Jon Wiebe, president and CEO of MB Foundation, was invited to be part of a delegation organized by Mission Eurasia that will travel to Kyiv, Ukraine, to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The trip, originally scheduled for Aug. 20-29, has been postponed.
Mission Eurasia announced Aug. 19 that the trip was postponed “due to the most recent and severe escalation in the war and the emergence of serious safety threats.” No further information is available as to when the group will travel to Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy invited this delegation to Kyiv in order to convey his profound gratitude, on behalf of the Ukrainian people, to the American Christian community for their prayers and support of his nation as it continues to fight for its sovereignty and freedom in the face of Russian aggression.
The American Christian delegation includes 22 key Christian leaders from organizations such as the National Association of Evangelicals, the World Baptist Alliance, and others, which represent the diversity of the American Christian community.
Retired USMB district minister Tim Sulllivan, Wichita, Kansas, organized a group of individuals to pray for Wiebe while the delegation was to be in Ukraine.
“When I heard about this trip, I knew that we needed to bathe Jon, his fellow delegates and the process in prayer,” Sullivan writes in an email to potential prayer partners. “I volunteered to serve as a prayer liaison to raise up a group of people who will be committed to pray for Jon before and during his trip.”
If the trip is rescheduled, Sullivan says he will reconvene the group and keep members updated on Wiebe’s behalf. The group met August 18 via Zoom and was informed of the need to postpone the visit. Wiebe asked for continued prayer for the safety and ministry of Mennonite Brethren churches in Ukraine.
During the trip, Mission Eurasia plans to facilitate the meeting with President Zelenskyy as well as meetings with other high-ranking Ukrainian government officials and leaders of the Ukrainian Christian community, including the Council of All Church and Religious Organizations of Ukraine, a group of 16 church and religious organizations, which represent the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities of Ukraine.
Topics to be addressed during these meetings include:
- Ukraine’s deep gratitude to the American Christian community for its ongoing support, and discussion of current, urgent needs.
- Firsthand information about religious persecution committed by Russian forces against faith communities in the occupied regions of eastern Ukraine.
- Debunking the false claim that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate is being persecuted by the Ukrainian government.
- Input from the American Christian delegation on how Ukraine can fight the corruption it inherited from the USSR by instilling moral values in the younger generation.
The original dates of this trip coincided with the 33rd anniversary celebration of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union. To mark this momentous occasion, the US Christian delegation was to take part in a special worship event that led by Patriarch Epiphany of Ukraine and attended by President Zelenskyy and other top Ukrainian officials.
Mission Eurasia press release with files from USMB
This article has been posted by Christian Leader staff. The Christian Leader is the magazine of U.S. Mennonite Brethren.
