Last week, I was in Amsterdam for the annual academic colloquium of the International Baptist Theological Study Center. Among the scholars present there was my friend Fyodor Raychynets, a distinguished Baptist pastor and theologian, and a leader of the Ukrainian…
In Ukraine: ‘We cannot just preach like we did before the war’
Ukrainian pastors have radically adjusted their ministries to meet the physical and spiritual needs of church members and countrymen since Russian forces invaded Ukraine almost a year ago. So says Igor Bandura, a pastor and vice president of the All-Ukrainian…
Putin needs to be taken down
Someone needs to take down Vladimir Putin. Last week’s brazen attack on a residential building in Dnipro, Ukraine, is only the latest in a year’s worth of horrifying atrocities set in motion by one man alone — Putin. And for…
This will happen in 2023 (I think)
Predicting the future is a fool’s game. Right in my wheelhouse, in other words. Fools and pundits rush in where wiser souls fear to tread. With that boulder-sized grain of salt in mind, here are my predictions for 2023: Let’s…
Ukrainian Baptist churches seek to become centers of heat and hope
With winter bearing down, Baptists in war-torn Ukraine have a vision of becoming centers of heat and hope, according to leaders of the Ukrainian Baptist Union. Their message to the world was conveyed in a news release from the European…
Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian religious sites are war crimes
Putin’s war machine understands the power of faith and has deliberately sought to destroy Ukrainian churches. Both sides have relied upon Christian themes during the fighting — Putin to justify the unjustifiable and Zelensky to inspire the Ukrainian nation to stand firm in the…
Atlanta church welcomes a Ukrainian family and learns about the bond of love
Olena Levchenko and her Christian family barely escaped Russian forces in Ukraine and bounced from nation to nation in Europe before learning a Baptist congregation in Atlanta, was willing to sponsor them as temporary refugees in the United States. Levchenko…
In Ukraine, Baptists speak most often of ‘prayers’ and ‘gratitude’ amid the horrors of war
Reading through Facebook posts and updates from the Ukrainian Baptists, the two words most commonly used are “prayers” and “gratitude.” There are abundant reasons for our brothers and sisters to cry out in need to God and to give thanks….
Amid the chaos of war, I witnessed Ukrainians seeking safety and hoping for peace
Few people were flying into Warsaw in the first half of March. Those who were displayed a similar intensity — an unpolished, gut-level sense of mission. Russia had invaded Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 24. A half dozen former U.S. servicemen…