Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, in addition to its educational programs, Realis has been actively engaged in humanitarian efforts. In particular, 1,700 tons of food aid have been delivered and distributed. Additionally, 65 damaged homes have been repaired, and 48 modular houses have been installed in the Chernihiv and Kyiv regions.
Beyond material assistance, Realis also cares for the psychosocial well-being of children and families. From the early months of the war, Realis has provided psychological first aid and counseling to more than 3,000 people affected by the conflict. Thanks to several programs, 649 children and parents from especially dangerous areas received support through specially organized two-week camps.
A total of 950 teachers and psychologists participated in Realis educational seminars. Notably, a three-day conference titled “Childhood in the Context of War” was held for over 300 educators from the Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions.
Altogether, in the first three years of the war, more than 230,000 people across various sectors and regions of Ukraine have received assistance through Realis projects and programs.
The origins of the initiative that would later become the ministry of Realis date back to 1992, when apologetics seminars began to be held in Ukraine and countries of CIS edition. It was in this context that the idea emerged to create a platform for dialogue between the Church and society. The main vision was to form a space where the Church could speak to society about the most essential matters of life—using language that would be understandable and persuasive to the contemporary person. This vision gradually took shape through the organizational development of what would become the Realis Christian Center.
In 1996, the Kyiv Research and Educational Center was founded—an organization that preceded Realis. Its work focused on apologetics seminars, research projects, and the training of church and mission leaders from across Eurasia through the so-called “OR Project.” Additionally, the center helped establish the Leadership Development Center (1996–2002), which, under the leadership of Jim Golden, served as a training base for more than 100 leaders who are now active in business, government, and non-governmental organizations across various countries.
Two years later, in 1998, the center became an affiliate of Alliance Theological Seminary (USA), launching the Leadership Education program. This program laid the foundation for training theologically equipped leaders in the post-Soviet context.
In 1999, the organization received a new name—Realis, an acronym for Research, Education, and Light—symbolizing the recognition of God’s love as the ultimate reality in the world.
Starting in 2000, Realis began actively organizing specialized conferences. The first was a Ukrainian-British bioethics conference, which marked the beginning of a wide-ranging interdisciplinary dialogue between Christian thought and academic disciplines.
In 2002, the joint Cross-Cultural Communication program received official accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) for a ten-year term. By 2011, 102 students had completed the program, earning a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies. Most of them continue to serve as church and community leaders in Ukraine, Russia, and other countries.
From 2011 to 2014, Realis partnered with Azusa Pacific University (USA), offering a Master’s degree in Global Leadership to dozens of Christian leaders from Eurasia and beyond.
Between 2014 and 2019, the organization developed two new academic programs: Social-Political Ethics and Theology and Christian Counseling and Crisis Chaplaincy. More than 200 students completed these programs, which were implemented in partnership with Drahomanov National Pedagogical University. Leading professors from the University of Oxford, Princeton, Yale, Pepperdine University, Denver and Pittsburgh Seminaries, and Alliance Theological Seminary contributed to the teaching.
In May 2019, Realis, together with St. John’s College, Durham University (UK), held a symposium on Digital Theology in Kyiv, gathering over 150 participants from various regions of Ukraine and Christian denominations. The event focused on critical issues such as faith and technology, thinking about God in the digital age, artificial intelligence, and social media as instruments of democracy or authoritarianism.
During the same period, Dr. David Wilkinson, president of St. John’s College—a well-known astrochemist, theologian, and public intellectual—visited Kyiv. He delivered a series of lectures at universities and special events, exploring the dialogue between science and faith, cosmology, artificial intelligence, and the search for extraterrestrial life.
As part of the collaboration with Durham University, the first program in Ukraine—and one of the first in the world—dedicated to Theology and Digital Culture was launched. It focuses on the influence of the digital environment, particularly social media, on the perception of faith, the Church, and biblical texts. Among the speakers were leading scholars in digital theology: Peter Phillips, Jonas Kurlberg, Stephen Williams, and others. In addition to the academic program, open lectures were held on topics such as artificial intelligence, transhumanism, social crises, and Christian responses to them.
From 2019 to 2022, Realis joined an international research initiative under the global program Thriving Human Communities, aimed at building healthy societies through the practice of forgiveness. Universities from five continents participated in this project. The Ukrainian component focused on the experiences of people affected by war, violence, and traumatic events—especially in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war. About 5,000 people took part in the study, half of whom were residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In 2022, Realis presented the research findings at an international seminar at Harvard University.