Investing in Healing

Posted on July 31, 2025

How Trauma Training Equips Leaders for Ministry

By Igor Grishajev, Global Action Regional Director of Eastern Europe

“Ukraine is still reeling from war, trauma is not abstract — it lives in the eyes of pastors, chaplains, and the hearts of everyday leaders who they serve in their communities. Recognizing this deep need, Global Action hosted a two-day trauma seminar in Kyiv on April 4–5, 2025, equipping 35 pastors and church leaders to serve their communities with compassion, understanding, and Gospel-centered healing. 

This event was part of a larger vision. Since December 2022, Global Action has partnered closely with Beyond Disaster trauma-healing program. Together, we have conducted four national trauma seminars between 2022–2023, training nearly 200 pastors and chaplains. Many were later certified to train others using the Beyond Disaster model — and they are now multiplying that impact across Ukraine.

Among those certified were Global Action graduates Oleg Bondar, Volodymyr Bilyk, and chaplain Olga Filimonova — who played a central role in this April seminar. These Ukrainian instructors, once students themselves, now teach with seasoned insight and deep pastoral care.

This April gathering brought it all together: solid teaching, good meals, meaningful fellowship, and practical tools for real ministry. But this was no mere lecture series. Participants engaged in discussion groups, applied real-life scenarios, and learned how trauma affects the body, emotions, and faith. The nuances shared by both American and Ukrainian teachers helped leaders see how to walk with people through grief, loss, and the death of loved ones — not only during wartime, but after the war is over.

A central theme echoed throughout:
The Church has a unique and essential role to play in healing trauma.

That message landed deep. Many pastors left being better equipped, personally encouraged and spiritually renewed. In a time of great pain, healing has a name — and His name is Jesus.”

Global Action values theological education that is contextual. Equipping leaders in Eastern Europe with God’s Word and ministry skills means seeing the immediate need to minister to people with ongoing war trauma. What an honor to invest in Ukrainian shepherds!