President Bugbee calls for prayer for Ukraine

UKRAINE – Conflict in Ukraine is ongoing, with recent news noting an escalation in tensions in the Crimea region. Lutheran Church–Canada’s (LCC) partner church in Ukraine, the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches of Ukraine (SELCU), has congregations in that region.

What follows is a letter from LCC President Robert Bugbee, asking all people in our churches to remember Ukraine in prayer during this difficult time.

Dear friends,

We’ve all been following the dramatic news of protests and change of government in the eastern European nation of Ukraine. To begin with, the tensions seemed concentrated on the capital city of Kiev, but they have now spread to other parts of this troubled land. People are divided along language lines, or depending upon their wish to align either with Russia to the east or European countries to the west. A great many people are simply weary of government corruption, financial dishonesty, and not having a fair chance to get ahead in many areas.

Our Lutheran Church-Canada family is deeply concerned about the unrest. Our mission partners are primarily in eastern and southern Ukraine, clustered around cities like Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Nikolayev, and a number of towns on the Crimean peninsula. Unrest has intruded into these communities, too, in the Russian-language dominated Crimea especially. I have personally visited Crimean congregations in Armyansk, Krasnoperekopsk, Pyervomaisk, Simferopol, and Yalta. I know most of our affiliated pastors in those communities. Our hearts go out to them at this time of confusion.

Our contacts in Ukraine have not been able to respond to our requests for news updates in recent weeks, at least not at great length. Regardless of our views on the political situation and which way we hope things will develop, there are deeper issues for us. We ask the Lord to comfort the sorrowing who have lost loved ones. We ask Him to meet the legitimate needs of the Ukrainian people, regardless of their preferred languages and political orientation. We implore him that the work of our mission partners in the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches of Ukraine may not be disrupted by the trouble. Above all, we ask God to give courage to our pastors and people there in the midst of turmoil to point their neighbours to Jesus Christ, the great Prince of Peace.

I ask our pastors, local churches and members across the country to hold the needs of the Ukrainian people and our mission partners in their public and private prayers at this time. We hope soon to report on developments as they affect our work of church support and theological education.

Rev. Dr. Robert Bugbee
President, Lutheran Church–Canada

Lutheran Church–Canada has long held ties to Ukraine, especially assisting SELCU with theological education. About a week ago, the International Lutheran Council noted the spread of violence in Ukraine to regions outside the capital, noting that a pastor of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine had been assaulted.

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