God uses some of his children in unique ways to encourage, to inspire, and to equip others for the ministry. Such was the case with dear Brother Fedor, who moved into the presence of his Savior on March 28th 2019. I found in him a rare passion for God, love for God’s people and a never tiring energy to serve, to share the gospel, and to encourage other believers in Christ.
Pastor Fedor was one of the founders of the Light of the Gospel association of churches in Eastern Ukraine. He faithfully pastored Light of the Gospel Church in Druzhkovka, Ukraine for over 25 years.
His church was situated near the front lines of the war and for a time in 2014 his city was occupied by Russian Separatist. Pastor Fedor and his church were very active in aiding refugees and those caught in the “gray zone” between the fighting.
I had the privilege of meeting Pastor Fedor in 2015 when we took a short mission trip together to the country of Georgia. After that trip I visited his church in Druzhkovka several times to lead seminars and do other ministry together with Fedor.
I also had the privilege to travel with Fedor a little while he was in the States in 2016. He visited our home church, Discovery Baptist and we attended the Shepherd’s conference together.
Pastor Fedor was a man of ideas and action. If I ever mentioned any kind of ministry idea to him I could be sure he would jump on it and tell me, “Caleb let’s do it!” In fact he had already invited me to come this summer to do a missions conference for the youth of his church.
The last time I saw Pastor Fedor was about 1.5 months ago at a pastor’s retreat where I was speaking. The last night I was there he organized a time in the “Banya” for the guys.
As we sat and sweated in the sauna Pastor Fedor told us, “Ok brothers, our topic is, ‘why do Christians grow cold in their faith?'” For the next 3 hours we discussed the spiritual lives of our churches and the possible mistakes we’ve made as pastors that could lead to spiritual cooling down of our members. It was a useful time of fellowship.
Whether in the banya with a dozen other church leaders or on the front lines of the war in Eastern Ukraine serving the needing Pastor Fedor’s focus never changed, he never grew tired of the gospel, he never stopped leading others to the cross. His love and passion for Jesus was infectious!
I’m grateful for the opportunity to know Pastor Fedor Bespalov and to be able to serve Jesus with him. I have taken much encouragement from my times with him and learned valuable ministry skills from him. If there’s a sauna in heaven I’m sure we’ll visit it together and spend as much time as we want marveling at God’s goodness and grace!
