At the online meeting on 19 January, Quakers worshipped for peace in Ukraine and in the world, for the end of bloodshed in Palestine, for God’s help to all hungry and thirsty, for awakening of the inward light of truth and love in human souls. We also shared our grief. Profesor Anatolii Frantsuz, Hero of Ukraine, passed to heaven; he was Yurii Sheliazhenko’s teacher. Artem Denysov lost one of the best friends, TV operator Yevhenii. And Russian aggression continues to take the lives of Ukrainians. Also continues the unjust trial of Yurii Sheliazhenko for a pacifist statement “Peace Agenda for Ukraine and the World”, the hearings scheduled on 28 January. How to cope with the pain of losses? How to cope with injustice, when an old woman, Quaker climate activist Gay Delap, spent the first days of New Year in prison? Hundreds of Quakers came to the prison with candles to support her. In Serbia, tens of thousands of people gather silently on streets to mourn 15 victims of Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse. When we come together, the spirit fills the gaps created by losses and grief in our hearts. The spirit fills our hearts with love, and life is cherished, life goes on.
Yurii Sheliazhenko:
Friends, I feel deep sorrow because I learned about the death of my teacher, the Hero of Ukraine, Honored Jurist of Ukraine, Professor Anatolii Frantsuz. I am grateful to him for supporting my academic research in the field of legal studies, and I will always remember his wise advice: even if they throw stones at you, you feed the people with bread.
I also feel a spiritual solidarity with the mass silent protests in Serbia, where people are gathering at the streets to mourn those who died when the canopy of the Novi Sad train station collapsed after the advertised pre-election renovations. Sometimes silence speaks louder than a thousand words.
I ask you to hold in the light a Friend, 78-year-old woman Gay Delap, imprisoned for climate protest, and about 80 protesters arrested in London during a march against genocide in Palestine. Let’s pray for ending of bloodshed in Palestine after the ceasefire deal.
Horrific attack on Kyiv with ballistic missiles shows that Putin’s regime is not going to stop brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. Those who promised to end the war in one day now are telling us about a hundred days.
Preparations are underway for a long and exhausting war that could last for years. But we must preserve our hope for peace, live our peaceful lives of free civilians and work for peace. The covenant of peace and non-violence in our hearts, in our conscience, in our religious faith, which does not allow killing and requires looking for other ways to stop Russian aggression.
We can be prosecuted for our pacifist beliefs, and I want to say that on 28th January the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv city has scheduled another preliminary court hearing in my criminal proceedings, where a pacifist is absurdly accused of allegedly justifying Russian aggression in an anti-war statement where Russian aggression was condemned.
But Jesus warned us about persecution for being faithful, for sticking to the truth and conscience. Christ said that he sends his disciples like sheep to wolves, and they must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. The Lord’s advice was this: when you are brought to court, testify before the authorities and the people about the truth of Christ; when you are arrested, do not worry about what and how to say, because the Spirit will speak through your mouth (Matthew 10:16-20).
I hope that with God’s help and as a result of a competent legal defense I should be acquitted at the fair trial, although it may take some time, because the prosecutor has asked the court to postpone the hearing several times. But if injustice happens, I am ready to nurture Quaker faith and peace movement even behind bars.
Therefore, let us be ready for any events coming and make efforts to release God from the trouble of saving humans from our sins.
I feel the need to work better for the awakening of the inward light of truth and love in human souls.
As it is said in the Epistle to the Galatians 6:7, what you sow is what you will reap. So, we must at every opportunity sow seeds of faith in the sanctity of life, because of which we refuse to kill.
We must faithfully respond to acts of hatred with acts of love.
Artem Denysov:
Friends, I would like to share with you that on January 15, one of my best friends went to heaven. I knew Yevhenii for 4 years, during this time he showed himself to be an honest and decent person and his death was unexpected for many. Now I want to contact his family because as far as I know he also took care of his elderly parents. Maybe they need some help, I’ll try to find out. And I ask you to uphold them in the light. And I also want to add that despite the fact that his life path has ended, his cause is still among us. This brave and good person was a cinematographer and left after him a lot of good films and other videos, recordings of shows, news reporting, etc. His life path was in the service of society.
Farooq Javed:
Dear Brothers, I saw on TV news and social media that agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza was reached. Similarly, I hope that Russian aggression against Ukraine will also stop soon. I am going to start a new project to help poor people exploited on brick kilns here in Pakistan. I want to distribute water among women, and I need help.
Kristen Richardson:
I am worshipping with you in spirit and wishing you all the best.