Special to The Times-Journal

Pictured is Maia, Sasha, Danny, and Nick Mikhaluk.

There are prayers going up from Grace Presbyterian Church, asking that a speaker scheduled to talk to church members at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday makes the engagement.

Currently, Nick Mikhaluk is trying to get out of Ukraine, where he has worked as a church planter, to come to the United States.

Unless his travel plans are disrupted, Mikhaluk expected to leave Urkaine this weekend. He plans to speak, and be available for a question-and-answer session Tuesday at the church, at 5760 Gault Avenue N, Fort Payne.

Mikhaluk and his wife Maia became believers through the work of American missionaries in the early 1990s. Maia served as a translator for The Commission, a consortium of mission groups from various countries, invited into the former Soviet Republics to teach morality to teachers in the various public school systems, according to retired pastor John Mathieu.

“In the late 90's they formed International Partnerships, a church-planting ministry in Ukraine,” he explained. In the years since, they have planted more than 23 churches, and they’ve worked in Kazakhstan.

“Since 2014 and the takeover of Crimea and the constant fomenting of hostilities in the southeast of Ukraine, IP has coordinated humanitarian sororities into the embattled regions bringing food, medical and daily living supplies,” he said.

“Please pray that Nick will be able to leave Ukraine for a two-month stint in the U.S.,” Mathieu said. “The U.S. board of directors has written requesting that he be allowed to come to visit supporting churches and to confer with church leaders.”