Activating followers of Jesus in Ukraine
Thank you for your interest in supporting Novo’s response to the crisis in Ukraine.
Novo’s work in Ukraine is called Kreativity and is led by David and Katya. After several years working for a British Christian ministry in churches, prisons, orphanages, and hospitals in Ukraine, the Bute's were challenged to provide jobs for those who had been receiving humanitarian aid. They founded Kreativity in 2000, in Central Ukraine, with two specific aims:
Making new followers of Jesus that would create God movements.
Generating jobs, through for-profit businesses that would fund their ministry projects.
Accountability
Kreativity is a part of a global Novo network called CoNEXT. Partners share common values, aims, and support structures, whilst still having the independence to adjust to their unique cultural situation.
The Ukrainian leadership team have day-to-day oversight of projects and grant allocations. David & Katya are part of Novo UK and accountable to their leadership.
Projects
The Kreativity team consists of over 50 people employed through a number of businesses. One major focus is education, and they have a learning track for children from Early Learning lessons, through kindergarten (Super Start) to a primary school (Start Academy). Their next project is a secondary school. Other businesses they have created include an English school (Yazlingo) and IT company (eKreative).
They have many different ministry projects, including Let’s Play (outreach for young people using board games), Mishko Fedr (mums and toddlers group), 2 Kopecks (elderly people fellowship), Bunker (young people outreach), Pani Razom (young ladies fellowship), Sandbox (mission interns) and CHURCH (church community).
They are very passionate about overseas mission, and their project ‘Mission Impossible’ has seen Ukrainian mission teams sent all around the world for the last 20 years, mostly funded from inside Ukraine.
The War
Since the war broke out in February 2022, Kreativity’s focus has been on helping people and families displaced by the war. They have worked with CoNEXT partners like Novo UK to source and provide tens of thousands of food parcels, clothing, and personal hygiene products, as well as offer temporary accommodation and evacuation transport. Over 1,000 Discovery Bible Studies have been launched as a result of this humanitarian help, and one team has even been trained up in psychological first aid and provides trauma counselling to those who need it.
For more questions or to receive regular updates, please email us at help@novouk.org.
Would you prayerfully consider a gift to support Novo UK’s relief efforts for the crisis in Ukraine?
New Project Proposal: Plans to expand 317
Background
David and Katya Bute have been living on mission in Cherkasy, Ukraine for more than twenty years, and have built Kreativity; a blend of mature successful businesses and a healthy thriving ministry moving towards establishing Gospel Movement in Ukraine. Kreativity’s unique model of building profitable businesses with ministry teams has allowed us to take the Gospel around the world, and along with the war, has increased our ministry reach across Ukraine. When war broke out in February 2022, the Kreativity team elected to stay in Ukraine to continue our mission, supporting our families, team and many people displaced by the war.
Situation
Kreativity’s central hub of operations is call 317, a large multi-purpose 1,000 square metre facility that houses some of Kreativity’s businesses and missions support. Over the last year, 317 has also been used as accommodation for displaced people, a venue for hundreds of Discovery Bible Studies, a distribution and packing centre for tens of thousands of food parcels and winter clothing sets.
Parallel to the physical humanitarian aid Kreativity provides, we established a team of leaders providing psychological support; trauma care and emotional healing. This team continues to be trained up using Novo’s SentWell team. There are currently 11,000 displaced people registered at 317 that Kreativity’s teams have been ministering to, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
The challenges awaiting Ukraine when this war finishes are more than rebuilding homes and apartments, but about rebuilding lives. Repairing families. Dealing with grief.
The emotional trauma is going to take much longer to heal than the physical trauma.
The Kreativity team feels God is clearly calling us to expand our physical and spiritual footprint and authority in Cherkasy. Growing our team and infrastructure will make it possible to provide assistance to many more people in urgent need of support and now more open to the Gospel than at any time since we’ve been living on mission in Ukraine. This will set us up for providing assistance for the next generation, when this war is over, and the war will certainly end. Every day is one day closer to the end of the war, and one day less we have to prepare to bring healing and restoration to our land and sow the seeds of a Gospel movement that brings true peace.
Opportunity
Kreativity is proposing to build a two-part project. Firstly, a centre providing training and Christian trauma care to help those suffering from this war; a national trauma care training centre that can reach every Ukraine. The second part is an expansion of Kreativity’s existing educational projects - creating a private licensed secondary school that would provide Christian-led education and profits that would fund the ongoing work of the national trauma care centre.
Other than startup costs, the ongoing costs of operating the proposed expansion will be self-funding. Multi- use facilities are important for Kreativity, as we seek to use every room, every building, every day, for projects that will bring transformation to Ukraine, ultimately creating a new movement of the Gospel.
At this point, Kreativity has a proven ministry and financial model that effectively funds ongoing ministry but is not able to generate enough revenue to expand our footprint to meet the ministry opportunity in front of us. We are looking to raise the capital to allow us to scale our proven model so that it cannot only better serve our current ministry opportunities, but also allow us to expand and become a national centre for ministry and Gospel Movement formation.
There are two plots of land next to 317 that have been undeveloped for more than 20 years. This is prime real estate but the true value in in the combining of the three plots of land together, including 317. The total purchase price would be around £400,000, including legal fees.
Current building costs are between £400 and £560 per square metre. An additional £480,000 would create a 1000+ square metre facility, with fixtures and fittings costing an additional £160,000. Total estimated cost of this project: £1,040,000
Measurable Outcomes
Expanding our existing successful education model, we would estimate to generate between £24-£32,000 profit per year from the school to fund the care centre. Right now we are caring for 11,000 displaced people in various ways. With this new facility, we will have the capacity to care for 100,000 displaced people. In addition to the increase in our direct ministry the increased trauma care training of Ukrainians from around the country trained at our national trauma care training centre will then be able to influence an additional one million Ukrainians.
Therefore the opportunity to expand the Kreativity ministry to over one million Ukrainians can be measured at a cost of just £1 per person - very good value for money.
A movement of the Gospel in and through Ukraine is not just a potential side effect of this, but the ultimate aim. A Gospel movement may be the only thing that can bring peace and healing to Ukraine and to our neighbours.
Request
We are looking for partners who are called to invest in building God’s Kingdom on this earth, and we feel this is an excellent Kingdom investment. Novo US and Novo UK have agreed to receive donations for this project, and will work with Kreativity, legally registered as Novo Ukraine, to access donations to purchase the land and build.
This is a time critical project. There is a critical need for trauma counselling now for the majority of the Ukrainian population. In addition, when this war ends, there will be a massive demand for construction all over Ukraine, and prices of work and materials will dramatically increase.