A Builder of Lives

Andriy Shpak (1982-2024), husband of Antonina, father of Andrew and Sofia

When Andriy Shpak was first reported missing in action, his wife Antonina feared the worst. Being a non-combatant in the Ukrainian army put him at grave risk. A plea for intercession went our immediately, and those who knew and loved Andriy—and there were many—began to pray earnestly for his safety.

Three weeks later, his body was found.

As driver for his unit, he had been evacuating his injured and fallen comrades from the battle fields when they came under intense shelling. Andriy and his team of four managed to jump into a dugout for cover, but a direct hit killed them all. Antonina was asked to come and identify the remains.

Family, friends and coworkers gathered to mourn, but also to honor a life well lived. Maxym Oliferovski, director of the New Hope Center, paid tribute to his lost friend. “Andriy was a builder by trade,” he said, “but not just of houses. Andriy was a builder of lives.”

Andriy had been instrumental in building up the ministries of New Hope for over ten years, since the founding of their vocational training program for orphans, in 2012. He joined the ministry team to teach and disciple orphaned youth, even moving his entire family to Nikolay Pole to be closer to the ministry. Over the years he also built up a boys soccer team, summer camp programs, and the faith and fragile self-esteem of youth-at-risk. He built people in the same way that he built houses—slowly, thoughtfully—with  whatever resources were at hand. He built carefully, fitting different pieces of wood together, just as he fitted different people together on various teams. 

“Andriy never stopped building,” Maxym reflected. “Even when he joined the army in 2022, it was not to kill or destroy, but to build up—his comrades, his country.” 

Having himself grown up without a father, Andriy’s vision was to mentor the next generation in the words and ways of Jesus. When he first came to faith as a teenager, the pastor of a local church became a father figure to him, and Andriy wanted to do the same—to mentor as many young people as possible. 

As with his houses, he built prayerfully, and he built to last. “The soccer team that he started in 2006 still plays!” Maxym exclaimed. “Those boys love him. And at our summer camps every year, dozens of children—and their parents—learned about the love of Jesus through him. Andriy was a man of influence in this community. We miss him.”

In the years before joining the army, Andriy had begun work on a house for his family. He did all work by himself, slowly, because construction materials were scarce. “It was another witness to the community,” Maxym commented, “to see his hard work and commitment. Even in the middle of this construction project, almost every week he and his family would invite youth to share a meal together, cooked over an open fire. They would pray, read Scripture, encourage each other. They shared so much more than meals.”

Andriy’s house is still not finished. It needs more material and work to be completed, and others will take up that task now. Likewise, the impact he had on so many youth and families in Nikolay Pole continues, as those he built up, now go on to build up others.