Ilie Hlusceac

Ilia Hlushchak recently returned from Transcarpathia to Chernovtsy, Ukraine, to pastor Goodnews Baptist Church. He and the faith family of the church are thrilled to be reunited. In his recent report, he conveys his excitement, “It is a real joy for me to be with the family that loves me and with the church that has been waiting for me in Chernovtsy. I enjoyed a deep peace this month.”

At the beginning of this month, I was still in Poroscovo. Being that I wasn’t the pastor of a church. I took a week off and visited the churches where I had preached before. On September 1st, I visited the church in Ujgorod and shared the gospel on Wednesday night. On the way there, I visited the village of Obava where a church is being built for the Volohi. In the evening, I had a nice fellowship with the pastors in Ujgorod and with the other ministers. On September 3rd, I visited the Ukrainian church in Poroscovo and preached that evening. Then on September 5th, I attended the church service in Remeta. The minister involved in this village moved there from Chernovtsy about two years ago. His name is Petru. He invited me to preach and give the Lord’s Supper in this new and small church. This was where I used to help when the pastor was gone. I also said goodbye to these missionaries. On September 6th and 7th, I was busy packing the luggage. Many people from the church and village visited us. They came to say goodbye.

On September 8th, my wife, Marina, and I put our luggage in the car and left. We drove to Chernovtsy and stopped in the village of Svaleavca where I had also been involved in ministry. We visited to say goodbye to all who came to see us for the last time. After driving for eight hours with God’s help, we made it to Chernovtsy. We needed three days to put all things in order.

On Sunday, September 12th, I attended the morning church service where I took over my pastoral ministry of this church again after an 8-month break. The church members welcomed me gladly and I led the church service. We also started meeting again on Friday night and began doing Bible study. Things happened the same on September 19th and 24th. On September 27th, I preached the Word at a funeral. On Sunday, September 26th, I preached the Word in our church and went to preach in the Romanian Baptist Church in the village of Hrusevca. The pastor was missing, and I was asked to fill in. I also preached there on September 29th in the evening. At the end of this month, I visited my village, Kamenka, where my sister lives. I helped her with different things in the household for two days. But before this, I had a meeting with the leaders of HeartCry Mission and Nehemiah Ministries. We decided that, beginning in October, I should pastor Good News Church and also preach in the church in Hrusevca and other Romanian churches in our area as needed. I try to take every opportunity I have to do personal evangelism, both in public places and also when I visit the believers to meet their non-Christian relatives.