Some of life's events simply cannot be explained rationally. Some call it a miracle, others a happy coincidence, and others still the providence of God. It is this very mystery that inspired Svichado Publishing House to release a new book titled God Acts in War: True Stories from Chaplains, Service Members, and Volunteers. The book was presented at the Garrison Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (UGCC) in Lviv.
This is a collection of true-life stories — testimonies that show the working of God in circumstances where it would seem there is no chance of rescue, no hope, no way out. But with Him all things are possible. This is already the fourth book in the series. It was preceded by God Acts Quietly: True Stories from Priests, God Acts on Time: True Stories from Priests and Bishops, and God Acts Tenderly (stories from women of the community "Mothers in Prayer").
Bohdan Troianovskyi, director of the Svichado publishing house, shared his memories of how the idea for the new collection was born.
― Our good friend, Bishop Venedykt, once called me while he was with our chaplain-priests. They had been sharing various stories from their ministry with him, and the bishop asked whether we might want to publish a book about it — about the chaplaincy movement. We thought about the format: a historical overview? memoirs? interviews? And then someone pointed out: But you already have the "God Acts…" series. Readers love it so much. And the great strength of that format is precisely these stories — things people truly lived through. The chaplains who share their experience speak of God's presence within this or that story, of moments when it becomes clear that He is at work.
The book God Acts in War… records the testimonies of clergy from various denominations, service members, and volunteers. The publishing house hopes this collection will become one more building block toward understanding what is happening in our country, in our Churches, where God is in the midst of all this. So many questions arise about His presence in our trials. At times, it may seem He is not involved in them at all.
― But when you read testimonies like these, when you talk with our service members or with the chaplains, you begin to see that God may simply have chosen a different way of being present. And perhaps the very fact that we can meet here today is the greatest miracle He has worked. Four years ago, hardly anyone would have believed we could hold out this long against such a monster. And yet — we did, Mr. Bohdan concludes.
The motto of our military chaplains is simply to be there, beside them. Presence and acceptance are, perhaps, the main thing we need right now — the main thing our defenders need. In the words of Father Taras Mykhalchuk, rector of the Garrison Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and head of the Military Chaplaincy Center of the Lviv Archeparchy (UGCC), the world needs to hear our testimonies of strength and love. And of Christ's resurrection, too.
― For me, every person in this war brings to mind the path Job walked. He endured so many trials, losses, and so much misunderstanding from others — enough, even, to drive a person away from God. But we know the culminating moment of the Book, when Job begins to speak with God, to see Him face to face. And he is strengthened in his faith, and the Lord restores everything to him, blessing him. This Book is about the strength of our faith, about grace, about how, despite everything, the Lord wipes away our tears.
Guided by what people, each in their own way, call the working of God, this book — even while it was still being written — kept finding its way, again and again, to those who needed it most, exactly when they needed it. The book's editor, Maria Chyhin, was expecting a child when she took up the work. She herself was living through an inner crisis. The author's own worldview and principles could not withstand their collision with reality. Mrs. Maria shares that she had always believed aggression could be overcome with kindness, that only wicked people resort to force, and that one should treat others the way one wishes to be treated. None of these convictions holds up when we speak of Russian-Ukrainian "relations." In the war, she lost her younger brother, the very brother she had raised on these same principles. To build a new world, so many questions needed to be answered.
― I'll be honest — I wrote this book partly for myself. It was an experience that built me up, too. Many of my friends and relatives went to war. And they asked me the same tricky, searching questions our chaplains hear from soldiers. I came to understand that God is different from how I had pictured Him. He is larger than the limits within which I had confined Him. I wasn't prepared for the world to be so cruel — for people to choose evil, for the devil to work so powerfully, and for people to give in to him. But through my conversations with the chaplains, I began to find answers. We believe that God stands above everything, that He is higher than all things. God keeps revealing life, even though the war brings death every single day.
According to Mrs. Maria, it was especially precious to speak with priests who had sat in basements alongside soldiers, who apologized to her each time an explosion interrupted them — and kept on talking.
― I feel a kinship with them — with the volunteers, with the medics at the front. All of us, like one single Church, are upholding our military. This matters enormously. I would like this book to become a bridge between the home front and the front line, because we often can't fully picture what's happening there, or how people in the military environment hold fast to their values.
In wartime, people can meet Jesus. That is exactly what happened to chaplain-priest Oleh Kryshtal in 2023. During the fighting for Bakhmut, he, another priest, and a volunteer were driving an ambulance to a brigade. The navigation failed, and they got lost. The volunteer said, "Never mind, Jesus will help us now." And Jesus really did arrive! Who could have known that this was, in fact, the name of one of the servicemen serving in that sector? God often works through human hands — and He also has a wonderful sense of humor.
