A calling from God, a need to support a family, a way to pay for school and a hobby…this is Jon Gainer’s new life.

Jonathan Gainer took a 10-day trip to the Ukraine in 2004.  It was a trip set-up through his home church in Bettendorf, IA.  The mission was to assist a partner church in Kherson, Ukraine with a new church building being constructed as a place to worship and as a school.  Jon had participated in similar projects before this trip, but none had as big an impact as this trip to Kherson.

“I came back to Iowa with something that I didn’t leave with,” explains Jon, “The children had the biggest impact on my wife and me.”

Jon explains that there are large groups of abandoned children that make their homes in underground sewer tunnels accessible from the streets.  The children emerge during the day and return to their sub-street “homes” at night.

“Of course, seeing this was sad.  But, it also instilled a sense of responsibility in me,” shared Jon, “a responsibility I can only explain as a calling from God.”

This calling set Jon, and his family, on a course for the next 10 years and possibly more, if the calling continues.

In December of 2009, the Gainer family, Jon and his wife Jenny, Alex (5), Jonah (3) and Isaac (2), will leave the comfort of the Midwest, USA, to make a home in Kremechuck, Ukraine.

In 2006, Jon added discomfort to his life and started his own company.  CampaignPros.com is a model off his former employer, where he had helped to grow not only the company, but also his own character and experience.  CampaignPros.com is a promotional marketing retailer and political consulting firm.  The business started in his cozy basement in Lincoln, Illinois with one phone, a lap top and an internet connection.  Its base product is yard signs, something political candidates need a lot of.

“I had been working with candidates for five years, helping set them up with the printed materials they need to run a campaign,” describes Jon, “I learned the lingo, learned about the printing industry and with faith and a hint of crazy, I started my company.”

The trials of this start-up were clouded even more.  Jon chose Lincoln, Illinois because that is where Lincoln Christian College is located.  On top of starting this new business venture, Jon had enrolled in classes at Lincoln College and Seminary.  He was following a calling to make the Ukraine a larger part of his life.

Jenny remembers these first days as a new CampaignPros employee, “I had to learn what Jon had been doing for the last 5 years in two weeks.”  Jenny was the company’s lone account representative.  She was required to answer phones, reply to emails, enter orders-fill orders from start to finish.  Jon would come home on lunch break to create artwork for signs, bumper stickers, banners and anything else a candidate or business needed.  Has it been mentioned that at this point the Gainers had two children, ages 2 and 1?

All this hard work and determination began to pay off.  In 2007, an office building was required.  Not because the basement wasn’t convenient, but because CampaignPros.com needed employees.  Jenny couldn’t handle the increasing sales work and Jon couldn’t keep up with the graphic design work.  So, shop was set up a mile down the road and an account rep and designer were brought on staff.

“My goal with CampaignPros was to support my family and help with school expenses.  I had no idea it would grow so fast,” shares Jon.

Jon began to see potential with his company.  He knew he needed to keep growth under control while remaining competitive in a growing market.  Subsequently, Jon purchased an online sign design program to add to his website and invented a new sign stake, called the Beefy Stake, which would prove to gain instant notoriety.

Fast forward to 2008 to when the Gainers have added one more child, two more employees and Jon is a handful of classes away from graduation.  The future of CampaignPros.com needs to be decided.  The future for the Gainers has been decided by God.  The Ukraine awaits the family.

In November of 2008, Jon brings on the management-soon to be share-owning partners-that will work to keep his company growing.  The new CEO, Wade Baffa and VP of Sales, Mike Mathews, come from the same career background as Jon.  In fact, they all worked together years before.

“These guys aren’t just business partners to me, they are life-long friends,” says Jon of Wade and Mike.

The trusting relationship the three have is the backbone of the company’s mission statement.  Their common goal is to support their respective families, grow the company to a national household name and support Jon’s mission to spread the word of Christ to the people of the Ukraine.

Wade explains that they would fail Jon and themselves is they let this company fall, “Mike and I knew this was not only a logical next step for our own careers, but that we were helping a great family accomplish a worthy calling.”

Presently, the Gainer clan is living in South Carolina where Jon and Jenny are taking Russian language classes.  The language courses are grueling, according to Jon, but learning the language is essential to complete God’s work.  In December 2009, their plane to the Ukraine leaves.  The return flight to the US won’t touch ground on U.S. soil for at least five years.

CampaignPros.com is experiencing great success.  The Gainers are nervous, but excited to embark on their journey.  Jon is convinced that if they follow this calling step-by-step that they cannot fail.  This mission will have trials and road blocks, but “we’re not in control,” shares Jon, to sum it all up, “If you feel like you’re out of control, you are right.  God is in control.”

Do svidaniya, Gainers!

To learn more about the Gainer family’s mission, visit www.five4one.org.