Kharkov Team Intro. The city of Kharkov is situated five hours to the east of Kiev, Ukraine. With well over 2 million people in the city itself and another 2 million in the surrounding region, Kharkov is the second most populous city in all Ukraine. During Soviet times, Kharkov was a major scientific, manufacturing and educational center. Today the city has over 30 colleges and institutes which still attract students from many parts of the world.
Kharkov today is an interesting mixture of old and new, East and West.
Modern European and American restaurants and stores sit side by side with ramshackle state-owned buildings. Just as Ukraine struggles to find its place in the world, the Ukrainian people are struggling to find meaning and purpose in their lives. Christians are attempting to fill this need by sharing the message of Christ and planting new churches in strategic cities such as Kharkov. Although most people in the city are nominally Russian Orthodox, Protestant evangelical churches form a growing minority. In 1994 there were approximately 50 small Protestant churches in the city with attendances of 50-100 members.