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A General Overview
Who are they?
The people of the East Central region of Ukraine are primarily of Slavic origin. This part of Ukraine was very "Sovietized", urbanized and Russified during the Soviet regime. Therefore, the dominant language of most of the population is Russian. While the vast majority speak Russian at home, many are often bilingual in Ukrainian.
How are things now?
This region was especially hard hit by the
collapse of the Soviet Union. 
Many
of the heavy industries and factories found themselves ill equipped
to compete in a world economy. The huge state run farms and factories
have failed to produce as equipment and technology have fallen to into
serious disrepair.
Crops go unharvested and yields continue to decline due to poor soil management and lack of equipment. Perhaps the biggest culprits in both the agricultural and industrial sectors are the leaders themselves.
Corrupt officials continually steal what resources are left and consume all profits on building their own empires. Ukraine was recently heralded as the third most corrupt society in the world.
What happens next?
Ukrainians
are survivors. They are a people waiting for someone or something to
take charge and put things back in order in their world. They longed
for freedom from Soviet dominance, but once they had it, they did very
little with it due to rampant corruption and many of the old leaders
staying on within the new structures. Even though the country has vast
natural resources, it has failed to capitalize on them and rebuild.
The country has an educated work force, however, many specialists no
longer work in the field for which they were trained. They are a people
who are surviving and waiting to see what will happen to them.
The
fall of communism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union left many
Ukrainians in various states of disillusionment, discouragement and
despair. At the same time, others expressed a new hopefulness and enjoyment
of freedom. Life had been quite standardized in the Soviet system, and
suddenly all the rules had changed. The older people were the most harmed
by this, and many have been plunged into poverty. The 
collapse
of the Soviet empire, the economy, Communist ideology and society has
caused this people to search for meaning and hope. They are open to
everything from horoscopes, eastern religions, materialism, alcoholism,
narcotics, intellectualism and Christianity. They are ready to listen
to the claims of Christianity along with all of the other ideologies
seeking to win them. This combination of a drastic upheaval and transition
in society, search for meaning and guarded openness to Christianity
makes for an excellent opportunity for a church planting movement.
To learn more about East Central Ukraine, click below. Overview of East Central Ukraine The Ukrainian People |
