If you’re looking for the perfect way to teach your kids the story of Jesus’ birth, Alexander Skibelsky, pastor and illustrator, has you covered.
A few years ago, Skibelsky began developing a biblically-based, fun-to-read way to introduce children to the stories of Jesus’ life.
“I started working on the project around 2021 when I still lived in Ukraine,” shared Skibelsky. “But at the beginning of 2022, war had started and it was a very unstable, uncertain time. We left the country and lived in the Chicago area before I was hired by Oregon Conference."
"It was a very stressful time, and when you’re overwhelmed like that and living in survival mode, you tend to lose your creativity. [In 2025] I set myself a deadline to finish the project before General Conference Session, and I officially finished the project in June 2025,” said Skibelsky.
Skibelsky has worked as a professional illustrator for many years, with a special focus on children’s materials. Besides his work in pastoral ministry, he has worked with several publishing houses illustrating books, articles and other projects.
“With time, I really started to have the desire to combine my pastoral and illustration backgrounds,” said Skibelsky. “When I felt like my skills were sufficient and started feeling that desire to start something of my own, I started to pray about it. It was a new area and would take some courage to step into it, but little by little I was drawn to creating a comic that reflected our Adventist understanding of the Christmas story for children.”
Skibelsky shared that media projects are an incredible way to reach more people than you might be able to otherwise — a lesson he learned both as an illustrator and as a former host of a Ukrainian television show.
“Publishing material makes it easy to translate and share across languages and cultures. It really helps expand a circle of influence,” he said. Skibelsky also shared that illustration fills a growing need with today’s children and young people, who are changing how they learn.
“A lot of kids today have a challenging time reading big chunks of text — they’re much more visual learners. My hope is that things like this can ease their access to biblical texts. While I had to use a little bit of imagination for this, much of the comic is directly from the Bible, including the text. I hope kids will find themselves engaging more with the scriptural narrative of Christ and His birth.”
Skibelsky’s finished project is now available in both comic book and coloring book form. Learn more about Skibelsky’s The Birth of Jesus project by visiting mybiblecomics.com.
The Birth of Jesus books were completed just in time to take them to the 2025 General Conference Session.
Pastor Alex hosted a booth at GC session, featuring his new project and others.
Pastor Alex has worked as a professional illustrator for many years, with a special focus on children’s materials. This project is the culmination of years of training, experience, and ministry.
The Birth of Jesus comic book project comes in both a traditional comic book style and a coloring book.
