Ukrainian Friends (Quakers) gathered in person in Kyiv and online at the meeting for worship with our guest Kristen Richardson, an Elder of the Chatham Summit Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, who came with pastoral visit from the United States to provide us with the support and assistance that we need and much appreciate. We waited for the move of spirit in stillness of hope, peace and love, and we held in the light those who are in grief and pain, all victims of wars, other injustices and natural disasters.
Kristen Richardson:
Друзі [Friends], I had hoped to speak in Ukrainian, but those words aren’t coming yet.
The world we live in is full of chaos, here in Ukraine, in the United States, all around the world.
And, as Friends, we need each other more than ever to support each other in seeking out the Light and Grace that is available to us to guide our steps as we find the way to live our testimonies in the daily world and our mission to bring about the peaceable kingdom right here.
Because heaven isn’t later; it’s now, if we build it.
I would just like to add one more thing. And that is, when I leave Ukraine, I will be carrying some of your spirit with me, and leaving behind a little piece of my heart. So, thank you, Friends.
Yurii Sheliazhenko:
Friends, I ask you to hold in the light all victims of wars such as Russian aggression, injustices such as human rights violations, and natural disasters such as fires in California.
I feel grief because Simon Lamb, clerk of the Friends World Committee for Consultation, passed to heaven. We were moved by the Epistle of the World Plenary Meeting he wrote.
I am thankful to Chatham Summit Monthly Meeting and to Kristen Richardson who provided our young Meeting with spiritual support of experienced Elder.
Kristen challenged us for discernments necessary for spiritual growth, and we had a long conversation about why we need to worship and witness not only in the privacy of our hearts but also publicly, in light of the day, because, as the Gospel of John 1:5 says, light must shine in the darkness.
Here is my personal story related to the Gospel of John.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are persecuted in Russia for refusal to participate in the war of aggression and, unfortunately, currently they are persecuted in Ukraine too.
I came to the court to support a jailed Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objector Volodymyr Baranov, and I learned that his brothers and sisters are not hoping for justice because they believe that Satan rules the world, as Chapter Five of the First Letter of John says (1 John 5:19).
So I opened the Bible and the spirit led me to open the Gospel, not the Letter, and I found a verse giving hope that the light shines in darkness and will not be blackened by darkness. It was a miracle.
So, let indeed the light shine in darkness.
Olexander Petrych:
My name is Olexander. I was reading and studying the Bible for a long time. I attended the Seventh-day Adventist Church; later, not long ago, I stopped to visit it.
And now I’m learning about peace by myself with different media, but mostly the Bible. And also, I believe in the pacifist movement, nuclear disarmament, and similar initiatives.
So, I learned about pacifists of Ukraine and Quakers. And I decided to join and be a part of your initiative and the mission. I’m very happy that you guys are here.
John Reuwer:
I would like to thank the Quakers in Kyiv for allowing me to join you this morning, as you shine a light for peace in the midst of your terrible war. It is such an inspiration to know that you can stick to the gospel of peace despite the hardships from all sides.
And I speak with much gratitude for this, because I live in a country that seems to make war all over the world. I know my country could have stopped the Russians from attacking and chose not to. And for that reason I dedicate much of my time to trying to end wars everywhere.
And the fact that you are doing this in a much more dangerous situation, than I, gives me much strength. So, thank you so much.