The Wise Carpenter ministry, started by Vitaly Andriiets in 2017 to provide Christian discipleship and practical skills training for young boys, now supports over 30 workshops running in churches and schools across Ukraine. Five of these happen every week at the House of the Gospel Church in Cherkasy, and it was a pleasure to attend one in February and see the boys and their mentors in action.

‍In a designated room that the church has given to be used as a workshop, a small group of boys aged 7-9 years old meet together weekly with Vitaly to learn carpentry skills and make things. They have a large workbench, a store of wood, and a wonderful collection of tools for doing all their projects. Everything is neatly arranged and in its proper place, from the pencils and rulers on the shelves to the hammers and saws on the wall, and the boy-sized Wise Carpenter aprons hanging on a hook. It is the perfect space to give woodwork lessons.

But Wise Carpenter workshops are not just for teaching practical skills. They are also places where the boys are mentored by faithful Christian adults through reading the Bible together and learning about values for Christian living.

Before any carpentry begins, the boys talk about a specific topic relating to faith and behaviour. On this occasion they were thinking about different ways they could help their parents at home, and each one made a commitment for the week ahead, such as doing some cooking, or emptying the dishwasher every day. Vitaly wrote their ideas down on a whiteboard, took a photo, and shared it in a WhatsApp group with the parents so they could remind the boys of what they had promised.

There is also some time allocated to games, not only for fun but also to practice teamwork and to hone their fine motor skills. First they took it in turns to bang a nail into a piece of wood, keeping a record of how many hits it took to get the nail right in. Then they took turns to pick up metal nuts with a small rod and balance them in a tower – with deep concentration and steady hands they managed to get it 8 nuts high before it overbalanced. Results are recorded on the white board, so they can track their progress from week to week.

When it is time to start the practical work, Vitaly explains the design and the plan and then there is a flurry of activity and excitement as everyone gets busy measuring, cutting and sanding. It was great to see how much they enjoy learning and creating, and how proud they are of their work. It was also very impressive to see young boys handling tools with such confidence and capability! When the time came to tidy up, everyone played a part - including sweeping up copious amounts of sawdust.

To see Vitaly and the boys in action was a wonderful reminder of how important this ministry is, especially at this time in Ukraine when so many young men are without their fathers and are generally lacking strong male role models due to the war. We look forward to seeing these boys and many others involved with Wise Carpenter grow into trustworthy and reliable men of God, well-equipped to lead and serve when the time comes.