ABOUT US

The Least of These is a Christian organization based in America ministering in Ukraine. For 20 years already, it serves lost children of this world. Verse from Mathew 25:40 “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” shows us how important it is to serve the smallest of our society! Previously, TLOT has been working with orphans and children from poor families in Crimea, showing kid’s programs in schools, villages, and kindergartens. Recently, due to political situation it became impossible to enter Crimea. Therefore, TLOT shifted their focus on the children from another region of Ukraine. Since 2014 our team started organizing summer camps and social projects for children in a village of Plesetske (20 miles from Kyiv). As the number of kids that wanted to meet regularly after summer camps grew, we decided to start a kids club, called “Svitlo”, which means light in Ukrainian. Children meet in the club every Saturday for Bible lessons, worship, games, and food. We create a safe environment for them, where they can learn about Jesus and Bible, and develop themselves. Apart from weekly meetings, we organize movie nights, tea with cookies, and music lessons for kids. We base our mission on the Word of God that tells us to go and spread the good news among all the nations. Our focus is children – “the least of these” because they are the future of humanity. What we teach them today, is what they will do tomorrow.

Staff

Hello, my name is Vitaly Dudukalov. I am husband of a wonderful wife Maryna and father of two boys Daniel and Phillip. I serve the Lord since 1993. In the 90’s me and my wife moved to Ukraine where we happily live since then. Although I studied agriculture and stock raising, major part in my life always were pastor's and children's ministries. Me, my family and our teams worked with orphans in Crimea for 16 years. We organized many summer camps and hosted hundreds of kids programs in small villages of Crimea. Huge ministry that we were building there collapsed when russia annexed Crimean peninsula. A door for us to go there was closed but the Lord opened a new door for us in the village where we were living. We started from summer camps in Plesetske not even planning to do something bigger but in couple years we had weekly children ministry and a strong team of leaders. That was not the end and in couple more years we registered a Light church. Little by little Lord was widening our ministry and pushing us out of our comfort zone. Today, I am a pastor of Light church, which is located in Plesetske. We serve different age groups in our village starting from school age children and up to retired people. I continue to pray, work and dream about God’s Kingdom coming to Plesetske and Ukraine.

Hello, my name is Maryna Dudukalova. I am wife of a wonderful husband and mother of two wonderful boys. I serve the Lord since 1993. Together with my husband I studied agriculture and stock raising but major part of my life always was serving the Lord in children's ministry and helping my husband who is a pastor. Me, my family and our teams worked with orphans in Crimea for 15 years. We organized many summer camps and hosted hundreds of kids programs in small villages of Crimea. Huge ministry that we were building there collapsed when russia annexed Crimean peninsula. A door for us to go there was closed but the Lord opened a new door for us in the village where we were living. We started from summer camps in Plesetske not even planning to do something bigger but in couple years we had weekly children ministry and a strong team of leaders. That was not the end and in couple more years we registered a Light church. Little by little Lord was widening our ministry and pushing us out of our comfort zone. Today, I am pastor's wife and coordinator in Light church that is growing, developing and is following the Lords guidance.

Hello, my name is Daniil Dudukalov. I am married to an amazing woman Bogdana and we have a boy named Damian. I have wonderful parents who have been serving the Lord since I was little. Therefore, my whole life since I remember myself was filled with missionary trips, summer camps and church. For 5 years I studied in university in Lithuania and after finishing studying psychology there I came back to Ukraine. Since then I have been working with children and youth in Plesetske. Also, I am a leader of worship team in our church. Majority of my life I have been serving children and young adults and I believe that this is an important ministry because by preaching the Gospel to them we invest in the future of our country and our kids.

“Sherrel and I had made a decision to sail our 54 foot catamaran to Fiji in the South Picific and minister to the Fijian people in the outer islands. Well God changed all our plans!!! We received a call asking us to help start a ministry in Crimea, Ukraine. We said no. We received a second call. We said no. On the third call we agreed to go to Crimea in November 1998 and help with the planning of programs in an orphanage in Eupatoria, Crimea. The trip went very well. We were then asked to go back to Crimea the following summer of 1999 to help with the programs. We said no. We finally agreed to go help. The ministry in this orphanage of about 250 children impacted the children and Sherrel and I. The children would say “we have been told there is no God”, but they listened to the programs and many changed their minds about Jesus. On the train going back to Kiev, in tears, we told the leaders of this group that we would never let them do this to us again. Our hearts were broken for these children. Upon our return to Newport, Oregon, Sherrel and I felt like God was calling us to be missionaries to Ukraine. We changed our plans about going to Fiji and sold our catamaran. This trip had lasting implications on the decades to come on the ministry in Ukraine. We had met and amazing young couple, Vitalik and Marina with their two young children, Daniil and Phillip. Twenty-four years later we are still ministering together. The Least of These was birthed in the fall of 1999.” Rich Richmond

Rich and Sherrel Richmond Co-founders of TLOT

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