I remember coming home from school in fourth grade after learning about the Holocaust for the first time and yelling at my mother. “Why didn’t you do anything about it?” I demanded. I’m not sure what I expected my mother to have done as a young American teenager at the time, but her answer, “We didn’t know what was going on,” did little to pacify me.
I wonder what my ten-year-old self would say to me now.
Perhaps you, like me, are disheartened by many reports about Ukraine that just don’t make sense. And maybe you are wondering what you can do as an American to help people in a war-ravaged country on the other side of the world.
Recently, I had the honor of interviewing Joshua Steele, an American missionary who has lived in Ukraine with his wife Kelsie for over twenty years. Together, they have six children. As an American experiencing firsthand what is happening in Ukraine, I asked him what Americans can do to help the Ukrainian people.
Before we get into Joshua’s suggestions, let me share his story. Joshua’s passion for missions began as a young teenager of thirteen or fourteen when he participated in an evangelistic outreach in his local area of Fort Worth, Texas. At the age of sixteen, he spent six weeks in Hong Kong on a short-term mission trip, and at eighteen, he spent five months in Ukraine on a mission trip. During that trip, Joshua fell in love with the Ukrainian people. “While people in America I would talk to about the Lord didn’t seem too interested, everyone in Ukraine wanted to hear what I had to say,” he said. On this trip, Joshua felt God calling him to be a full-time missionary.
Four years later, Joshua returned to Ukraine for what was initially a five-year commitment, and he has been there almost continuously since.
Joshua chose not to date or marry before he was established as a missionary. He wished to follow the formula from Proverbs 24:27: “Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house” (ESV). After being a full-time missionary in Ukraine for a couple of years, he began wondering how to find a wife willing to follow him to a remote part of the world.
While Joshua was in Thailand for a short-term mission assignment, his sister emailed him and said, “Hey, Joshua, I think I have found the girl you need to marry. Her name is Kelsie; She is godly and wonderful, and she is praying to marry a missionary.” This piqued Joshua’s interest, and he reached out to her father and received his blessing to begin corresponding with her. Joshua and Kelsie began a long-distance courtship—from Thailand to Oklahoma. After a couple of months, Joshua returned to the States so he and Kelsie could have a proper courtship. Things progressed quickly, and they were married just six months after they began corresponding, and within a few weeks, they began their married life together in Ukraine. Read more about their love story by clicking here.
Joshua has been inspired by 2 Timothy 4:1-5, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus … preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching … be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
“My purpose is to bring the Gospel to the world, and for the time being, to Ukraine,” Joshua said. That sounds great, but you may wonder what exactly Joshua does to bring the Gospel to Ukraine. His work as a missionary is multifaceted. The Steeles work in conjunction with Euro Team Outreach (ETO), a group of missionaries serving in Western Ukraine. They are also involved in their local church in L’viv, Ukraine, where Joshua often preaches, and his family is involved in music ministry and various youth programs.
Early in his ministry, Joshua developed an evangelistic Bible correspondence course, Bible First, to help Ukrainians understand the fundamentals of the Bible. A wide range of Ukrainians enroll in the course—from elderly, to working adults and college-age, and even children. Over the years, Joshua and his team have expanded and developed the program, making it available for other ministries to use in French, English, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
Joshua was involved in Carpathian Mountain Outreach for fourteen years. Each summer, he led a discipleship training program for young men, which included trips to remote villages in the Carpathian Mountains to share the Gospel by showing Bible-based films and distributing literature. The program was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not resumed due to the war. Joshua told me an incredible story about a Gospel-preaching priest he met in a mountain village on one of his trips. Read Joshua’s story about Father Stepan by clicking here.
Speaking of the war, Joshua said it is like nothing he has ever experienced. “After two or three days of air raids and sirens, knowing missiles and drones were coming towards our city and could hit anywhere, we made the decision, for the sake of the children, to leave,” Joshua said. “It was the hardest decision I have ever had to make, but we knew from the start our first responsibility was to protect our children.”