― I personally treasure humor in all its forms. It trains our mental resilience. And soldiers value it deeply when you're open with them, when you can joke, when it's possible to joke around you. Humor often helps find a way, even to those soldiers who aren't practicing Christians but are ready to open up to you as a friend. It doesn't happen after just one meeting. But you have to stay close even when things are hard for a person, when they're grieving, sorrowful — and try to hold onto the light. I think it's easier to bear hardship with a smiling soul.
The priest says that, above all, servicemen expect a chaplain's presence in prayer, in their lives. Everyone needs to speak their heart, joke, tell a story, and find answers to this or that question. Sometimes soldiers ask about things that have troubled them since childhood. Our defenders simply need to be treated with humanity. When a chaplain is genuinely himself with them, they, in turn, open up with their pain, their fears, their joys. And then no rank, no denomination, matters at all.
Father Nestor Kyzyk shares his own experience. For him, as a chaplain, it was a wonder that soldiers truly wanted the chance to confess regularly and to attend the Divine Liturgy. That is such a precious moment — one that draws people closer and helps everyone carry out their calling sincerely and genuinely.
― In the book, I tell of one encounter. We were once stopped at a checkpoint. A bus carrying soldiers was on its way to the position. They saw us in our cassocks, in body armor, and began waving through the windows — and then got out and started embracing us. Because a priest had come to them simply to be near. For soldiers, it means a great deal that someone who, by the traditional understanding, ought to remain within a church, instead leaves it and goes to where he is needed.
Father Nestor believes God acts quietly. Men went to war in different states of mind and with different wounds. Seeing a priest, they longed to hear concrete answers. They didn't always want to see him at the time of the Liturgy; they held different views on faith, on the state of things in the country. In such moments, it's important not to press. If a person is searching for answers, they will find them. The main thing is not to lead them off the path they need.
One man didn't believe that Fr. Nestor came to the combat zone of his own free will. He distrusted him and kept questioning him. He didn't believe the priest would come back — at one point, he even stopped speaking to him altogether. But later he came up on his own and greeted him with the words "Glory to Jesus Christ!" It was precisely that silence, that space left for the other person simply to be, that made it possible to build trust and to accept one another.
God acts not only among soldiers, in the whirlwind of combat. He is present with each of us in this struggle, sustaining us where human strength runs out, bringing together the paths of people who had never met, for the sake of a shared purpose. This is something Oleksandra Riaba, moderator of the Christian movement "Mothers in Prayer" and a volunteer with the "Lviv Spider-Women" community, was able to see for herself. This community arose in the very first days of the full-scale war, at the Church of All Saints of the Ukrainian People (UGCC). People came to weave camouflage nets — the need was enormous, far beyond anything anyone had expected. There was never enough fabric, never enough netting bases.
― Finding the right materials was a whole quest in itself. We bartered for netting bases, we begged for them; parishioners brought fishing nets and washed and dried them right there in the church courtyard. We prayed constantly for God to help us find what we needed. I remember one day when a great many people came. We had just one sack of cut fabric left. Clearly, it wasn't going to last long. And just as we reached about a sixth of what remained, the doors opened — and in they carried sack after sack after sack.
People revealed sides of themselves no one had seen before. They learned to dye fabric, worked as loaders, took work home with them, and came to help one another at exactly the moment it was needed most. And there was something wondrous in it all — everything simply fell into place, and quite how, no one could really explain.
― Netting is a material that gets used up fast. Soldiers kept coming for it constantly; we had to start a waiting list, because we couldn't supply everyone at once. One time, some people came and pleaded for netting without waiting for their turn. In exchange, they promised to find us a netting base. What we ended up receiving was a large net taken from a soccer goal. It wasn't suited for weaving at all. I was disheartened. But then other young men came, asking urgently for something white — and that very net turned out to be exactly what they needed, to cover a vehicle.
Mrs. Oleksandra says that God is good to them. There are always benefactors who buy netting bases and fabric, people who can help with any problem. And that fills the heart, because it means we can support those who have it hardest — those who defend Ukraine every single day. Over the years of war, the volunteers have grown deeply attached to many of the soldiers. Here, the volunteers are often among the first to learn where the situation is worst, where the need is greatest. And it is precisely in this synergy of volunteers, priests, and parishioners that support for the front becomes possible.
― So very many of our volunteers are women from the "Mothers in Prayer" community. The principle that there is no such thing as someone else's child, and that everyone deserves help, always holds true. It brings such joy that we are able to do what lies within our power, with God's help.