The only female chaplain of the Odesa region works as a combat medic on the front line
Until 2016, Olena Zhevets was engaged in social work with vulnerable groups of the population: she helped drug and alcohol addicts. The woman explains that over time, employees in prisons began to be called prison chaplains, and she was sent to study at the specialized school of chaplains at the Bilotserkovsky military school.
"There was a group that included male chaplains, two women – evangelical Christians – and three nuns. There were five women in the entire group, it was 2016. Then I entered the Theological Seminary "Grace and Truth" in Kyiv. In 2018, she graduated and was one female military chaplain along with the men on the course. In Odessa, I am one female military chaplain," she notes.
She believes that when you remain faithful to a cause that you are doing on behalf of God, people see it.
"I always say that weapons can be used in different ways, but if you come to my house and come with evil, I will shoot to kill. And then I'll deal with God. Whether someone will judge me or not, I have a submachine gun that I was entrusted with. I have mastered this difficult weapon. I can shoot, I can disassemble and clean it, and I understand its purpose. And moreover, I will say that the hand will not waver," the medic notes.
"I know that the Bible says,' Whoever picks up the sword will perish by the sword.' Ukraine is in a defensive position. And we did not come to take other people's lands and lives, we did not come to do the horror that the Russians and their mercenaries are doing, who came to rape our children, kill old people, kill us. It is against these Inhumans that my sword will be used," says Olena Zhevets.
