Last Sunday after the liturgy: our catechuman, Maksym Rudzik; sister Olesia Zhukovska who is a medical of our parish now; your humble servant and our deacon Serhiy Berezin. The deacon has a bouquet in his hands since he has celebrated his birthday last Sunday. We welcome Olesia into our parish and wish Serhiy once again a happy birthday!
What's going on in Ukraine? Let me suggest you a brief summary of events: since elections of Viktor Yanukovych to be the President of Ukraine in 2010, he managed to change the Consitution of Ukraine by the Constitional Court and became the only man in the country who has all the power in his own hands.
After such an accumulation of power he began to throw his political opponents (who were not able to escape to the West or were willing to stay with their own nation in Ukraine) into prisons. His major political opponent, Mrs. Yulia Tymoshenko, is still in prison, ill and almost disabled due to lack of medical treatment.
The Rada, Ukrainian Parliament became obedient partially through bribes, partially through threats - all the MPs saw what was happening to the opponets of the current President and nobody wanted to be in prison for 5 years or a decade. At the same time new laws were introduced through the subjugated Parliament, restricting human and business freedoms of citizens. A few laws allow now to prosecute churches like in 1930-ies under Stalin.
About 3 million people lost their small businesses, many western banks and businesses began to leave Ukraine while the family of the President began to buy or raid businesses and became absolutely rich. The country of Ukraine certainly is becoming very poor.
There was a hope for Ukrainians in signing the Assocication with the European Union. But the President neglected even that hope and chose to isolate Ukraine from the West instead. People began to protest. Instead of a dialogue with his own people he decided to use violence against peaceful protesters, mostly students. As observers report, there was so much tortured students' and journalists' blood in the Indepedence Square that the local government decided to change cobble stones there instead of trying to wash the blood stains away.
That caused more protests and demands to arrest policemen who showed brutality to peaceful demonstraters and were torturing the detainees. The protesters on Sundays all over Ukraine demand signing Agreement with the EU and arrest the torturers. In Kyiv number of protesters on Sundays comes as high as 1.6 million at a time. The President decided to arrest some protesters instead and organize a few of provocations with his paid instigators and provokers. Now these instigators and provokers hide some place in Russia. The President decided to sign even more agreements with Russia and have some secret negotiations with Putin.
Why is such an inadequate reaction of the governemt? An illustration can explain it. A monument to Lenin, an infamous Communist torturer of Ukrainians, was destroyed by a crowd of people yesterday. Immediately came a unanimous condemnation by the government on all the levels. There was no such an immediate condemnation of violance toward the peaceful protesters, only some very vague apologies under public pressure... I have an impression that for 20 + years we continue to deal with former Communists apparatchiks that changed their colors from red to blue and yellow but never changed their Communist hatred toward freedom, uncontrolled Christianity, and free enterprise, and their fear, and hiddent hatred to the West.
Ukraine is in a deadlock and on the edge of escalation of civil conflict up to the point of a civil war now. Ukrainians ask the western governments to use personal sanctions against Mr. Yanukovych and members of his family and his political-business clan and force them to negotiations with the Ukrainian society. Ukrainian churches ask to avoid violence on both sides. Please pray for Ukraine, for freedom-loving Ukrainian citizens, for Ukrainian Christians and for Ukrainian Lutherans in particular.
Ocotber 6, 2013. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Kam'yanets-Podilskiy has celebrated the Tanksgiving Day in the city. Deacon Volodymyr Maskov has greeted citizens on this occasion with the Word of God. Brother Victor Mrachkovski has cooked a good size copper of traditional Ukrainian Kulish (a kind of thick soup with millet and meat). All the participants of the city festivity could taste the Kulish as well as to receive the Good News Journal, and Lutheran confessional books, published by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation, and hear the Lutheran testimony about the Christian faith. Pictures by Oleksiy Kustlivi.
On September 22, 2013 the first volume of Luther's Works in Ukrainian was presented to the Ukrainian Lutheran Church.Volume number 1 includes Dr. Luther's sermons on the Gospel of John, chapters 1 thourgh 4. The presentation ofthe 1st volume took place at the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Kyiv. The event was dedicated to the 1025th anniversary of introduction of Christianity in Ukraine and took place right after the God's service. Dr. Robert Rahn, Interim Executive Director of the Lutheran Heritage Foundation was the key presenter. Every participant of the celebration could receive a signed copy of the 1st volume of Luther's Works. The next volume of Luther's Works will be dedicated to Luther's wrtings on the Word and Sacrament. The book is available and being sent both to congregations and individuals.
Ocotber 6, 2013. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Kam'yanets-Podilskiy has celebrated the Tanksgiving Day in the city. Deacon Volodymyr Maskov has greeted citizens on this occasion with the Word of God. Brother Victor Mrachkovski has cooked a good size copper of traditional Ukrainian Kulish (a kind of thick soup with millet and meat). All the participants of the city festivity could taste the Kulish as well as to receive the Good News Journal, and Lutheran confessional books, published by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation, and hear the Lutheran testimony about the Christian faith. Pictures by Oleksiy Kustlivi.
On September 22, 2013 the first volume of Luther's Works in Ukrainian was presented to the Ukrainian Lutheran Church.Volume number 1 includes Dr. Luther's sermons on the Gospel of John, chapters 1 thourgh 4. The presentation of the 1st volume took place at the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Kyiv. The event was dedicated to the 1025th anniversary of introduction of Christianity in Ukraine and took place right after the God's service. Dr. Robert Rahn, Interim Executive Director of the Lutheran Heritage Foundation was the key presenter. Every participant of the celebration could receive a signed copy of the 1st volume of Luther's Works. The next volume of Luther's Works will be dedicated to Luther's wrtings on the Word and Sacrament. The book is available and being sent both to congregations and individuals.
