City of Hope School Opens in Lutsk

Despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Adventist schools continue to provide education. On the 555th day of the full-scale conflict, 23 Adventist institutions opened their doors to students and started a new school year. The opening of the Place of Hope school in Lutsk was a newsworthy event.

The Adventist church in Lutsk opened a kindergarten in 2015. The positive evaluation of this institution was spread among parents. About 60 children attended various programs at the kindergarten, which occupied the entire first floor of the church. The kindergarten’s location helped many people learn about the Adventist Church and cross its threshold for the first time.

However, the kindergarten was not enough. Parents and children did not want to leave their wonderful little school, so they often expressed a desire to open a secondary school in addition to the kindergarten. To realize these plans, two years ago, the church started a new building. The conflict postponed the plans to open the first grade, but thanks to the Lord’s help and the hard work of the school principal Svitlana Okunevych, the Slobodskyi pastoral family, and the school staff, the school began its first school year this year.

Opening a school during the conflict has its own nuances. It turned out that obtaining a state license was not as difficult as was finding and preparing a bomb shelter in accordance with martial law requirements. However, with God’s help, everything was done, and on September 1, parents and children attended the first bell celebration.

The celebration was also attended by guests: Valentyn Shevchuk, director of Education for the Western Ukrainian Conference, and Kostiantyn Kampen, director of Education for the Ukrainian Union. After the solemn program, an interesting quest for children took place, which ended with a sweet table. Satisfied kindergarten children went home, and first-graders went to their first lesson.

It is everyone’s prayer that the new school in Lutsk and all other Adventist schools in Ukraine will truly be a “place of hope” for many children in a time of conflict.

The original version of this story was posted on the Ukrainian Union Conference Ukrainian-language news site.