On 11 September, in Odesa, the monument to “Heroes of the Faith, ”the Christians who perished for the faith during the Soviet repressions of the 20th c. was officially opened as part of the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Pentecostal revival in the countries of the former USSR and the 20th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence.
The erection of the monument was initiated by the Association of Churches of Christians of Evangelical Faith of Odesa which was established in the beginning of the last century by the missionary, Ivan Voronaiev, with the assistance of Christian Churches of Odesa and Ukraine. The project was financed by the Kyivan Church Emanuel (Bishop Vitalii Vozniuk).
The Monument was designed in the shape of a 2.5 meters high rock with a bust of Ivan Voronaiev carved in the middle who founded one of the most numerous Protestant movements in Ukraine and the countries of USSR, the Church of the Christians of Evangelical Faith, the Pentecostals. The ceremony of the opening of the monument was held within the framework of the international conference “Revival,” which was held in Odesa during the week on occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Pentecostal or Voronaiev’s Revival. It was attended by Odesa residents, faithful of various Churches of Odesa and a few hundred delegates of the conference from various regions of Ukraine and countries of Asia, Europe, America and Australia including pastors and bishops of evangelical Churches.
According to him, the monument is to remind modern Christians about the price paid by the generations of our fathers persecuted for the faith in the Soviet times.
“This is not a only a monument to Voronaiev but we also would like to honour the memory of all the people who perished for the faith, who did not turn from God during the Soviet repressions and were repressed, tortured and shot just for that. I want my children and the future generation of Christians to remember that we have tragic but glorious history,” noted the pastor of the Central Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith in Odesa, Denys Serdychenko.