Twelve Evangelical Leaders Send Letter To Ukrainian Authorities

The authors of the letter offered “to work out a comprehensive program for the spiritual rebirth of the Ukrainian nation to be approved at the highest state level.” They believe this is possible because “Evangelical churches that bring the truth and salvation to people have come out of the underground and new Evangelical communities have also appeared.” In the letter, they also demanded that the National Academy of Arts and Sciences of Ukraine teach Ukrainians about the existence of God. The letter stressed that Ukraine is also a center for the spiritual rebirth of many countries of the world. Among Christian churches that have started similar centers in different countries of the world, communities such as Victory, the Embassy of God, and World Harvest and were mentioned. In addition, the authors of the letter proposed “to open the door to all Christian churches that preach the Gospel and pursue domestic and foreign policy in accordance with this goal.” They identified concrete tasks such as “general repentance for all sins,” and “the proclamation of an all-Ukrainian day of fasting and prayer.” Furthermore, they proposed that “the Ukrainian nation, state and all the ministries and departments recognize the absolute power of God over Ukraine and its nation” and “introduce words of Ukraine’s respect for God on the nation’s money.” The authors of the letter asserted that the budget in the future theocratic country will be targeted to meet “spiritual needs,” for which, according to them, God will bless Ukraine. They also proposed starting Bible studies in the Ukrainian Parliament, the Cabinet of Ministers and other state bodies. Considering the high percentage of atheists in the country, the authors recommended that the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences “should conduct a survey among Ukrainians on the existence of God.” However, they oppose the creation of one national Orthodox church in Ukraine, since they believe that all the splits in Orthodoxy, as well as divisions between the Latin and Byzantine and Slavic churches, are the will of God. The authors of the letter suggested that “a Spiritual Council of Ukraine be established instead as a coordinating body that would consist of representatives of different religions and denominations.” Source: www.orthodox.org.ua