Our Current Team

Programme Manager, Ukraine

Vadym Tsykra is the Programme Manager of Practical Christian Outreach in Ukraine.

He is 25 years old and has already so many activities in his life it follows that we chose to ask a busy man to help us get things done.

He is educated through a village school in Poliany through to Technical University in Ukraine, graduating in Computer Science.

The son of a Pastor, it is no surprise that he is a Deacon in his father’s church called Grace in Pidvolochysk, which is in the southwest of the country. He uses his musical talents to lead worship using his guitar and voice to good effect.

 He lives in Ternopil, 30 miles from his father church and travels regularly back and forward to lead worship and share the good news. He has recently helped deliver the Alpha course and is excited by the potential for using this material to help introduce people to Jesus.

He is also one of a team of 6 who have launched a new church in Ternopil called “New Church”. It is an exciting new concept which is not centred around a meeting on a Sunday morning, but instead is known as a “GoGo space”, a space which is accessible throughout the week to meet and worship and just be together. Saturday nights worship and bible exploration. A “just talk” gathering to discuss topics such as love, faith, and happiness. These are just some of the new formats they are exploring and should be a great way to engage with 20- and 30-year-olds in a new generation.

As most church leaders in Ukraine, he needs to be self-sufficient and volunteers his time to the Church.

So, he has leveraged his IT qualifications and now teaches small groups in this space in Graphic Design. But this is on top of running his mother’s flower shop and his father’s seed shop in town. A busy young man.

Who else is in his life? Well, he will tell you that he is married to the most beautiful woman Yana Tsykra, a Ukrainian Language Student. She played the piano in church to accompany his guitar and singing, and when their eyes met, well you all know the love story.  

So as our Programme Manager in Ukraine, Vadym plays a vital role in being able to help us research and discern the best ways to help those in need. If we tried to do that from here, we would inevitably provide aid, but it may not be what the people need. So Yadym is our way to “see what God wants us to see and to feel what He wants us to feel”, and then together we can resource the aid that will be of most benefit.