Ukraine: When Faith Remains

“What do you need most right now?” I asked a group of pastors and members of the congregation on Sunday afternoon in Beregszasz, Ukraine.

“We need first the blessing of God,” the lead pastor replied. A second person responded with just one word:  “People.”

Transcarpathia is far from the battlefront of Russia’s war on Ukraine, but it is nevertheless severely impacted by the war. Already an economically depressed area before the war, poverty is now deepening. Costs of gasoline and other basic necessities have skyrocketed. Electricity is intermittent at best, out entirely for 8-10 hours every day. But the biggest impact of the war is the loss of its people.

I was amazed at the scale of social programs (‘diakonal’ programs) the RCT operates, especially given the RCT’s relatively small size as a church in the region. They are a church representing a dual minority: a Hungarian-based, Hungarian-speaking church located in Ukraine, a Protestant Church in a largely Catholic area. But neither their minority status nor the daunting reality of the war have inhibited their commitment to serving others and doing good. 

They run nursing homes for the elderly and those with dementia; programs for disabled children; shelters for Internally Displaced Persons; feeding programs for impoverished Roma communities in the area; four schools for children; a crisis home for pregnant women; a bakery that produces over 650 loaves of bread every day, all of which is given away; and a variety of other programs aimed at helping the most vulnerable among them. It is astounding. It is also increasingly difficult to sustain, as the number in their community gets smaller and smaller with each passing month.

Back at that church on Sunday afternoon, I asked members of the congregation another question. “What role does your faith play in getting through these difficult times?” A staff person recalled a conversation she had had with an elderly congregant, who had wondered in despair when she would ever see her son again. “There really is no answer to that question,” reflected the staff member. “We can only pray. Perhaps it will be only in the next life that she sees him again.”

There is seemingly no end in sight to the war here. Month by excruciating month it goes on, peace still nothing but a flickering hope and a persevering prayer. But faith remains. It fuels the Reformed Church of Transcarpathia and its mighty ministries and powers the extraordinary vision this church has for a future they still believe in.

 O God whose care knows no boundaries, grant your blessing again upon the peacemakers and the faith-keepers. I pray tonight for the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia, giving thanks for their steady, loving witness amid such unimaginable circumstances. Grant them courage where hope is faltering. Comfort them when losses overwhelm. Give them wisdom and creativity sufficient to overcome every obstacle to their ministry. And guide us to accompany and support them, until such a day as peace is again present in their homes, their hearts, and Ukraine. Amen.

The Reverend Shari Prestemon began her service with the national ministries of the United Church of Christ in January 2024. As the Acting Associate General Minister & Co-Executive for Global Ministries she has the privilege of supporting several teams: Global Ministries, Global H.O.P.E., Public Policy & Advocacy Team (Washington, D.C.), our staff liaison at the United Nations, and our Gender & Sexuality Justice Team. She previously served as a local church pastor in Illinois and Wisconsin, the Executive Director at Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi, and the Minnesota Conference Minister. Her call to ministry grew, in part, from early Global Ministries experiences, especially service as a Peace & Justice Intern in Dumaguete City, the Philippines.