Believers active on Kyiv's Maidan
By Eric Oldenburg in Kyiv, Ukraine
In late February 2014, the streets of Kyiv were bloodied by conflict between government special forces and citizens protesting against, among other things, rampant corruption. Though the violence was short-lived and eventually resulted in the president leaving the country and subsequently being removed from his post, Ukraine went on to face significant political, cultural and economic tensions.
As the world watched these dramatic events unfold, it caught a glimpse of the corruption, pressure and discord with which Ukrainians have lived for a long time. The origins of the Ukrainian revolution didn’t lie in then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s refusal to sign a trade deal with the European Union or in his decision to turn to Russia for financial help. Those actions and the response of the protesters have two decades of history behind them. The world finally can see the realities that Ukraine has lived with since the Soviet Union broke apart.
The response of the evangelical church in the midst of the madness wasn’t much of a focus in the media. I want the world to know about the faithful brothers and sisters who participated in the events on Maidan, the square in the city center where the main protests began and continued for three long, cold months. These believers were exactly the salt and light that Jesus called them to be in Matthew 5:13-16.
Memorials to the "Heavenly Hundred," as the protestors who died are known, dot downtown Kyiv.
Let us recognize the Ukrainian sister who, from the very first days of Maidan, took money, food and supplies to the protest site. She didn’t just drop her bags off; she set to work, distributing hot tea to the cold and sandwiches to the hungry. She returned with stories of how she’s never before seen Ukrainians so united in her lifetime. It drove her to pray for a positive outcome to this conflict so that the country can move forward politically and economically, but with even more fervency she prayed that Ukrainians would grow in their receptivity to the gospel.
Let us recognize the Ukrainian pastor who, from the pulpit of his local church, preached on how Christians are to behave themselves in a time of conflict — through prayer, participation, good deeds, wise words and the sharing of the gospel. But this pastor not only preached a powerful sermon; he lived it out by spending significant time on Maidan doing the very things he preached.
During one overnight shift in the prayer tent, which stood in the very center of the protests, he had personal conversations and times of prayer with more than 50 people. That’s not surprising, in and of itself. What is surprising and wonderful is that at least 30 of them were unbelievers, politically passionate enough to be on Maidan, but spiritually open enough to ask an evangelical pastor for counsel and prayer.
An evangelical seminary professor has had many opportunities to preach God's Word from the main stage on Maidan, the site of Ukrainian protests.
Let us recognize the Ukrainian seminary professor who, from the stage on Maidan, had the opportunity to preach God’s Word to tens of thousands of people. After the deaths of the protestors, Orthodox and Catholic priests performed funeral rites and rituals, but the Spiritual Parliament of Maidan also asked Protestants to preach God’s truth to a hurting people.
Two days after the February 20, 2014, conflict known as Bloody Thursday, when snipers opened fire on the protestors, this brother preached from John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” He declared that the tragedy of the loss of dozens of lives will have been wasted if the result is not the removal of corruption on a nationwide scale.
The following week, he preached from Luke 6:39-49 on the nature of corruption and where it is located, in the heart of man. We must deal with our own corruption if we want to see corruption in Ukraine eradicated, he said. He closed the message by accentuating the sole sure foundation upon which Ukrainians can rebuild their country, that is, the words and work of Jesus.
Let us recognize the Ukrainian brothers and sisters who have participated in the actual defense against government special forces. One brother works in a downtown office that was turned into a place where members of the opposition could rest and take showers. This brother and his coworkers would switch off between taking shifts at the protest site and helping those who came to their office. Having finished a night shift on the street from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, he left for home to rest and be with his family. Neither he nor any of his coworkers thought the events of Thursday morning would turn as violent as they did.
Now this brother carries the guilt of not having been on Maidan as his fellow countrymen were injured and killed. He weeps tears of sorrow as he holds the hand of his friend, whose other hand has been blown off. He wonders why this happened to his friend and not to him. Yet he also weeps tears of joy as he retells the miracles that God worked in the heat of the conflict. Why was it that any time the opposition built a barricade of flaming tires, the wind always blew the smoke toward the special forces and never back on the protestors, regardless of what direction the barricades faced?
Let us recognize another Ukrainian pastor who wanted to enter Maidan to pray, but was blocked by three policemen. So he offered to pray for the policemen instead — an offer that brought one of them to tears. When he learned that injured protestors had been taken to a hospital near his home, he knew that God had brought Maidan to him. He ministered so frequently at that hospital that he became known as “the Baptist” and was allowed special visiting privileges.
No. The evangelical church was not silent during the crisis in Ukraine. Believers who love God and have been transformed by the gospel of Jesus made a Kingdom impact on Maidan in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a privilege and an honor to call these men and women brothers and sisters in Christ and to serve them as they give their all to see their country move on a path toward peace, justice and righteousness. May God grace this land with these very realities in a way that testifies to His goodness and glory.
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