Ukraine: stories behind the statistics

A seminar room in a hotel in Wisla, southern Poland, is packed. It is 2:45 p.m., and despite it being just after lunch and this being an optional session, someone is bringing in more chairs. Some of the 30 participants who have come to listen to people from Ukraine are sitting on the floor due to lack of space.

We are in the final stretch of the European Leadership Forum conference, the annual gathering that evangelicals have turned into a place to recharge their batteries, build relationships, share best practices, and grow the vision of ‘renewing the biblical church’ in Europe.

A pastor in Kyiv who coordinates several projects inside and outside the country (including humanitarian aid and refugees) opens a time of testimonies. It has been three years and sixty days since Putin launched his bloody attempt at a total invasion of Ukraine.

Today, sitting here in a room on the fourth floor of a beautiful hotel in the peaceful Wisla Valley, it has been 1,182 days of war in the neighbouring country.

6.7 million of the country's 44 million inhabitants in 2021 have fled as refugees (many to Western Europe). Another 5 million are internally displaced, seeking refuge in areas further west, away from the front lines.

However, the four women who speak during the 75-minute conversation insist that they do not want to talk about numbers.

They want to talk about people. They tell us about a young married couple with a 5-year-old girl staying in an evangelical church in Kyiv, who, after fleeing the bombs in Orikhiv, were hit by a night drone while sleeping in temporary accommodation on the church premises in the capital. The girl and her father were killed.

There is also the story of a pastor who cancelled a church meeting but decided to stay in his office to catch up on work, and was hit by another drone.

Testimonies from Ukarine shared at a seminar of the 2025 European Leadership Conference in Wisla, Poland. / Photo: J. Forster

As we listen to the stories, the way in which they are told strikes us. I am struck by the dignity with which they reveal the reality of the Ukrainian people. There are no signs of a desire to exploit their pain or a temptation to fall into emotionalism. They speak with serenity and calm, and it is clear that they could give us a specialised training workshop on just about every topic they touch on.

They address the vicarious trauma many children suffer. That is, the emotional and psychological strain they experience, after prolonged exposure to the traumatic experiences of adult family members.

Some of these children are direct targets. In eastern Ukraine, some are taken into Russian custody, where they undergo a process of “Russification”, in which they must learn symbols and songs that glorify the culture of the aggressor. If the war drags on, some will be sent back to Ukraine to fight against their country of origin.

[destacate]There is a divorce crisis in the country, they explain. As soon as a man is conscripted to serve at the front, everything changes overnight [/destacate]They tell us about “compassion fatigue”. After so many months of injury and destruction, it is not only that the rest of the world may lose interest in a conflict that has become stuck in time, but that the citizens of Ukraine themselves have to get on with their own lives and create mental spaces where the war takes a back seat. What is frightening, they explain, is reaching a state of emotional numbness that blocks their ability to react humanely to what is happening around them.

There is a divorce crisis in the country, they explain. As soon as a man is conscripted to serve at the front (whether he is a student or an office worker), everything changes overnight. ‘Normal people undergo an identity change.’ There is not enough rotation of soldiers, so a lot of them spend too much time away from home, unable to hug the people they love. This strains their relationships with their families back home, who have to get by on their own. A lack of understanding arises from having lived under a lot of stress, separated for too long.

In the conference app schedule, the session is titled ‘What is happening in Ukraine: Voices from people on the ground.’ We listen carefully to every word, and once again, we are struck by the dignity of those who speak to us, a diverse group of Christian leaders from countries across Europe, not so far away from Ukraine, where our own problems and social crises seem somewhat less significant as we hear their stories.

But the session is also meant to share good news. “In the midst of much evil, God is also doing much good.” One example is the military chaplaincy service, which was virtually non-existent before the war. Now, many Christians serve in the armed forces, bringing Christian hope through prayer, Bible studies, and a listening ear to the fears of those who face the possibility of losing their lives on the front lines.

[destacate]Christians in Ukraine are aware that what they build now, in this time of destruction, will bear visible fruit in the future of their nation[/destacate]Some of the evangelicals on the front lines have distributed thousands of waterproof Bibles. All have led deeply moving group prayers. As one of the pastors serving on the front lines says, ‘In the trenches, we don't find atheists.’ Everyone prays in their own way, and that is why it is so important that Bible-believing Christians, with varying degrees of theological training, can help those who are seeking the Father in heaven to find him.

Ukrainian Christians pray for peace, yes, but their request is always linked to lasting justice and restoration from the evil they have suffered.

Since the beginning of the war, evangelical temples in Ukraine have been full. One example is a church that has fed 17,000 people in the last three years. Like this community, hundreds of other churches provide psychological and spiritual support, lead prayer in their communities, take note of families' needs, offer long-term shelter, relocate those in need to projects in other regions, and organise the reception of millions of euros in humanitarian aid from donors in the rest of Europe and beyond.

‘A little girl asked me why I came to live here,’ explains a Czech missionary who, together with her husband and a young child (and another on the way), moved to Kyiv a year ago.

The answer is simple: the desire to serve God and the people. But the impact of this kind of practical commitment does not only affect those of us listening here at ELF. The action of love and courage of the churches in Ukraine will leave a legacy in the country.

The seminar ends with Ukrainian sweets for the attendees and a call to rejoice in all that God is doing through his people in Ukraine, even in the midst of pain, frustration and anguish.

The Ukrainian participants returning to their war-torn country after this European conference are encouraged by what they have seen of God's work across the continent, one of them tells me over breakfast on the last day.

Christians in Ukraine are aware that what they build now, in this time of destruction, will bear visible fruit in the future of their nation.

Joel Forster, journalist in Spain and director of EvangelicalFocus.com

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