Ukrainian evangelicals urge Speaker Johnson to vote

In a March 26 letter, the Ukraine Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches urged U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to vote on providing aid to Ukraine without delay.

Citing the 1,000-year history of Christianity in Ukraine, pastors representing the Evangelical Council zeroed in on the bourgeoning of evangelical Christianity since gaining independence from Russia in 1991 to build their case.

“Thousands of new churches were planted, dozens of seminaries and Bible schools were established, and thousands of missionaries went to numerous countries. Almost every city and town has Christian Summer Camps where the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed,” the letter read.

But despite efforts to “break away from the godless, misogynistic Soviet past with its totalitarianism and tyranny of communism. The evil spirits of darkness push the Kremlin leaders to forcefully claim Ukraine again, capture us into their empire, destroying Ukrainian spiritual treasures,” it continued.

Writers of the letter mentioned church buildings being taken away, ministers being arrested and tortured, the Russian bombings of an East Ukraine church, Feb. 28—which killed the pastor—and an apartment building, March 2—which killed 12, including five children and an evangelical pastor’s daughter and infant grandson.

“We have lots of stories like that … Someone gets killed daily … Children get hurt every single day … And the enemy keeps turning our beautiful cities and towns into ruins,” the letter said.

‘The Lord is our hope, but we expect you to act’

The letter implored Speaker Johnson to come to the aid of evangelical churches in Ukraine because “as Evangelicals, we are being accused of working for the interests of the American Government. Every Evangelical Christian becomes a target for the russian [sic] FSB [counterintelligence agency which succeeded the KGB] on the occupied territories, using the russian [sic] Orthodox Church as their asset.”

Appealing to Johnson’s shared evangelical faith—Southern Baptist—the letter closed by asking for “prayers and action on behalf of 8,000 Evangelical churches in Ukraine.

“Approval of military help depends on you today; otherwise, many of our brothers and sisters in Christ will die. Yes, the Lord is our hope, but we expect you to act … vote without delay and approve a military and economic help package.”

The letter was signed by Anatoliy Kozachok, acting chairman of the Ukraine Council of Evangelical and Protestant Churches and senior bishop of Ukranian Pentecostal Church and 15 additional denominational leaders and pastors, including Valerli Antoniuk, president of the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.

A group of Southern Baptist leaders also sent a letter to Johnson April 8, shortly after the appeal from the Ukraine Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches, urging support for Ukraine.