-old daughter, Tabitha, asked him to play with her one day, a doll in her hand. She began making a sound that made Igor pause. It wasn’t the wail of a firetruck or police siren, the way children so often imitate. “It’s the air raid siren noise,” she explained.
Tabitha has never known a Ukraine without war. The Russo-Ukrainian War has been active for more than four years, her entire life. Her father, Igor, now serves as FEBC’s program director in Ukraine, a role that came to him unexpectedly when the former director was drafted into the army in the first month of the conflict. More than a quarter of FEBC’s team has since been drafted.
Igor is based in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital and the home of FEBC’s radio station in the country. During his most recent call with FEBC President and CEO Ed Cannon, the city was without electricity due to ongoing drone and missile strikes, a reality Igor described as a weekly occurrence. When air raid sirens sound, families flee to underground bomb shelters. And yet, Igor and the local FEBC team press on.
Reaching people from bomb shelters
“As Christians,” Igor says, “we have hope in Jesus Christ. But what about unbelievers? How can we serve them?”
That question drives everything for Igor’s team. When power goes out, the team runs on generators. When they can’t record at the station, they broadcast from their cellphones. From the shelters themselves, they offer counseling over phone calls, staying close to listeners no matter the circumstances.
One of Igor’s most creative solutions is a lamp with a built-in MP3 player, designed to fill dark shelters with Scripture and worship. Igor’s two daughters carry their own MP3 players to school, pulling them out whenever they retreat to the cold, dim school shelter. “They have a broken childhood,” Igor shares. “But it’s making our kids stronger. They’re prepared more than other kids in the world.”
That same conviction shapes the team’s broader mission. Across Ukraine, the war has left far too many children without the stability, attention, and care they need. Igor and his team are intentionally stepping into that gap, reaching the younger generation with the love of Christ.
Changing the next generation
When young people feel seen and loved by God and Believers, something shifts. They begin to bring their own ideas to the mission. It was teenagers, in fact, who encouraged Igor to start creating videos that share Scripture and the Gospel.
One video found its way to a 17-year-old boy struggling with alcohol addiction and no interest in Christianity. That single video led to phone conversations, then to in-person church services, and ultimately to the young man giving his life to Christ. Igor had the privilege of baptizing him.
Another man, now 41, wrote in to share: “You sowed the seed in my heart.” After listening to FEBC broadcasts for a couple of years, he became a Christian. These are just two of the hundreds of stories Igor has witnessed of the Gospel breaking through amid war.
Doubling down in the darkness
Despite losing much of his staff to military service, Igor felt led to double the team’s size. “The most important time to be with listeners is right now,” he says. The urgency and desperation of war have made Ukraine a place unusually open to the Gospel. People are searching for hope, and Igor’s team is meeting them there with Spirit-filled innovation and the love of Jesus.
How to pray for Ukraine
At the close of his conversation with Ed Cannon, Igor offered two specific prayer requests for those who want to stand with FEBC Ukraine:
- Wisdom. Pray for Igor and his team to grow in wisdom as they seek better ways to serve their neighbors with the Gospel.
- Protection. Every member of the FEBC Ukraine team has someone they love on the frontlines. Pray for the safety of those at war, and for those carrying out the Great Commission across Ukraine.
Listen below to hear the full conversation with Igor and Ed Cannon on the FEBC Until All Have Heard podcast.
Because of your partnership and support, FEBC is able to continue sharing the Gospel with people who are desperate for hope – Thank you!
