CITA Missionaries Expand Prison Ministry  

CITA missionaries from Mykolaiv have been reaching out to several penal colonies and a prison in the region for 15 years, and a missionary from Zaporizhzhia has begun ministering to prisoners in a penal colony in the Dnipro region. 

A missionary family from Mykolaiv, Hennadiy and Olena Holota, currently visit three local penal colonies and the Mykolaiv prison weekly. In the 72nd penal colony in Voznesensk, 20 people gather for worship; in the 83rd penal colony in Yuzhnoukrainsk, 30 people attend a home church; and in the 93rd penal colony in Novodanylivka, 16 people attend meetings. 

After church services, the missionaries do pastoral work, pray with the imprisoned brothers, and conduct a course called “The Way of the Convict” (based on the Gospels of Mark and Luke). But the most important thing is fellowship:

“Communicating with prisoners and maintaining relationships with them is the most important thing, because after their release we usually invite them to rehabilitation centers and provide humanitarian aid. It is important to tell each of them about God so that they can decide who God is for them and make a decision about their lives. Despite the difficult personalities of the prisoners we talk to, they remain open to the Good News. Many of the prisoners are about to go to the front, so we preach the Gospel and repentance to the Almighty. May God work with each one of them and keep them safe.   

During his eight years of ministry, Zaporizhzhia missionary Oleksiy Ivanov visited 101 penal colonies in Kamianske, Dnipro Region, for the first time. 

According to the missionary, he is currently getting to know the inmates, and distributing evangelistic newspapers and New Testaments. 

Some of the prisoners had already turned to the Lord and shared their testimonies at the meetings.

The missionary plans to continue to visit this facility and expand opportunities to share the Gospel.

Prison ministry is one of the Ministry’s areas of social outreach. 

CITA Press Center.