January 16, 2026 — 8:50 am. We were seated in our blue Ford van, headed once again to the Polish border. Rebekah would soon turn 18, and so it was time to visit the Ukrainian consulate in Krakow to get her a visa. Anya, a Ukrainian friend, had come along for the ride. The morning was crisp; the roads, thankfully, clear. As the three of us sped toward the border, conversation lulled, and my mind began to wander. I’d driven this route so often I could almost do it in my sleep. Almost. No sleep now, though — stay awake. Eyes on the road. We clipped along at a comfortable 100 kph (62 mph). Suddenly, I snapped alert: 8:56 am. Four minutes left...

We’re excited about a new project Kelsie is launching over on Substack, where she plans to write on a monthly basis. She would be excited and honored if our blog readers, and in particular the women in our audience, would visit the link below and click Subscribe. There you’ll find a little more detail about her writing plans. Meanwhile, here is an excerpt from her family update…

Today marks exactly 25 years since I arrived in Ukraine to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary. I felt I could not let this day pass without expressing my gratefulness to the Lord and to the many friends and family who have walked with me through this journey.

It's been a minute, but yes, we're still here in Ukraine! Sometimes it's hard to be a missionary and keep up with telling everybody how it's going. We've fallen behind on reporting, so today I'm posting a whirlwind tour of the past several months. A more detailed newsletter is in the works, but in the meantime, here's what we've been up to and what God has been doing in our ministry.

One of the fundamental principles we taught our CMO teams was this: methods may change, but the message remains the same. That message — the Gospel of Jesus Christ — transcends cultures and languages, remaining constant across the centuries, and offering salvation to anyone who believes. As Christians, our calling is to take this good news to the world, whether at home or abroad, and challenge our listeners to repent towards God.

Here’s a peek into our last few weeks. First up, Bible First Online has been getting some TLC! Designed to help students know God through His Word, the Bible First Lessons and the Bible First Online web application have been a core part of our ministry for years.

Last week we experienced the largest missile and drone attack on Ukraine since the beginning of the war, spending most of Saturday night/Sunday morning in our hallway. We are thankful for God’s protection; our area was not hit, though explosions could be heard throughout the night. After catching only a couple hours sleep, Joshua delivered the Sunday morning sermon! Church carried on as normal, even though many of the members were up through the night.

Our team of four barely fit into a mid-size Ford van, which we had packed from floor to ceiling with supplies: bread, aid boxes, rice, and cases of the Bible comic book Good and Evil. After hours of travel from L’viv in the west, passing through Zhytomyr and Kyiv in the north, we entered the flat, open plains of Ukraine’s southern regions. Gone were the urban centers and smooth highways; in their place, we found a scene reminiscent of some dystopian Hollywood movie.

“When is Daddy coming home?” This is a question all children ask, and it points to a promise all good parents make. Kelsie and I have said it countless times to our children “Mommy and Daddy will always come back.” Yet, no matter how we long to reassure our little ones, we know that our power to fulfill that promise is limited. Tragically, there are times when life takes away our promise, times when a parent can’t come home.

It all began with a phone call from Ben Sargent. Ben serves on our board of directors with Euro Team Outreach, and for some time, we’d been planning for him to visit Ukraine. The goal had been to brainstorm and plan future ministry projects. But now Ben had a new idea. “Josh, when I get there, I want you to find me an interpreter and a vehicle to take me close to the front so I can preach the Gospel. I don’t care if something happens to me; I’m ready to go!” That’s one reason we’re so blessed to have Ben on our team. His enthusiasm and vision keep us going! As we spoke on the phone, I thought fast and made a few suggestions. After our conversation ended, I knew who I needed to call: Oleksandr Ilchenko.