José Arrais, European coordinator of Mennonite Churches and Mennonite World Conference Europa regional representative, visited Ukraine March 4-9 as part of a group hosted by Joshua Searle of Dnipro Hope Mission.
DHM is a United Kingdom charity that “provides services, funding and resources to partners who are providing life-saving and life-enhancing help and support to suffering Ukrainians, including in the war-ravaged regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhe and Kherson,” according to its website.
“My expectations where quite normal,” Arrais writes in an email report of his trip. “I was looking forward to seeing the work in Ukraine, listening to the reports and (having) good conversations. Well, soon I found out that things where completely different.
“Listening to all these pastors from all over Ukraine made me feel extremely humble,” Arrais writes, describing the pastors as examples of bravery. “I was fully impacted by their stories, some of survival and emotionally strong to the point that it was impossible to refrain any tears. We see the people of Ukraine suffering every day the impact of a war that doesn’t choose the victims, doesn’t choose the places. Listening to their stories, we see at every moment a miracle of survival.”
Among the group of pastors Arrais talked with were Mennonite Brethren leaders, including pastors who also serve as chaplains, some on the frontline.
“They see with their own eyes scenes that are impossible to describe…and they still have to do their role—to hug, to comfort, to share the hope in Christ,” Arrais writes. “Those chaplains have their own families, and they might return home just for a few days every month or every a few months. (Their) wives and children need to deal with the true reality that every visit might be the last time they see their loved one. It’s absolutely overwhelming.”
Arrais describes one Ukrainian household’s effort to support their community. “A couple from Pokrovsk (35 miles northwest of Donetsk) built a small bakery to make bread to give to the citizens around their area with a bottle of water. Can we imagine what is to have a loaf of bread and a bottle of water?”
Arrais ends his email with a request for prayer. “We need to keep having this country, their people, in our constant prayers. It’s very, very important to keep supporting them.”
This article has been posted by Christian Leader staff. The Christian Leader is the magazine of U.S. Mennonite Brethren.
