Welcome to the official site of Ukrainian Hope Mission

  Dr. and Mrs. Pennell

email me: Ukrainianhope@yahoo.com 

OUR HISTORY

We arrived in Ukraine in July of 1997. We began our work here under a humanitarian visa. We raised food, medicine, clothes and toys for 9 very deprived orphanages in the Zhytomyr Region. After two years of binging in container loads of aid and getting to know the top officials of the state, we began a church in the city. We began with 18 and in a few months we were running up to 500 on Sunday. We began training young people to go into the villages where the orphanages were located and begin churches. In Ukraine, as well as many of the Old Soviet Union block countries, there were and are strong Russian or Ukrainian Orthodox. Baptist are viewed as a sect, so we have always had difficulty getting new churches started in the old villages. God has given us a wonderful approach to these people and opened many doors. Some have shut!  In 2005 the laws became so that we had to register a mission in order to stay, so we formed the UKRAINIAN HOPE MISSION. In 2006 the UHM became a ministry of Westwood Missionary Baptist Church in Winter Haven, Florida. Westwood is our sending church and we are so delighted that now the church and ministry has a building. An 8 room, two story building and a 3 room outside building; these were purchased to remodel and begin the HOPE BAPTIST INSTITUTE AND SEMINARY OF UKRAINE. We are raising the money and working hard on this building, hoping to train many young village people.

WHO ARE WE?

Born and raised in very humble circumstances, in an old fashioned American Baptist Church, we both desired to serve the Lord at very young ages.  I am a native of N.C. and Dorothy is a native of Florida. Our pastor, at the time, introduced us to each other and married us.  I spent 35 years in the pastorate before finally surrendering to the mission field of Ukraine. We have served the Lord here for 12 years and have seen God work in a wonderful way. We have started or had a part in starting 12 churches in the region, and having over 5000 make public professions of faith, (I am sure that not all were real) We work in small villages in the Zhytomyr Region of Ukraine where there IS NO CHURCH!  GOD IS BLESSING!

OUR VISION

David & Debra Bostick, formerly of Dallas, Texas and now members of Westwood Missionary Baptist Church, joined us on Thursday, May 29, to begin working with us. This answers a 10 year old prayer.  The Bosticks will assist in the music and Bible teaching of small children. They will generally assist us in whatever needs to be done, which takes a real burden from us and allows us to do more for the people and the work both here and at home.  We are praying to open the HOPE BAPTIST INSTITUE AND SEMINARY OF UKRAINE in the fall of 2009. There is much work left to do on the buildings and grounds in order for us to have students and classes. The decreased value of the dollar and the 30% inflation (leading the world in inflation) makes it really difficult to estimate costs. We need your PRAYERS for wisdom and patience.  We are presently preparing to have a SUMMER BIBLE CAMP for about 50 children. This will be our 7th annual camp and each year we have seen many children saved.  Some have grown up and are now pastoring churches, started churches or are in full-time Christian work.  Our summer camp is a vital part of raising a generation for God as well as winning a generation to Christ. We always need PRAYER and support for camp.

Bill Pennell, President