Thursday, February 24, 2022

War in Ukraine -- 2.24.2022

 


I met them at a board meeting of the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague in March of 2012.

These four young Ukrainian women were about to finish their theological education at the seminary and return to their native country.  They talked about the challenging opportunities for ministry they would find in their homeland. I said I hoped things would change in their country, and I wished for them many opportunities to practice their gifts for ministry.

This morning, indeed, things are changed in their country.  I don’t know whether over the past 10 years they had expanded opportunities for ministry, but I do know this morning their opportunities for ministry multiplied overnight.

For weeks we have heard reports of Russia’s slow march toward the invasion of Ukraine.  We have seen photographs of the amassing of lethal arms and soldiers at the border.  I have often thought of those young women as I watched.  I wonder how their faith is sustaining them and encouraging them under the shadow, and now the reality, of war.  I wonder what opportunities for ministry this current outrage has provided for them.

As we hear about tanks and sanctions, about differing accounts of history, about economic and geopolitical shifts, we can forget about the people on the ground in Ukraine.  These are people who prepare breakfast in the morning and get off to work, enjoy meals with friends, care for aging parents, like to walk in the woods on a sunny day, have dreams for their children, and love their spouses.  Last night many of them bathed their young children and told them a story before putting them to bed.

In other words, they are like us.  Except today there are tanks in the street and missiles flying overhead, and soon many of them shall likely die.

The All Ukrainian Associations of Evangelical Christian-Baptists is a family of about 2,000 Baptist churches in Ukraine and a fellow member of the Baptist World Alliance.  This morning the Association's President Valery Antonyuk began his message to his churches in this way:

Dear brothers and sisters, ministers of the Church!

This morning, February 24, the war in Ukraine began. What we prayed for God not to happen has happened today. And we, as believers, fully understand that we will have to go through and go through this period and this time.

The Bible says, “The Lord is my Shepherd. I will not lack. And even if I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid of evil, for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff will comfort me. ” 

That is why we urge everyone, above all, to continue and intensify our prayers. This is our weapon in times of war, military confrontation. This is the first thing believers do. And we urge everyone, wherever you are, to seek the opportunity in person, in your families, in your churches, in ZOOM, where possible, to unite together and pray to the Lord.

We in America can do this too; we can pray. 

We feel powerless to turn back the events in Ukraine.  It has been like watching a car accident happen in slow motion and all our shouting could not stop the colliding cars.  Yet this one thing we can do. We can pray.  This is what people of faith do in response to things they cannot control, turn back, or reshape; we turn them over to God.

I encourage all our churches this coming Sunday to pray for the Ukrainian people and to pray for people in all places where the will to power, greed, arrogance, and inhumanity destroy human community, kill the innocent, and reward the ruthless.  We must continue to remember the ethnic minorities in Burma who for decades have suffered at the hands of the powerful and the indifferent.

I also encourage you to send a note of support to our Baptist brothers and sisters in Ukraine. Go to https://www.baptyst.com/pro-soyuz/ and go to the bottom of the page; ЗАЛИШИТИ КОМЕНТАР means “leave a comment.” There you can leave a brief comment letting them know NYS Baptists are praying for them.

And if you think about it, pray for those four young women I met in Prague 10 years ago and for all those other faithful leaders who guide their people through difficult times with words of hope and faith.

Blessings,

Jim Kelsey

Executive Minister—American Baptist Churches of New York State