The Ukrainian Church: ‘We Need More Bibles’
On recent Sunday mornings in Ukraine, whispered reports have run through the churches: The soldiers on the eastern border have portable rocket launchers. The Bondarenko boy was shot in the leg; they say he won’t walk again. Did you know the Kovals left? Some questions have gone unspoken: Will we be here again next week?
Yesterday, those whispers became cries as a series of missiles hit near Kyiv.
The invasion puts the Ukrainian church at the heart of the conflict, as Christian leaders contend with people’s despair and uncertainty. They are standing, united and strong, and they’re helping Ukrainians find hope in God’s Word.
As the head of the American Bible Society, I’ve been in close contact with my friend and counterpart, Anatoliy Raychynets, who serves as the deputy general secretary of the Ukrainian Bible Society. Over the past few months, he has shared reports that are hard to read: mothers wailing for their sons outside the hospitals; children who won’t remember their fathers’ faces; thousands of people feeling hopeless and afraid.
But Anatoliy has noted something else too: church leaders working together for peace, and people seeking out the hope of Scripture.
Story by Robert L. Briggs for Christianity Today.
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