A Just Peace in Ukraine

On August 24, 2024, join together in prayer with Christians worldwide for a just peace in Ukraine.

The Church in Ukraine is Alive

Have you read or heard that the Ukrainian government is not favourable to churches? That the government under President Zelensky is closing or destroying churches and arresting pastors and priests?

That narrative is Russian propaganda.

Ed Dickson and I speaking with the pastor’s assistant on the ground where the pastor was killed. The church is in the background.

Interior stairwell of the church.

During our recent trips to Ukraine, we saw that churches are counted on to deliver humanitarian aid, shelter refugees, and offer relational support. Pastors are free to preach the gospel and hold public worship gatherings. The only destroyed churches and murdered pastors resulted from the violence of Russia. In April 2024, I stood on the ground where a pastor was killed, and his church was destroyed by a Russian attack a few weeks prior to my visit.

Jocelyn and I connected in a video call with a female pastor in Kherson, a southern city near the front lines under daily Russian attack. Russian soldiers arrested her husband and son. Only her confrontational boldness in the name of Jesus succeeded in getting them released. They subsequently escaped to a safer region, and she stayed behind to pastor two churches. She is one of many Ukrainian pastors under constant threat of death by Russian occupiers.

Russian Orthodox Church

On August 15, 2025, during his meeting in Alaska with U.S. President Donald Trump, the Russian ruler Putin insisted on guarantees for granting “the security of Russian Orthodox Churches (ROC)” in Ukraine. He cites Ukrainian persecution.

It’s true that in August 2024, Ukrainian legislators adopted a law which would remove legal benefits and compel deregistration of organizations controllable by Russia. However, the decision of the government was necessitated by the ROC’s actions:

• the ROC directly participates in the war against Ukraine,
• has openly proclaimed as its mission the destruction of Ukrainian sovereignty, culture, and national identity,
• has blessed the use of weapons of mass destruction,
• supports the killing of peaceful Ukrainian citizens and
• supports the illegal occupation of Ukrainian territories.

The head of the ROC, Patriarch Kirill, publicly declares the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine a “holy war” and has promised “remission of sins” to Russian occupiers killed in this war of conquest, thereby effectively sanctioning the killing of Ukrainians, including Christians of various denominations and representatives of other religious traditions.

Prayer for Ukraine

Since the beginning of its state independence, Ukraine has been known worldwide for its high standards of religious freedom, which are preserved and respected even under martial law.

Sunday, August 24, is Ukraine’s Independence Day. The Ukraine Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches is appealing for international prayer for:

• an end to the war and the establishment of just peace;
• protection and restoration of the Ukrainian people;
• healing of physical and emotional wounds;
• release of captives and return of abducted children;
• strength, wisdom, and endurance for the Church of Christ in Ukraine.

Would you do two things:

1. Make time to personally pause and pray for Ukraine.
2. Ask your pastor or church leadership to take some time in the service to read the above points and pray for Ukraine.

Learn more here.

Thank you.

Please share this post. Pray for peace and freedom in Ukraine. Join the conversation and post a comment below.

Hope grows here.  We share stories that inspire people, build faith, and offer lasting purpose.

We’d love to have you Subscribe to REVwords. We’ll put helpful content into your inbox Mondays and Fridays.