Our History
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you …” (Matthew 28:19-20)
The purpose of the mission is to fulfill the “Great Commission” of our Lord Jesus Christ, and bring the Gospel to the nations through the establishment of new churches.
The mission of the Great Commission was formed in the year 2000, by Bethany Slavic Missionary Church in Sacramento, California; and here at 9880 Jackson Road, the Great Commission Ministry International develops and continues its missionary work.
Great Commission started its missionary work in the former Soviet Union. It began with the sending of containers with parcels to needy families. Thousands and thousands of parcels were sent to our former homeland, in order to help our brothers and sisters in Christ who remained there. We provided more financial aid for evangelizations and for the construction of new churches, as well as for the various missionary projects. After a while we saw a huge need, not only of parcels and financial support, but also the need of missionaries to preach the Gospel.
In the summer of 2000, missionaries, including Pastor Sergey Punka, Pastor Stepan Skots, and a group of young people, began conducting evangelistic ministry in the community centers, parks, market places, and squares of the city of Poltava, and other towns of Poltava region. Thanks to the missionary work done by the mission “Great Commission”, six churches were built and opened in the cities of Poltava, Orzhitsa, Bilyk, Kobylyakov, Zinka, and Dykanka. For more than 10 years, the missionaries, including Pastor Vladimir Lashchuk, Leonid Maximov, Sergey and Larissa Bubela, Vladimir and Victoria Akhramenko, Gennady Sagun, Felix Weitzman, and Sergey Struk, have been working in the local churches of the Poltava region. They have been serving in orphanages, nursing homes, and offering help to people with disabilities. In addition, they have also held conferences and seminars, for women in Bible schools.
In 2003, the “Great Commission” ministry started to carry out a new kind of evangelization in Ukraine, through Mobile Medical Clinics. This is called the Medical Ministry. A team of more than 20 Christian doctors come to villages and cities, for medical examination of the poor people. At the same time, a specially-trained and prepared team is counseling people about eternal life. During these heart-to-heart conversations, people are told about repentance and God’s forgiving love. Through this service of charity, many people repented of their sins, and have found peace with God. In some places where the Medical Ministry worked, new churches were opened.
Among the missionaries who work in Ukraine, there is another missionary. Dmitry Golovotyuk, who together with the team “The Evangelist”, is spreading the Gospel about Jesus Christ. Besides preaching the Gospel, they also offer material and spiritual support to churches; they organize and carry out summer camps for children, and serve people with disabilities. Their motto is: “Do whatever your hand can do!”
“Great Commission” ministry also financially supports the ministries in Belarus and Central Asia; helping pastors who are doing their ministry, regardless of very difficult circumstances.
The ministry of the “Great Commission” has spread to the Far East, to the cities of Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Ural, and Kaminski-Ural. In these cities and regions of Russia, the Bishop Emmanuel Prokopenko, Pastor Stepan Skots, Felix Weizmann, and Gennady Sagun lead seminars and conferences for ministers and pastors.
As time went on, the mission “Great Commission” developed and expanded its horizons, to include the preaching of the Gospel throughout the world.
In 2003, the leaders of Bethany church, including Paul Bondaruk, Paul Rospodnyuk, Sergey Punka, and Ivan Gavriliyuk, together with the Senior Pastor Adam Bondaruk, visited South America for the first time. In the Latin American countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, our brothers have provided financial assistance to the needy people and orphans.
From October 15 – November 1, 2005, the “Great Commission” ministry visited the countries of Malawi and Mozambique, Africa, for the first time. The group of missionaries included the senior pastors of Bethany church, Pastors Adam Bondaruk, Vladimir Shevchuk, and Ivan Gavriliyuk; together with a group of ministers of “Great Commission” ministry, including Vitali Samchuk, Alexander Kissel, and Paul Kushnir. The second mission trip to Africa, in November of 2006, was organized by the “Great Commission” ministry, and led by the Pastor-Evangelist Stepan Skots.
For over 5 years, the mission was sending containers with humanitarian aid and food to thousands of hungry and needy black people, and hundreds of bicycles for local ministers. The mission supports over 20 orphanages in Malawi. Thanks to the financial support of the Slavic Christians of America, dozens of water wells were built; hundreds of Africans now have the opportunity to drink clean and fresh water every day. Love, kindness and concern for the people opened the door to a broader ministry. In Blantaer, they later built the missionary center of the “Great Commission.”
Mexico, one of the poorest countries, has been visited by our missionaries. Seeing the poverty and the need of the local population, the Pastor-Evangelist Lee, Sergey Bubela, and a group of young people from church “Bethany”, went there to serve people with compassion and generosity. They were feeding the hungry, taking care of the needy, and thus showing the love of Jesus Christ to others.
Thanks to the assistance and participation of Pastor Lee it was possible for our ministries (senior pastor Adam Bondaruk, Pastor Vladimir Shevchuk, Pastor Vladimir Kebets, Pastor Vladimir Lashchuk, Pastor Emmanuel Prokopenko, Pastor Ivan Gavrilyuk and Mikhail Formuzal) to visit our brothers in Christ in Japan, China and Korea. Especially memorable, was the trip to Korea, where our brothers were serving to the Russian-speaking Koreans, people who emigrated back to Korea form the Far East. The visiting of sick, the words of exhortation, and the prayer support, helped to revive spiritually the Russian-speaking community in the city of Ansan, which means “City of Love.”
The words that Jesus said, referring to His first disciples, and through them to all his followers: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you … “(Matthew 28:19-20) – are still valid today. The church and all Christians are sent into the world, to fulfill His Great Commission: to spread the gospel throughout the world, to raise new followers of Christ and to establish new churches. The Church and Christians are called to the works of mercy and compassion, to the selfless love for others, with compassion and generosity, responding to every human need.