Silent worship at the Meeting of Friends of Ukraine on 13 October started with a short ministry.
Yurii Sheliazhenko shared with Friends Liudmyla Holchanska, Artem Denysov, Serhii Vedmediev, and Oleksandr Ivanov, his joy that this morning we prayed for peace in Ukraine with Friends from Ukraine and the world, and then there was a weekly worship of the Central European Meeting with the center in Prague. There were many people. Yurii was glad to see Nadiya Spassenko, she is a Quaker for decades and she was the only Ukrainian Quaker for some time. Nadiya Ivanivna Spassenko is going to Ukraine, and it would be a pleasure to see her. Yurii heard that she loves Ukraine very much, and she asserts her choice to speak in Ukrainian.
We began our silent worship, holding those who are suffering in the light. Our friend Andrii Vyshnevetskyi was not able to participate in our worship today, he is in the hospital, he has acute tonsillitis. Also, he is a Christian pacifist forcibly conscripted and denied in discharge on the grounds of conscience despite the best efforts of the pacifist movement. For some time he served in the kitchen, that was a relief, but he was not allowed to see his family, and when he insisted on it, he was ordered to serve in the artillery against his conscience; he can’t obey the order, so he suffers hardships. We hold him in the light.
Ukrainian people continue to suffer from Russian aggression. Aerial bombs destroy Sumy and Kharkiv regions, the drones attack Kyiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson Oblasts and other regions of Ukraine. In Donetsk region, invading troops mercilessly kill Ukrainians. Barbaric executions of prisoners of war were reported. Five regions are without electric power, and a hard winter is coming.
But Ukrainians are resilient, despite all the trials. Journalists continue to expose Putin’s false war propaganda, even though their colleague Victoria Roshchina was imprisoned and killed. Volunteers continue to help people despite the killing by a Russian drone of the judge of the Supreme Court, Leonid Loboyko, when he was delivering humanitarian aid in the Kharkiv region.
Friends, we must overcome evil with good. We pray for a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine, as well as peaceful end to the war in Palestine, and we pray for the peaceful end to all wars in the world. We seek to help God’s work in making these prayers happen.
According to Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus teaches:
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
George Fox wrote in 1656:
Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come, that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one.
We found peace and joy in a silent worship, and we will meet for worship every Sunday on 2.30 pm Kyiv time, here is a Zoom link:
Topic: Meeting of Friends of Ukraine. Збори Друзів України
Time: Oct 20, 2024 02:30 PM Kyiv
Every week on Sun, 110 occurrence(s)
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