Ukraine (MNN) — Three years since Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin is touting victory over Ukraine and NATO. Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association says Christians need to look beyond the warring perspectives of economics, self-preservation, and Russia’s “holy war” mentality.
“Even with Russia declaring some level of victory, I think it’s paramount that we remember those that are actually in the center of the fighting,” he says.
Perspective on the ground
Mock was in Ukraine just days ago, where he found fellow believers to be exhausted and nearing a state of indifference.
“They told me that they were concerned that their prayers for an end to this war and peace to come are falling on deaf ears, and that maybe it just doesn’t matter anymore in the midst of all the suffering,” he says.
Acknowledging the fatigue of these believers is not to undermine their faith. The realities of war are unrelenting even for those with eternal hope. Hundreds of thousands are dead across Ukraine and Russia; and for a soldier’s family, just one loss of life can change everything.
SGA has been helping to fill gaps left by providers who are fighting in the war or have been lost in its service. The ministry has provided over 29 million meals through local churches along with more than 300 generators.
Gospel impact
The impact of Gospel advancement in Ukraine dwarfs that of military advancement.
“The Gospel is being shared in schools. People are flooding into churches. In fact, SGA is working hard with faithful believers. They want to raise up another thousand missionary pastors to reach their own people,” Mock shares.
The situation hearkens back to Genesis, when Joseph consoled his brothers, “As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good.”
“From the destruction, believers are being sent all across Europe into dark places where the Gospel has long disappeared, and now God is bringing the light of the Gospel,” Mock says.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.
Hope beyond the stain of sin
Sin is ubiquitous and its consequences inescapable. While Christians must live in and wrestle with this reality, we’re promised something beyond it.
“The best is yet to come: the days in which we walk his kingdom with glory, where there is no more suffering, children don’t die, there are no more tears,” Mock says. “But here on this earth, just as Jesus in Mark 5 told the demoniac, ‘You go and tell what God has done for you.’”
He says it’s not a question of what men and women are doing in the world: It’s a question of what God is doing.
“How at every moment can we see what God is doing even in the worst of humanity to turn a people to him, and how can we be a part of that?”
Mock says we must not be fooled into thinking an end to the war will bring lasting peace.
“We need to be careful when we see each of the political advancements or retreats that we see in the world, not to get caught up in that, but to remain focused on the Gospel.”
Hebrews 12: 1 – 2 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The weights referenced here don’t necessarily represent sin, Mock points out.
“Maybe they’re just perspectives or worldviews or even just soldiering along for the sake of Christ rather than being found in Christ,” he says.
Ways to pray
Please pray that we would put off old ways of thinking in exchange for a Kingdom perspective on worldly events.
Pray also that we will not forget those suffering as a result of the war, and pray for ministries like SGA that are providing daily assistance on the ground.
Pray too for the churches in Ukraine and Russia as well as the surrounding areas: that God would continue to do His work, and that many would take part in it.
Header photo courtesy of Unsplash
