My Birthday Message

Today, I turn 38 years old. It’s been an incredible journey. I thank God for His mercy and grace, for He has saved me from my sins and filled me with His Holy Spirit. I am grateful for my family and friends who have joined me in my walk with God.

The Lord marked my life a decade ago by leading me to sacrifice our savings. It was a turning point in my ministry and walk with God. I detail that in my upcoming book Build Fire (you can pre-order it here). For the past decade, my wife and I have been living more sacrificial than before and have seen God’s grace. It’s reflected in how we do our ministry as well. Since the beginning, we have decided to give things for free. In just the last 2 years, we have had over 181,904 items downloaded from the website and sent over 5,000 copies of my physical books to areas where preaching the gospel is forbidden. Since VladSchool started 4 years ago, there have been over 226,718 enrollments in more than 15 courses, with other courses on the horizon.

Humanitarian Aid

However, when the war broke out in Ukraine in February 2022, we had a unique opportunity to be positioned to help there with charity and humanitarian work. During that time we gave around 1 million dollars to bring relief to the refugees, purchased 3 vans and buses for evacuations and aid distribution, and sponsored multiple missions by providing funds for gas into high-risk zones to evacuate children to safety. We also supported many organizations that distributed food and shelter to families across Ukraine, Poland, and Romania, supported ministries conducting camps and counseling for children traumatized by the war, and established a year-long sponsored halfway home in Krakow, Poland, aiding Ukrainian families’ transition.

Additionally, we helped to renovate and fund rent for 3 homes in Romania to accommodate the resettling of refugees, sent out 2 full-time missionaries who served in Ukraine and Poland, and conducted a short-term mission in Krakow to aid refugee placement, provide essential supplies, and establish housing. Also, our team organized a short-term mission in Tijuana, Mexico, assisting Ukrainian refugees seeking asylum in the US. A lot of things were done, thank you to all the partners and donors who entrusted us with that work.

This Year’s Dream

Recently about three months ago, the Holy Spirit has been pulling on my heart personally and in the ministry to increase my focus on the poor, the orphans, and the widows more than before. As I took time recently to be with the Lord for a few days away from my home, the Lord started to deal even more with my heart. During this time I was reminded that God identifies with the poor, how we treat them is how we treat Him (Prov 14:31). If we loan to the poor, we loan to God (Prov 19:17). If we trample on them, we trample on God. If we visit the poor, we visit Jesus (Mt 25:40). Jesus became poor to make us rich, thus showing how we should help the poor. The early Church had a huge focus on the poor, in fact when Paul went on missionary trips they told him to make sure he didn’t forget about the poor (Gal 2:10).

Interested in Helping?

If you share that heart, I want to invite you to recommit yourself to helping those in need who are around you—especially widows and orphans. If God has blessed you abundantly, consider partnering with our ministry so that we can translate and distribute more spiritual material to other nations. We are currently working on translating our books to Middle Eastern languages and buying thousands of them to distribute to underground churches there. We are also sponsoring orphanages and are in the process of helping to build centers of refuge and even taking a VSM mission trip. God has shifted my heart toward that this year. I am looking forward to what the Lord will do due to that.

Click here if you’d like to donate to Humanitarian Aid.

I am grateful to all of you whom the Lord has sent me to minister to. If you would like to send a happy birthday, please leave a comment on this blog. If you want to send a gift directly, you can do so by clicking here.