Liz Enid Polanco is an evangelist, a missionary, a TV host, a chaplain, and a volunteer from Puerto Rico. She and her mission group traveled to Ukraine for the second time during the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine with the Bibles for Ukraine project.
Polanco traveled more than 9,000 kilometers to visit Ukraine, visiting Lviv, Kremenets, Chernivtsi, Kyiv, Sumy, Krasnopillia, and other cities, where she and her team donated 70,000 Bibles.
During her first trip, Polanco really liked the Sumy region. The hospitality of residents of the city made a pleasant impression, so during this visit to Sumy, from May 17 to May 25, 2024, her mission group conducted the "Revival with Hope" evangelistic meetings
Polanco, José Pablo Chan Bonnabel, and other missionaries shared the gospel with program attendees for ten days. They taught attendees how to pray, communicate with God, how to understand that it is God who answers, how to free oneself from sinful burdens, they told when and why anointing with oil is done, and how long to wait for Christ's Second Coming.
There was no need to do much advertising before her arrival because Polanco was already well known to city residents thanks to the Bibles she had previously given away. Therefore, a simple announcement gathered a large number of volunteers and attracted the attention of local television and city leaders. The "Suspilne Sumy" television channel interviewed Polanco, and representatives of the Department of Culture, Tourism, and Religion congratulated Polanco on her arrival in Sumy.
The heads of districts around Sumy invited Polanco to visit their communities where she and her team met with the mayors and heads.
Polanco was welcomed by military units. There, she prayed a prayer of blessing and gifted Bibles. During the evangelistic meetings for people of all ages, the missionaries' practical life and living experiences served as the best advertisement for Christianity.
Local communities led by Oleksandr Tkach, a missionary pastor, held a prayer marathon and a prayer vigil throughout the program.
Communities of other denominations treated the arrival of missionaries with respect. Polanco and her team met with leaders of other churches and invited them to participate in the "Bibles for Ukraine" project, They encouraged members not to miss meetings. As a result, 260 people attended the first meetings, and later, the number increased to more than 300 people. Viktor Begas, a pastor and an evangelist of the Ukrainian Union Conference, conducted Bible lessons titled "It Is Written."
Gabriel, a young missionary, and Lesia Lupulyshen held meetings for children. As a result, 50 children attended a one-week English language course.
Lenny Velez, an administrative assistant at the Multicultural Ministry of Arizona Conference in the United States, held an interesting seminar for women and provided support to those who were in difficult circumstances. Mirta broadcasted all meetings on the "Bibles of Ukraine" mission channel.
Fialka Khomiha, Vilis Neikurs, and Oleksii Murha, provided translation to help attendees understand biblical truths in the Ukrainian language.
At the end of the program, eight people requested baptism and another 17 decided to prepare for baptism in the coming Sabbaths.
In addition, at the end of the program, a pleasant surprise waited for all attendees of the program. Every person received a food product set as a gift, which was provided by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Ukraine.
Polanco does not have plans of stopping as she is already planning her next trip to Ukraine.
For more information and to partner with her ministry in sending Bibles to Ukraine, visit https://www.facebook.com/LEPMinistries
The original article was published on the Ukrainian Union Conference Ukrainian language website.
