At the end of January, the director of our mission, Arkady Slyoza, as part of a team of volunteer chaplains from the church New Breath in Rivne, took part in chaplaincy service in a military hospital in eastern Ukraine, where the wounded are brought daily from the stabilization point from various front lines in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.
Brother Arkady shares about this difficult, but very necessary and important, seven-day trip to the east.
In the Epistle of James, we read: “And if any of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and fed,’ but does not give them what they need for their body, what good is it?” (James 2:16). That is, will it be of any use? Of course not! It will be of no use! Faith without works is dead.
We try to be relevant and love people on a practical level. This was the purpose of our trip to the wounded soldiers. And the first thing that our practical love was manifested in was the transformation of our soldiers, thanks to the barbering skills of the team members. Our brothers Mykola and Andriy — the parents of the fallen Heroes — not only gave a haircut, but also tried to entertain, support with a kind word, and listen to each soldier, and they did a good job.
In photos you can see how this transformation happens.
The next stage was to feed the soldiers. Brother Mykhailo did not leave this slicing machine. He sliced so much that it was not clear until the end what was thicker in the sandwich: bread, cheese, or sausage, so that the men truly felt our love and care. Also in the photo, you can see a bunch of homemade pies, thanks to all those who prepared them. In the first days, they were all taken away by soldiers in a flash, so that none were left, because it’s homemade!
The next task for us was to distribute some clothing and footwear. It was super important for the military personnel who were brought straight from the first-row positions to get clean underwear and T-shirts, sportswear, and boots. This is everything that is related to practical service and taking care of the body.
In the next photo you can see one of the key positions for the soul – these are various games with the guys that Igor and Mykola were involved in. It’s not just playing a game and thinking about how to ride a horse, but also asking the person: what’s their name, where they come from, which brigade they were in, what they went through – and then communication was established. This was a very good idea from those who started playing board games there; we had a good time.
Throughout the day, we served the military with deeds, words, and support, and in the evening, we invited them to a fraternal circle of communication, where each of the guys could introduce themselves and tell about themselves. Someone managed to share for 30 seconds, and for someone, even 5 minutes was not enough to tell what they had gone through. During the communication, we brought up various biblical topics, saying that Jesus Christ is our true Brother, who bore the whole brunt of our iniquities, covering us with Himself. Accordingly, He is the one with whom we want to go forward side by side, whom we can trust 100%. The soldiers agreed with this. We also raised the issue of repentance, faith, important choices in life, that every choice has consequences, but there is the most important choice that influences our entire future. We also gave some time for the guys to ask questions. There were various questions, from perhaps such simple and childish ones, such as about the Gospel of Andrew or Magdalene, to such serious and important ones regarding the essence of our Christian faith.
During this trip, Andriy and I had the opportunity to take part in the solemn burial of the fallen Hero, the young son and grandson of the Kozerenko-Tsarevsky family, well-known to us, from the Agape House church in Kamyanske. At the beginning of the full-scale war, we often went to evacuate refugees and stayed in this church building and in the house of Kozerenko. We were personally familiar with Yevhen, who served as a volunteer in “Azov” for two years.
Our friends and partners from the “ABEJ-TOUR” association in Tours, France, donated many boxes of medical supplies for first aid in the hospital, and we handed these boxes over to the doctors. At first, we were told that the hospital was fully stocked and that they would not take anything, but when we opened the boxes, it turned out that they contained very high-quality materials, bandages, anti-burn plasters, and many other very necessary items, so they accepted all of this with gratefulness and took it to the operating room.
We were also happy to meet and talk to the head nurse of the hospital, Kyryl. A year ago, the brothers from Rivne met him for the first time, and he opened his heart to Jesus Christ and the Gospel. In June, during his vacation, he visited our mission in Rivne, together we held a holiday for orphans from the shelter – we took them to the zoo. Kyryl donated his own funds for the rehabilitation of orphans in Christian camps in Transcarpathia. So, we brought him presents: a camp T-shirt and an art piece – a painted box. When we asked what kind of help we could provide for the hospital, Kyryl immediately answered that we could help with the purchase of paper for office work – every week, hundreds of people come and go, so there is a lot of paperwork, and copy paper is always needed in the hospital. We purchased 2 boxes of paper sheets.
We also had a meeting and conversation with our friend, Pastor Konstantin Chibizov, who is a full-time chaplain in the Marine Corps Artillery Division. We gave him many necessary things for his further service in the military. For example, Andriy gave him two new military cots, and Konstantin says that just yesterday a request came in – a request from the soldiers that they needed portable beds. This is how God navigated our ministry.
Therefore, I’d like to express sincere and deep gratitude to everyone who prayed, supported materially, financially, and practically, with various useful things. I believe that this is God’s work, which must be continued. We have become convinced that all military personnel – both soldiers and commanders – are in dire need of spiritual help and support. Please pray for this cause!
Arkady Slyoza
