Volunteers from the church of Rozdestvo work in two prisons. Kyiv Tabernacle Church started this ministry in 2014 the prison #56th, but with the war began in 2014, they refocused on serving Ukrainian army as chaplains, leaving prison ministry behind. But the Lord touched the hearts of sisters from various Sumy churches to continue to serve in this prison as evangelists and humanitarian aid. Thus, this ministry opened the possibility of preaching to prisoners. In 2020, at Christmas, Max Goosev of the church of Rozdestvo joined this ministry. Prior to that, he served in Sumy VTK 116 in 2009-2010, so he had an experience communicating with this audience. From the beginning of 2020, a lockdown was announced and the administration of the 56th banned chaplains from visiting the prison. However, in January 2021, the 116th Department called and invited the church to visit their prison again. Max went there. When the guard announced his service to the prisoners, no one came. “Well, I’ll preach to the guards”, – said Max with strong determination, and the guard ran to collect at least someone. So, two people came to the first meeting … and that’s how the ministry got restarted. Chaplains from different churches of Sumy take turns to go to 116 prison every week. They pray with prisoners, read the Word, and answer questions about faith and life in Christ. During this time, more than a dozen prisoners joined the meetings. Almost half have already accepted Jesus Christ. The lives of these people are changing, and this brings new people. Max Goosev, as a former military chaplain, gives lectures for security guards … As their faith progresses some prisoners came to Christ and were baptized.
