Evangelical leaders meet in Kiev.
(Image courtesy IRS.IN.UA via Russian Ministries)
Ukraine (MNN) — Evangelical church leaders in eastern Ukraine are calling for help. They recently released a statement detailing the ongoing persecution of believers and directed the world community to take action.
“Targeted attacks have been carried out by armed militants against evangelicals,” reads part of the official statement, “accompanied by abductions, beatings, torture, threats of execution, pogroms in places of prayer meetings, seizures of houses of worship, rehabilitation centers, and other places of worship.”
You can read the full report on Russian Ministries’ religious freedom blog.
Ukraine’s former Interim President, Oleksander Turchynov, is an evangelical Baptist who took the helm following months of violent protests. Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine view any and all evangelicals as supporters of Ukraine’s government, and therefore a threat.
“[Separatists] believe that evangelical churches are their enemies. In one of the towns, they even raised the Orthodox flag and said they would fight any heretic, any Protestant, anyone who represents any Western immoral values,” said Russian Ministries President Sergey Rakhuba in a July 23 report.
Evangelical church leaders are calling on groups like the UN and European Union to take action against the separatists on their behalf. They’re also calling on believers worldwide to join them in prayer.
Find a list of prayer needs on the right side of this page. Then, add your voice to the “prayer wall” we’re building on Facebook.
More on the work of Russian Ministries in Ukraine here.
standing with you in prayer
Thank you for your good words about Ukraine with this article, but there is a major error in the information. You state that the current President, Petro Poroshenko, is an evangelical Baptist. He is not – he is a Ukrainian Orthodox by faith. You may confusing your information with the former Interim President, Oleksander Turchynov, who is an evangelical Baptist. This does not take away from the fact that some evangelicals were be targeted by the Separatists, but I just wanted you to have the facts straight. I am an American missionary that lived 10 years in Kiev. We must pray for Ukraine daily. I am especially praying that Russian evangelicals will not believe the Russian propaganda, and will support their Ukrainian brothers in Christ.
Thank you for pointing out this error, Michael. I will certainly correct this! Thank you for helping us present a consistent and clear message!