About

Ukraine Ministries of Oklahoma (UMO) began in 1996, shortly after the Soviet Union broke up and communism fell.  The founder of UMO, Gus Downing, established the ministry out of a desperate need for training for young men and women who were filling leadership positions in churches.  The young people had no training and no way to receive training and many of them were new believers.  In the first several years of freedom, thousands of churches sprang up overnight.  UMO helped train these leaders.

Since that time, UMO has funded and partially supported hundreds of training events, children and youth summer camps, day camps, women’s conferences, pastors and wives conferences and many other ministry activities.  In the last couple of years, UMO has added ministry to orphans to its mission.  In the last two years, over 400 orphans have attended camps as well as weekly Christ-centered ministry events.  Thanks to the generous support of sponsors and most importantly the work of God, many of these young people have become believers in Jesus Christ.