A man from Co Derry who is a missionary with his wife in Ukraine has said that they never thought about fleeing the country despite Russia's invasion of the country.
Timothy and Rhoda Sloan, who used to live in Garavgh, have been based in the town of Lutsk for the past two decades.
Lutsk is around 147km from the Belarusian border and it's understood to have been one of the areas to be attacked by Russian forces since the invasion began last week.
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Speaking to BBC Good Morning Ulster, Mr Sloan said he first knew of the invasion after six bombs went off in the Ukrainian home town as he travelled to work last Thursday.
He told GMU: “We have been here from 2002, we don’t feel we’re doing anything extraordinary. We’re doing what God would want us to do and what would be a help for the people.
"Our doors are open from 9am to 9pm at the hall and we announced yesterday that we will serve free meals for the military.”
Taking to social media, Mr Sloan said he was 'confident they were God would expect the couple to be'.
"Rhoda and I are not leaving - How can we?" Timothy said.
"As an elder in the assembly, my responsibility is to shepherd at all times. It would be a terrible testimony to get up and leave the Lutsk believers. We have been preparing for this day."
He added: "Rhoda and I have bought in generators, fuel, food etc, as we would like to turn the Gospel Hall into a place of shelter to accommodate and feed the assembly believers who will face many a hardship.
"God is about to give us a great opportunity to show our Christian faith practically and reach out into our community with the Gospel.
"Rhoda and I may have to move out of our apartment as we are close to the Lutsk military airfield and on the 14th floor of our apartment block, we have the central headquarters of the SBO - the Ukrainian secret police.
"As we close the military jets can be heard overhead and we covet your prayers! We are not any braver than you - but confident we are where God would expect us to be."
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