Greetings, everyone!
Today is our third update about the staff at UBI. In our first update, I shared with you about two staff members who have moved on from their work with the school. In the second, I shared updates from our regular staff members about where they are and what they are doing. Today, I want to introduce you to new members of the UBI staff.
Denis Bondarenko – Translator
Denis is originally from Donetsk and became a Christian through the Let's Love ministry in 2003. He and his wife, Nastia, are graduates of UBI. Denis has lived in Kyiv for the past seven years.
Denis was recently brought on to work as a part-time interpreter and translator. He has also been coordinating our students' homework and tests. He often goes the extra mile by volunteering to meet with the students outside of class to go over their tests with them and help them better understand the material. We have been impressed with his dedication to helping UBI be as good as it can be during this challenging time.
Aside from his work at UBI, Denis helps coordinate the online worship for his congregation (which is currently spread out across the globe). He and his wife also host an in-person game night each week in Kyiv and invite non-Christians to take part. He shared recently with me, "These gatherings help people stay cheerful during these current hardships, and our growing relationships allow us to talk about God's word with them."
Rob Hindman – Instructor and Online Developer
In the spring, when it became clear the war would not be over anytime soon and that UBI was going to have to adapt in big ways as it faced an uncertain future, I began thinking about who could best help build that future. And no matter which way I thought about how we might move forward, one name came to me over and over again: Rob Hindman.
Rob and his wife Denyce have been close friends for more than twenty years, but they were also our teammates for several years in Kharkov. For the past seven years they have been missionaries in Reno, Nevada, but told me last year they were intent on returning to a foreign mission field.
Rob is not only a gifted teacher, he is also a talented web developer, a gifted communicator, and a good thinker. He brings so much to UBI and I am grateful that he is now part of the team.
Rob and his family have already moved to Kosice, Slovakia. He and I will be working side by side from there as we seek to grow the school and continue to coordinate help for Ukrainians.
Other New Team Members
As UBI's ministry to provide help has grown, so has our team of people distributing that help.
UBI's partnership with Sunset International Bible Institute as well as with the Poznyaki Church of Christ in Kyiv has allowed us to create a network of support lines. We have a team of people from the Poznyaki church who help plan, purchase and coordinate the distribution of humanitarian aid. These people maintain our warehouses, make contact with refugee centers and different congregations, and make the deliveries. Our team delivers this help all over Ukraine, and is now making monthly trips to the front lines along with a required military escort.
We are thankful for Roman Haranian, Sergei Chubenko, Sergei Timoshenko, Sasha Dorohov, Svitlana Tkachuk, and Vova Yasinskiy who work hard to make sure this important work gets done. This team is led by Natasha Maliuga. Her and her husband Sasha lead by example and are working right alongside everyone else to get help where it needs to go.
Moving Forward
Even though this year has been unprecedented for UBI, it has not changed who we have always been: a biblical training school and a conduit for benevolence help. What has changed are the methods and scope of our work. We are pushed to do things in new ways and in much bigger ways than we’ve ever done before. And we couldn’t do it without our amazing staff.
Thank you all for your continued financial and spiritual help. Your partnership is having a tremendous impact. We couldn’t do this without you.
Praising God for our partnership,
Brandon Price