Joshua, his wife, and their six children left their home in L’viv in their old van on February 26th and joined the line of vehicles heading for Slovakia. It was bitterly cold, and the heater in their van was broken, but God sent an angel to help them. A contact from their church in L’viv had relatives living in a border town in Ukraine and came and found the Steeles in line. He brought Kelsie and the children back to his home for meals and to sleep in warm beds while Joshua inched forward in line. On March 1st, they crossed the border, and immediately, Joshua was thrown into action helping humanitarian organizations set up evacuation plans. While in Slovakia, Joshua ministered to refugees and took trips over the border to help transport supplies and Ukrainians back and forth. After much prayer, consideration, and counsel, Joshua returned to L’viv sixteen months later with his family.
“Our ministry has evolved because of the war,” Joshua said. “We have had to adapt some ministries, but the core has remained the same.” The Bible First correspondence course is working well during wartime, connecting with people who otherwise would not be reached.
The war has opened new doors. Joshua coordinates with a missionary in another part of Ukraine to distribute humanitarian aid packages in villages severely affected by the conflict, including some de-occupied zones that have been liberated from Russian occupation. In each village, the team sets up a meeting to preach the Gospel while distributing aid, and, when available, they also give away graphic Bible novels, "Good and Evil" by Michael Pearl. Read Joshua’s account of one of these ministry trips by clicking here.
Joshua has been instrumental in setting up a program to distribute Good and Evil books throughout Ukraine and to Ukrainian refugees in surrounding countries. All 15,000 Good and Evil books printed when the war broke out have been distributed. No Greater Joy Ministry is raising funds for another printing. The distributorship program is in place and just waiting for more books to be printed.
Here are Joshua's suggestions of how we, as Americans, can bring hope and help to Ukraine:
Pray for Ukraine. God is alive and working in Ukraine. Even though you live on the other side of the world, you can be part of His movement in Ukraine through prayer. Commit to praying daily for the Ukrainian people, for God to protect them, to strengthen and provide for them, and to bring the war to an end.
Stand up for Ukraine. Support the Ukrainian people by speaking positive things about them in conversations, on social media, and in every way you can.
Be vigilant. Be aware that Russian propaganda is prevalent in the United States. The target of Russian propaganda is to turn America’s attention toward corruption in Ukraine or President Zelensky’s missteps to take the focus off what is actually happening in Ukraine. “Ukrainians are not perfect, but this is a clear case of good versus evil. Russia is clearly the aggressor, and Ukraine’s attempt to defend their land and liberty is astounding.” Be skeptical of reports that diminish the atrocities Russia is imposing against the civilian population of Ukraine. Russia is bombing civilian populations every day, which is an international war crime.
The threat Russia’s invasion poses to Ukraine’s Christian Community is real. Ukraine has a thriving community of Christians comprised of Catholics, Orthodox, and Evangelicals. “I have personally spoken with people who have been arrested by the Russians and tortured for their faith,” Joshua said. “If Ukraine falls, it will be a disaster for the church and the furtherance of the Gospel.” He went on to explain that it would reintroduce the Christian persecution that took place during the Cold War.
Send financial support to missionaries or humanitarian organizations. The need is great. If you feel inspired and are able to, please consider supporting a ministry, missionary, or other organization dedicated to helping Ukraine. “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it” (Proverbs 3:27 ESV). You will find a list of suggested organizations at the end of this post.
A quick google search will give you numerous choices of places you can donate to help Ukrainians. Here are a few suggestions:
To support Steele Family Missions (Joshua's ministry), click here. They personally send donations to people they know in Ukraine who don't have a way to receive funds from people in the US, such as the pastor and his family in Zhytomyr, believers in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and single moms in need.
To support No Greater Joy Ministry to purchase Good and Evil Books to be distributed in Ukraine, click here.
To support Bethel House Ministry Center (Living Word Church of Lviv, Ukraine), click here. Missionaries Mark and Rhonda Blessing currently help refugees at the center and distribute “blessing boxes” (humanitarian aid) to those affected by the war.
To support Euro Team Outreach, a group of missionaries serving in Western Ukraine with the goal of preaching the Gospel, teaching the Bible, and discipling men in missions, click here.