Ukraine Update: Serving God by serving His people

UKRAINE – The following update is provided by Rev. Valery Verba of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU), a partner church of Lutheran Church–Canada:

The story I want to share is not over yet, but I pray this chapter will end soon. My congregation had many plans at the beginning of the year: evangelism projects; distributing humanitarian aid to our impoverished neighbourhood; working with young people, particularly at the two orphanages where we do ministry; and finishing a few minor repairs to our sanctuary. That all changed on February 24. At the time, I was on vacation with my wife and son to visit my mother. I was in shock when I learned that the Russians had invaded my city. I was heartbroken when I learned that I would not be able to return to the city of my ministry, to minister to the people God placed under my care. Our home and our belongings were cut off from us. All we had were the clothes on our backs and the few things we had packed.

When you serve God, despite such difficult circumstances, the essence of life and our ministry does not change—we continue to serve God by serving His people.

However, even during this difficult time, God is richly blessing us. Not a day has gone by that we didn’t have something to eat and a roof over our heads. Our brothers and sisters in Christ welcomed us with open arms and looked after us. We were soon able to take my wife and my son to the Romanian border where our former bishop was able to pick them up and take them to a safe place where they are currently staying and being cared for. I give thanks to God for all the people who looked after us and are now looking after all our refugees in Romania and Germany. I also want to thank the people of LCC for your prayerful support; for the humanitarian supplies your funds are purchasing for our people in need; and for the words of encouragement we are receiving from you. 

When you serve God, despite such difficult circumstances, the essence of life and our ministry does not change—we continue to serve God by serving His people. Together with the pastors and people of our synod, we are now serving in various roles: distributing humanitarian aid; evacuating people from conflict zones; caring for people seeking refuge through our churches; and ministering to people whenever we have the opportunity. The large amount of our work is done in areas not captured by the Russian invaders. However, my pastoral heart worries about the people in my community and the areas now occupied where we can no longer travel. We pray intensely for the safety of these people now living in occupied territories. We take comfort that the Lord is with them as He is with us.

The people of our congregation have opened doors for others to stay a few days, receive warm meals and wash, and receive pastoral care from Rev. Sergey Bevz and me. God is certainly at work here as the Word of salvation in Christ Jesus is being proclaimed and shared. The Lord, through this difficult situation, is using each of us in many ways to serve His people.

I thank each of you, my dear brothers and sisters in Canada, for your prayerful support. I ask you to continue to pray for peace in Ukraine and for our congregations and ministry. We bless all of you in the name of Jesus Christ.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. | Psalm 23:4

Rev. Valery Verba

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For those who would like to direct financial support to the pastors and people of the SELCU, you can do so through LCC’s Ukraine Aid Fund Here.

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