Episode 117: What happens when your neighbor is trying to kill you? Stories from the Church of Christ in Ukraine.

The Christian Chronicle Podcast

Almost as soon as Church of Christ missionaries entered Ukraine after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Christian Chronicle reporters entered the country as well. For more than three decades now, The Christian Chronicle has covered how the Ukrainian people embraced with joy the gospel of Jesus Christ. Few parts of Europe can match Ukraine for how the Church of Christ took root, sprang up, grew and spread.

Russia's invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory in 2014 and all-out war against its neighbor starting in 2022 has done great harm to the Church of Christ and its members in Ukraine. But not grave harm. In the face of death and destruction, Church of Christ congregations and members are rising up and showing how the love and power of God is greater than bombs and tanks. But recent events in the United States are leaving some Christians in Ukraine feeling betrayed by their brothers and sisters in Christ.

In this episode, Jeff Abrams (executive director of Rescue Ukraine and former minister with Tuscumbia Church of Christ in Tuscumbia, Alabama) and Marina Noyes (a pillar in the Vinograder Church of Christ in Kiev, Ukraine) talk about how the Church of Christ and its members are holding out after three years of war in Ukraine. They also talk about how the changing political situation in the United States is affecting the Church of Christ in Ukraine.

Link to Christian Chronicle CEO Erik Tryggestad's recent report on the Church of Christ in Ukraine at the third anniversary of Russia's second invasion

Link to a full archive of The Christian Chronicle's coverage of the Church of Christ in Ukraine

Link to Rescue Ukraine

Link to College Hill Church of Christ in Richland Hills, Texas, which provides support for Vinograder Church of Christ in Kiev, Ukraine

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Chapters

1. Introduction to Ukraine's Church Story (00:00:00)

2. Four Stages of Church Development in Ukraine (00:07:52)

3. Religious Freedom and Russian Occupation (00:14:13)

4. How the War Has Changed Ukrainian Christians (00:24:16)

5. American Political Shifts and Ukrainian Support (00:32:23)

6. God at Work Despite War and Suffering (00:43:30)

7. How to Help and Closing Thoughts (00:51:51)