HARLETON, TX (EAST TEXAS NEWS) – A former East Texas football coach turned minister, who has traveled to Ukraine many times, is now praying for the safety of his friend in that country as he embarks on a dangerous mission to save lives.
The outreach effort with ties to East Texas, known as the “Open Doors Christian Camp,” has even been a target of Russian bombardments.
Mark Sartain, the former football coach from East Texas Baptist University, waits with nerves for the next message from his friends in Ukraine.
“We’ve been in fairly constant contact via Facebook Messenger. Probably more than a thousand people we’ve been able to rescue during this time,” he says.
Sartain had spent years on Christian ministry missions in Ukraine and formed a friendship with Ukrainian minister Alex Seminov.
“Alex is the minister of the ‘Open Doors Christian Camp,’” Sartain explains.
When the Russian offensive began, Seminov fled with his family to Romania, but Sartain received messages from Alex that he had returned to the war-torn areas.
“Making trips to the war zone, several per day. He and some of his associates bought vans and began returning to Ukraine to recover and rescue civilians who had been stranded. 170 one day, 130 the next, 100 another day, 60 another day. Yet he has chosen to go in and retrieve those who cannot leave,” Sartain says.
Before pulling out the next batch, they held services this morning.
“They sheltered them at the center of Kyiv. It’s in the basement of a midtown building complex in central Kyiv where they have housed refugees throughout the war,” Mark says.
Sartain has worked for years with summer Christian mission camps in Ukraine, including a building that was nicknamed ‘Texas Hut,’ which has now been destroyed in the war.
“The camp has been destroyed. That was hard for me to see. It became very real when we saw the footage, leveled to the ground,” he says.
Sartain says that once Seminov finishes his work, he will come to East Texas.
“He will arrive soon, and when he does, we will have opened our home,” Mark adds.
Sartain says that residents of East Texas can help by visiting the Open Doors Christian Camp online at https://advancingnativemissions.com/cause/feed-a-family-in-ukraine.
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