Ukrainian Pentecostal Church in Nicholasville, Kentucky, sends five members to Ukraine with aid

The Ukrainian Pentecostal Church in Nicholasville, Kentucky, has led several efforts over the past month, including bake sale fundraisers and donation drives for refugees. A team of five church members then traveled to Ukraine to deliver donations and assist volunteers there.

The team members are Victor Selepina, Anatoliy Martynyuk, Roman Solovyanchuk, Ivan Lozitsky and Paul Kononets. They boarded a flight from Chicago O’Hare Airport to Warsaw, Poland, on April 7, 2022, and planned to spend a week aiding volunteers in Ukraine and Poland. They carried hundreds of bags of humanitarian aid, including medicine and bulletproof vests, which they planned to deliver in four areas of Ukraine.

Selepina said he expected to reach the Ukraine-Poland border within about an hour of speaking with reporters, and he hoped the crossing would go smoothly. He said he would lead the team through security checkpoints with the dozens of humanitarian bags before delivering them.

Spectrum News 1 had earlier spoken with Alex Chubaruk, president of Christian Mission Ebenezer, on March 16, 2022. Chubaruk said he had coordinated with the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church to collect donations such as diapers, clothing, non-perishable food and safety kits from residents of the Lexington and Nicholasville communities. He described the urgent needs of refugees, saying they need clothing, shelter and food. While in Poland, Selepina and his team were also scheduled to receive donations sent by sea by Christian Mission Ebenezer at the port.

Selepina described the trip in terms of the church’s calling to help where it can, saying the members are “just regular church people” and not heroes. The church said its efforts would strictly focus on helping people fleeing danger, and it thanked those in Kentucky who had supported the work. Selepina said he appreciated the messages, voicemails and prayers he had received from people back home.

Back in Kentucky, the Commonwealth has expressed pride in the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church’s efforts.

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