Our History

The history of UBI begins in the early 1990s, in the first years after the fall of communism in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Numerous missionaries came to Ukraine at that time, proclaiming the gospel and spreading God's word. In 1994 a large-scale evangelistic campaign was held in the city of Donetsk, with participation from Christians from various congregations of the churches of Christ in the USA. People were very open to receiving God's Word, and over 2,000 people were baptized in 10 days. In a very short time, congregations of the Church of Christ were established in almost all districts of the city of Donetsk.

The missionaries now faced the urgent task of helping the newly baptized Christians to grow in God's Word and to mature in Christ. The brothers in the new congregations needed spiritual training so that they could develop as good leaders in the kingdom of God. As a result, a preaching school was established and initially called the Donetsk School of Preachers. The lessons were taught by various missionaries—some who had moved to Donetsk to help the young congregations, others who would come to Ukraine to teach from time to time.

In those first years, however, the school did not have a structured, comprehensive training program. The missionaries taught various topics at various times, depending on their availability and the local needs that existed. But as the gospel continued to spread, so also did the needs and interest among Ukrainian Christians and churches for a more thorough approach to ministry training. Therefore, the missionaries working in Donetsk and their congregations in the United States approached Sunset International Bible Institute (SIBI), a US-based institute with trusted experience and an established history of ministry training, with a request to make the Donetsk School of Preachers an affiliate of SIBI.

In 1997 Sunset International Bible Institute and the Donetsk School of Preachers began their cooperation. Sunset provided the school with a teaching staff and a curriculum adapted to the needs of local congregations. At that time the school began to be called the Donetsk School of Bible and Evangelization.

Soon after, the school received official recognition as a higher spiritual education institution and changed its name to Ukrainian Bible Institute. By this time the institute had acquired a spacious property in Donetsk that included large classrooms, student dormitories, and a visiting teachers' apartment.

The institute continued to operate from the city of Donetsk, with much fruitful growth and ministry. However, with the outbreak of war in 2014, UBI was forced to move. The institute relocated to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and resumed its work there in January 2015. (Meanwhile, UBI's facility in Donetsk has remained in kingdom service; it is used to host a church and house those who have lost their homes.)

For details about all the God has been doing through UBI since 2015, see What We're Doing During the War.