About the fund

Ark of Hope for Youth

Our calling is to work with local churches to preach the Gospel to children, to ground them in the truths of Scripture and to raise disciples of Jesus who will carry the Gospel further.

How the fund began

A response to needs that had outgrown our capacity

Teenagers around a campfire in an autumn forest

The idea of a fund to support evangelistic work among the children of Ukraine came about in 2024. In effect it was a response to a number of needs that had arisen out of something of an evangelistic explosion in children’s ministry.

Work scattered across a number of churches and regions of Ukraine — evangelistic camps, Sunday schools, training seminars — needed to be given an organizational form. The pressing tasks were to set out the aims of the ministry, to review the experience gained and to develop the most effective methods of work with children.

Beyond that, there was the problem of recruiting new workers — in churches emptied by the mass emigration of wartime.

Finally, the growth of the ministry ran up against a plain shortage of money. Funds were going to work with socially vulnerable groups of children, of whom there were many amid the war, the economic crisis and, in some cases, orphanhood.

In view of all these factors, on the initiative of brothers involved in supporting evangelistic work among children, the decision was made to establish a fund and a mission that would take on the task of helping to meet these pressing challenges.

Our mission

Three pillars the ministry rests on

1

Changing the future by changing the heart

We believe that a child’s future begins to change when Christ changes the child’s heart — both on earth and in eternity.

Children who have received the Gospel are tomorrow’s preachers, evangelists and mothers, who will build strong families and Christian communities.

2

Ministry through the local church

Lasting, effective work is not possible outside the local church. So our ministry is first of all about helping congregations to build systematic work in children’s evangelism, to train workers, to organize events and to give material support to the ministry.

It is the local church that must create an environment of discipleship — a kind of ark for children who are seeking God.

3

A systematic and unbroken ministry

We are convinced that only when every disciple who has been raised up becomes someone who prepares another, and evangelism is not a one-off event but the systematic work of the local church, can an unbroken movement take shape — one that will bear fruit for as long as it has people faithful to Christ’s Great Commission.

Biblical foundation

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
2 Timothy 2:2

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.
Matthew 28:19–20

Our vision

Where we are going, and why this way

Singing together from hymnbooks in the open air

1

Renewal begins with the heart

Real change begins where Christ changes the heart (Ezekiel 36:26). So we seek to form people who live by faith, by God’s values and by a sense of responsibility before God and their neighbors.

2

Children are not only our present but also the future of the Church

We believe that the children who receive the Gospel today can become a generation of evangelists who will carry on the very work through which they themselves came to Christ (1 Timothy 4:12; Psalm 78:5–7).

3

The local church — the environment of discipleship

It is through the local church that God makes disciples, strengthens families and unites communities around the Gospel. We do not replace the Church — we help it to build systematic work in children’s evangelism, to train workers, to organize events and to give material support to the ministry.

4

A living system of discipleship

In carrying out Christ’s Great Commission, we are building a living system of discipleship that continually multiplies faithful followers of Christ:

children → youth → church → ministers → new children

This is not a short-term project but a long-term strategy of spiritual renewal. Today’s child becomes tomorrow’s disciple, minister, missionary, pastor, father or mother, who will bring a new generation to Christ.

We take the apostle Paul at his word: the truth is to be passed on from faithful people to the generations that follow (2 Tim. 2:2). That is how a lasting spiritual movement is born, one able to change society.

Our goal

A large gathering: rows of participants in front of the stage

We dream of seeing a generation of people transformed by Christ, who will restore their families, strengthen local churches, serve their society honestly and carry hope to the generations that follow.

We are convinced of this: change a child’s heart today, and you can change the history of a nation tomorrow.

What the fund does

The main task — supporting local churches

The main task the mission has set itself is to support local churches in evangelistic work among children and young people. To achieve this goal, the mission helps with:

Organizing training seminars on children’s evangelism.
Running camps and regional gatherings for children and teenagers from outside the church.
Developing and sustaining a long-term strategy of systematic evangelistic work among children.
Gradually bringing children from outside the church into Sunday school and the Christian community.
Giving material support to the ministry.