New Beginnings - School of Courage

Igor Kovalchuk, founder and Director of the School of Courage, comes to Christ and follows His vision after a career-ending injury.

Igor Kovalchuk (Center) leads School of Courage a competitive level Christian kickboxing, self defense, and fitness school in Rivne, Ukraine.

In September 2021, during the waning days of the pandemic, I journeyed to Ukraine. Russia’s invasion would begin five months later. The Russian armed forces were already massing along the northern and eastern borders. Still, I went. The purpose of the trip was to seek opportunities to engage with other ministries and individuals who were doing a good work for the kingdom and serving those nearby.

I had been invited by a friend, Ruth, to come to Rivne (between Kyiv and Lviv) to visit and introduce me to her friends. That's when I first met Igor and Olena (or Lena) Kovalchuk.

Igor and Olena Kovalchuk and their three boys.

With the help of Lena and Ruth, Igor and I became better acquainted. I was very interested in his story. I listened intently as he shared his testimony and how he was an aspiring professional athlete. However, he suffered a critical injury that ended his competitive career. That's the way God works. He often closes one door before he opens another. Closing the door on his professional sports career turned out to be only the beginning.

As Igor lay in the hospital, he had a vision. And from that experience, he came to believe in Jesus.

Igor was a contending professional kickboxer. He had suffered an injury in a bicycling accident that limited his ability to compete. As he lay healing in the hospital, he was shown an opportunity to begin a ministry called the School of Courage (SofC). And so he pursued his vision, and the Lord made it a reality. There, he would begin teaching teens and young people self-defense as well as teaching them about Christ and leading them to him.

Teen training sessions for boys and girls.

Some of the SofC girls huddle up at Bible study.

First of all, Igor teaches young people the self-discipline and self-control required by sports fitness, but also the self-confidence required by controlled self-defense competition. Self-defense and fitness for young people, and especially young women in Ukraine, is paramount given the circumstances of war.

Most importantly, weekly Bible study is available to all the students and participants.

Igor leading weekly Bible study with the young people at SofC.

Bible study group in 2021, I was privileged to attend.

The Bible study I attended was packed with about 50-60 teens. Igor is remarkably successful in growing SofC despite the ongoing war. Igor shared some of the recent milestones in his ministry at SofC

“In January 2025, we hosted a winter camp for youth ministers and our volunteers. Since the beginning of this year, we have hosted over 100 technical kickboxing training sessions along with Bible study after each one. We held sixteen youth outreach ministries and eight evenings of praise and worship for the ministry leadership team and our volunteers.”

Igor and his team are not stopping there. He has more planned for the future.

“By the end of 2025, we plan to host two summer camps. One is focused on sports, and the second is for orphaned children whose parents died in the war. A total of 120 participants in two camps. Going forward, we are planning one winter camp for a team of youth ministers and volunteers, accommodating up to 40 people.

This year, we will have hosted approximately 300 more kickboxing training sessions attended by 50-60 youth and teens. We plan to establish a second location to double our reach and impact, reaching another 60-70 young people a year for Christ. We will also host two team-building events. One in the summer at Lake Svityaz and a second event in the Carpathian Mountains for our competitive team of 25 young people.

Igor is a dear brother and friend. He and his sweet wife, Lena, are wonderful, godly parents to their three handsome boys. I was blessed this past February to meet briefly with Igor for coffee in Kyiv and hear about all he envisions for his ministry and for reaching young people for Christ in Ukraine.

Igor and me in Kyiv, February 2025

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By supporting Igor and his family, he can focus on reaching hundreds of young people for Christ.

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