Representing Jesus Where It Matters Most

It’s been a more than two years since Russia invaded Ukraine. For Andrew Chernenkov, life in his home nation is experiencing a new normal. There are still occasional power outages, air sirens, and death reports. But in Rivne, where FCA Ukraine was founded, regular life has mostly resumed—including sports ministry efforts—but not without some harsh reminders that the country is still an active war zone.

“There are still so many stories—somebody is injured, somebody is killed, somebody is drafted to the army,” he explained. “Every day somebody is asking for donations: Soldiers need cars; volunteers need special equipment.”

This reality might seem unimaginable to most and the path back to partial normalcy has been anything but smooth. But according to Chernenkov, better known to friends as “Che,” God’s faithfulness throughout these difficult circumstances has strengthened his resolve and taught him some invaluable spiritual lessons.

“The war has helped soften my heart to represent Jesus more,” Chernenkov said. “It’s helped me realize that any day can be your last day. God has become closer to me and to everybody here.”

Chernenkov and his wife Olya came to Christ through the influence of FCA in 2008. He joined FCA Ukraine staff a year later. When former FCA Ukraine Director Andriy Kravtsov moved to Kyiv in 2014 to develop FCA at a national level, Che’s responsibilities increased, and he was eventually named Ukraine West Region Multi-Area Director in 2017.

“The number of coaches and athletes we reached was increasing every year because staff and volunteers were increasing,” Chernenkov recounted. “We were really focused, and the team was becoming bigger, stronger and more experienced.”

Leading up to the war, the FCA Ukraine team felt led to start a daily group prayer at 9 a.m. During one of those calls one month before the invasion, the group sensed something was coming, which led them to coordinate a response should Russia invade. They started buying food and gas and made plans on how they could use the FCA Sports Center in Rivne for humanitarian purposes.

“Most people believed the Russians would attack the eastern part and that people would flee to Rivne,” Chernenkov said. “But Russia actually invaded from the north and immediately some of our leaders were in the middle of the war.”

According to Todd Cramer, FCA’s Midwest Region Director of International Advancement, Russia’s invasion was a surprising development despite the fact they had thousands of troops along the Ukrainian border.

“I don't think anybody thought anything was going to come of it,” Cramer said. “But there was the foresight of suggesting that some of the Ukrainian leadership should consider bringing their families to the U.S., and temporarily relocate to Kansas City.”

That group included Kravtsov, North Global Divisional Vice President, and his wife Lindsay Kravtsova, who serves as Field Support Assistant. On February 24, 2022, the day the war started, several Ukraine staff members were at the International Capacity Conference in San Antonio ahead of the biennial Realtime gathering.

“We were helping this team mourn and grieve as they’re watching staff in FCA Ukraine’s homes in Kiev get attacked and knowing that people like Chernenkov and other FCA staff were still in the country,” Cramer recalled. “There was a sense of helplessness for the rest of the team as they were here, and they had to do their best to trust in God.”

During one particularly powerful moment at Realtime, the Ukrainians were called to the stage for a moment of corporate prayer over them and the situation in their home country.

Back in Rivne, Chernenkov was trying to figure out what to do for his family (including four kids who were 11 and under at the time) while balancing his responsibility to the coaches and athletes in his region. Staff leadership emphasizes genuine caring and teamwork with one another, and this serving mindset already helped prepare the way for putting this mentality into practice.

Meanwhile, FCA Sports Center Director Igor was using the building to serve displaced families and ministering to the needs of coaches and athletes. It was also out of faithfulness and obedience that the Hope Wins program started in the Sports Center. Hope Wins serves soldiers with rehabilitation after medical treatment, adaptive fitness and Huddles with military chaplains.

“It’s a new way for them to come back into normal life and a great opportunity to share the Gospel and build steps with the Lord,” said Chernenkov.

After spending six weeks with some friends at a home in the mountains, Chernenkov and his family returned to Rivne for Easter. Eventually, Ukraine Country Director Sasha Aleksandrov and his family also moved back to Ukraine to serve their country. But it wouldn’t be life as usual.

During the height of war, and especially during the first winter, missiles attacks were affecting energy systems, which meant most Ukrainians were without electricity for four to eight hours at time.

“The whole country was in real darkness,” Chernenkov explained. “Coaches were using flashlights to have practices. We were having our Huddles sitting around candles.”

“The war has helped soften my heart to represent Jesus more,” Chernenkov said. “It’s helped me realize that any day can be your last day. God has become closer to me and to everybody here.”Back in the U.S., Cramer and other staff spearheaded a crisis relief fund to support those now living stateside and those who remained in Ukraine where efforts including supporting 120 families of coaches who were unable to work during the war.

“The Ukrainians had finally gotten to that point where a lot of their support was starting to come from within their country,” Cramer said. “Then the war happened and all of a sudden now they are the ones financially supporting those individuals that have been supporting them. They had to change the mindset of, ‘How do we serve coaches and athletes in the athletic context?’ to now all of a sudden figuring out how to support coaches and athletes on the frontline.”

Incredibly, FCA ministry started back up just a few weeks after the war started. Staff noticed coaches felt lost without coaching and kids needed to get out of the house and have a positive and active outlet. This led to starting sports camps again in the early summer.

The West Ukraine region hosted 10 camps during the summer of 2022. The first one was especially difficult due to frequent air signals and alarms, which forced staff, volunteers, and campers to take cover in a bomb shelter.

In December 2022, FCA partnered with Convoy of Hope to fly 40 pallets of sports equipment into Poland, which was then transferred into Ukraine. Last summer, Chernenkov held an American football camp for 115 athletes.

All the while, there has been a precarious ebb and flow of military aggression and stalemates—moments of fear and moments of peace. But never forgotten are those who have been lost.

“One of the first messages that we received was one of the guys from a professional rugby team, where I'm a chaplain, was killed around the end February. This past September, a rugby tournament was organized to honor his name,” Chernenkov said. “Tolik was one of our interns. After summer 2022 where he helped run FCA Camps, he decided to join the army at the age of 18. The last time I saw him was the last day of one of our running camps, and one month later he was killed at the age of 19.”

Throughout Ukraine, these difficult years have strangely provided some of the richest opportunities for evangelism and discipleship.

“People have become really open to the Gospel,” Chernenkov said. “People ask how I can be smiling and why I’m not nervous, and I tell them it’s because I know my final destination. And then I get to talk to them about eternal life. My foundation is the Bible and prayer. That is what is giving me strength. I don't know how you can go through something like war without Jesus.”

Cramer continues to be amazed at how the Ukrainian staff members—both those in the United States and those who stayed behind—have shown themselves to be worthy of their calling.

“The caliber of these leaders and their faithfulness is unmatched,” he said. “Whether it's war or peacetime, they just find the depth of their faith and their persistence to make it happen.”

Moving forward, Chernenkov is hopeful that the ministry in Rivne and across Ukraine will continue to rebuild back to its former strength. FCA is currently ministering to 3,000 coaches and athletes nationwide with a fraction of the staff and volunteers it had prior to the war.

“Everybody’s really tired and we just want the war to finish,” Chernenkov said. “We just want peace on our land. But this war has helped me understand more the value of daily life with Jesus. You have to live every day as if it’s your last.”

As FCA Ukraine presses forward towards uncertain outcomes, Chernenkov has requested prayer for the safety of his family and those within the sports ministry community. He is also seeking greater wisdom as he leads the ministry in West Ukraine along with an urgent desire for more leaders in every province and in every region.

Please prayerfully consider supporting Che and his ministry in West Ukraine.

-FCA-

Photos courtesy of Andrew Chernenkov