Shannon Ford says he comes home from work in the evenings and turns on his computer. There he reads social media stories and e-mails from fellow believers back in Ukraine who are suffering from four years of war with Russia.
“It is hard to hear the news,” he said. “It’s fatiguing and heartbreaking.”
The people of Ukraine live with almost daily bomb, missile and drone attacks on their cities from Russian invaders. And the Russians are not just attacking Ukrainian military installations but are reportedly raining down explosives on apartments, city streets, supermarkets and hospitals.
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Ford said what he is hearing from his friends in Ukraine is that they are “adamantly committed to defending their homeland.”
“There is so much hurt, loss of life, limbs, damage to homes, businesses and churches,” he said. “I pray for peace and restoration … and for people to mobilize to help.”
Ford also said he hopes the gospel will prevail as will the strong spirit of the Ukrainian people.
For many years Ford and his wife, Katie, were International Mission Board missionaries and he supervised church planting efforts in Eastern Europe. They moved to Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1999 and served there several years, later moving to the Czech Republic so Shannon could take on the role of operations director for Europe with the IMB.
In 2022, he became missions team leader for the Illinois Baptist State Association. The Alabama Baptist caught up with Ford in July while he participated in an Illinois youth camp at Lake Sallateeska. He shared about the struggle Ukrainians are experiencing with around 300 teens and camp leaders.
Historic ties
The struggle in Ukraine goes back to the days when the former Soviet Union controlled the Ukrainian region. Known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the USSR broke up in 1991, and Ukraine became an independent nation again. Because of the historic economic and religious ties, most Ukrainians also speak Russian.
But Russia, under its president Vladimir Putin has sought to reassert control since 2014. Regional conflict has ensued in the Crimean and Donbas regions of Ukraine for about 12 years. In 2022, Russia invaded those regions and has been sending bombs into the rest of the nation in the four years since. The cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv have been especially hard hit by ballistic missiles and explosive drones.
Damage to churches has been widespread, including House of the Gospel, a Baptist congregation. Pastor Ruslan Utyuzh was killed in the bombing.
Kyiv Theological Seminary, which has strong ties to Baptist and evangelical work, also was hit by a Russian drone strike in July.
But amid protecting their own properties and cleaning up after attacks, Ukrainian Baptists have enlisted some of their pastors to serve as chaplains to the Ukrainian military forces. Ford is hearing they are being received well and that Bibles are being distributed to the troops.
Orphans needing a home
One of the most difficult consequences from the ongoing war is the number of orphaned children, Ford pointed out.
Yevhen and Liliia Zolotarove, friends of Ford, live in Lviv and decided they could make a difference through adoption. The family of four has now swelled to 12 as they have adopted eight war orphans. The Zolotaroves are members of Grapevine Baptist Church.
For prayer resources and giving options related to the Ukrainian War, visit sendrelief.org/project/ukraine.
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