After more than five hours of driving, we reach our destination in Rivne: a warehouse that has been rented by a network of Protestant churches. Three dozen young people are waiting for us to unload the aid.
How can we make sure that aid will be useful for Ukrainian refugees? Miqueas Forster of GAiN Spain answers this and other questions.
The muted voices of the church in Europe were heard more prominently in Lausanne Europe 20/21 than at any other European evangelical gathering, but we still have work to do.
Ukrainian evangelicals between political and missional responsibilities.
“Almost every church in Moldova is doing something, there is pain not fear”, says a Christian worker in Moldova. A Finnish journalist: “We have 1,300 km of common border, battles with Russia are deep in our nation’s memory”.
Andrey Tyschchenko is the pastor of an evangelical church in Kharkiv, one of the cities hardest hit by the Russian attack. He is now a refugee in Poland with his family. From there, he organises help to be sent into Ukraine.
In Russia, evangelical Christians are asking Vladimir Putin to seek a negotiation to “find a peaceful solution”.
(UPDATED) Evangelical platforms in Europe offer channels to support ministries in Ukraine and the bordering countries receiving refugees.
Putin’s messianic pretensions as saviour of Russian civilisation have deep religious and historical roots. Yet our western secular world tends to filter out religion and pre-Enlightenment history as irrelevant.
Hundreds of thousands protest in major European cities against Russia’s invasion. All EU countries agree receiving asylum seekers for at least three years.
Evangelicals in Kyiv call to trust in God and defend the country. Churches are offering shelter to refugees. Christian leaders in Moscow express their oposition to war. “Fear paralyses, prayer, trust in God, caring for your neighbor - gives strength”.
European Evangelical Alliance prays for “those who have the power to save lives”. Russian Evangelical Alliance asks Putin to choose “peacemaking initiatives”. Christian radio in Odessa expects to be shut down.
Putin sends troops into the Ukrainian territory after the Russian parliament recognises the ‘oblasts’ of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent territories. Europe responds with financial sanctions. Evangelicals pray for wisdom for the next days.
An interview with Vlady Raichinov (Bulgaria) and Marc Jost (Switzerland).
Trans World Radio has a national partner in Ukraine and a ministry affiliation in Russia. Extra attention is now paid to themes such as forgiveness, dealing with trials and helping others in need.
There are many women in your churches for whom the pull to share the gospel is strong. Take time to support them as they share the gospel creatively around Easter.
The team of New Life Christian radio remains on standby to quickly re-locate if Russia invades.
As tensions grow in the area, evangelicals continue to “trust in God, who is always with us. And we believe that our people will not give up”, says a pastor in Kharkiv.
A long-standing religious tension stretching back many centuries has contributed significantly to the current Russian build-up, largely lost on the western secularist mind.
The brokenness in Lebanon is overwhelming. Even so, the work of churches and Christian NGOs is profoundly encouraging.
In Ukraine, prayer gatherings multiply in the face of “stress and fear”. In Russia, evangelical leaders call for mediation.
Albania might become a success story of Christian mission using schools as a tool to build a church strong enough to support itself and work for the kingdom of God.
“Those who are already stuck on either side of the border must receive urgent and adequate humanitarian aid”, says the evangelical body as it appeals to “Europe's Judaeo-Christian values of human dignity, justice, compassion and solidarity”.
Our relationships with those who impose sanctions and those who suffer sanctions must be shaped not by our respective authorities but by the will and calling of our Savior.
The European Evangelical Alliance calls on Evangelicals to pray for “the area of Europe where the Church suffers the most: the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine” during the IDOP.
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