The impact of leadership in L’viv
Christian leaders can often feel overworked. That is why one church in Lviv reached out to Innovista to help them move forward together and become a life-giving missional community.
Innovista Ukraine has been having a busy year. Since Coronavirus hit, they have managed to provide 234 sessions of coaching and training to 51 church leaders. Today, we want to share the story of one particular church in L’viv.
The leadership team of God’s Love Church had been struggling for a while. Although passionate about their community, they lacked a strategy to make an impact. The pastor was fed up, feeling that he did too much of the work himself, and that his leadership team weren’t sharing the load. His issues were exacerbated by serious orthopaedic problems and, sadly, a deteriorating relationship with his wife.
The team reached out to Anatoliy, Innovista Ukraine’s National Director, and asked for help. Anatoliy ran two workshops with them in February to assess how they worked together as a team, and to coach them into better leadership relationships. They were receptive to Anatoliy’s input, and the team was starting to make meaningful progress when Coronavirus hit Ukraine and forced the church into lockdown.
Undeterred, Anatoliy continued to support them with weekly online sessions, coaching them into effective team work to lead the church through the pandemic. This turned into face-to-face coaching as lockdown was lifted.
Everything was looking promising, until out of the blue the pastor quit. The leadership team had been expecting him to stand down because of his health, but not at that point – and not under such circumstances. The team recognised that they had lost their strongest member, and asked Anatoliy to “go with us another mile” through an unexpected transition.
Anatoliy not only helped them move beyond ‘survival mode’, but with his support – made possible by yours – the church very quickly organised a missional summer camp for Christian and non-Christian young people in their community! With just a week’s notice they put on a camp and – guess what – it was brilliant, despite the many setbacks the team had faced this year.
We all know that leadership matters; when leaders lead, change happens. Anatoliy was perfectly placed to help this church out of a rut and shape it into a life-giving missional community. THANK YOU for making it possible.
Supporting leaders where they're needed most.
Innovista identifies, equips and develops Christian leaders working in challenging locations. Every year, we train and mentor around 1,500 leaders in Britain, Ireland, Moldova, Ukraine, Central Asia and beyond. We help leaders transform people and communities through churches, ministries and enterprises. Inspired by Jesus, we equip leaders to build a better world.