portrait of a


“On the Mount” Nagorny


ukrainian missionary: Peter


This faithful servant has endured persecution, planting and reviving churches in cities all across Ukraine and beyond BY JEFF FRANKS, BMAA Missionary to Ukraine


H ave you ever met a man


who fully lived up to his name? Ukrainian missionary Peter’s last name, Nagorny, (Ukrainian Nagirny)


means “on the mount” just as in Jesus’ well-loved sermon from Matthew 5. Peter is an avid preacher, pastor, evangelist, and missionary, whom God has used to restore dying churches and start new churches in the Kagarlyk region, about 60 miles south of Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv. I have had the pleasure of his friendship since he began his work and have made a number of trips with him to preach in his villages. Peter knows what it means to follow


Christ and remain faithful in the best and worst of times. He was saved under Soviet repression and endured the post-Soviet times of economic and political instability in Ukraine. Even though his way has been hard, the religious freedom of Ukraine has allowed him to take advantage of many open doors.


He first believed in Jesus as his Savior


and Lord when he was in military service. “I was 20 and serving in the army. A believer Stepan, the driver of the regiment commander, sought me out and began to tell me about his faith in Jesus. I knew what he said was true even as he was speaking. Before he finished I already believed in Christ! I know first-hand the truth of Romans 10:17, ‘Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’ Now when I share Jesus with others, it brings me joy to see God put new faith in their hearts as well.” One of the first things Peter learned


was that Biblical faith was not exactly popular in the Soviet army. As soon as his superiors learned of his conversion they terminated his term of duty and sent him home three months early. Paradoxically, I have heard of other believers who served their entire tour as drivers. It seems commanders often sought out believers to be their drivers because they were known to be honest and dependable, like the man who shared his faith with Peter. As drivers for officers, they were able to keep


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