Rostyslav Minchenko
Rostyslav's Testimony
I was born in a Christian family. My mother was a believer, my father was not yet. Every Sunday we attended church services, I went to Sunday school for children, read the Bible together with my mother and brother, and prayed. I knew a lot about different biblical characters and about God, but I had not yet formed my relationship with Him. Church was mostly a habit, and frankly, I didn't really like it then.
One day my brother and I went to a Christian camp where a preacher preached the gospel a lot, and I seriously thought about God. A short time later, at one of the Sunday services the pastor of our church spoke about the eternal condemnation of every sinner in hell after death. I was frightened because I felt that I was the sinner who would be punished with eternal condemnation. That sermon changed my life because for the next week I was really worried about where I would be when I died. I was afraid that I might go to hell for all eternity. I couldn't sleep well or live peacefully - these thoughts were constantly in my head, "Where will I spend eternity?"
Rostyslav's Call to the Ministry
After weeks of worries and fears, I got on my knees and asked Jesus to save me and forgive my sins. After that, it was like a huge weight fell from my shoulders and I realized that the Lord had saved me. Glory to Jesus Christ!
After that, the Lord began to change me: I began to want to read the Bible, attend church, and show my faith in other ways. I became actively involved in street evangelism with our church and in other cities of Ukraine with different ministers. It was a fruitful time for the Lord and His glory. After a while the Lord began to call me to devote my life fully to the ministry. But I was afraid and did not answer that call.
Thanks be to the Lord that He kept calling, and in 2019 I surrendered before Him: at a conference, I stepped forward and committed myself wholeheartedly to the Lord. During my studies at Bible college we visited different countries, and the Lord put it on my heart to be a missionary in the Republic of Georgia. After graduation, I planned to return to Georgia and serve as a missionary there, but God sent me on a different path as war broke out. At the end of 2024, the Lord began calling me to become a pastor. In 2025, I was ordained to the gospel ministry and became the pastor of Eastern Gate Independent Baptist Church. The mission and Georgia remain in my heart, and I believe I will return there one day to spread the Gospel to the Georgian people.