Kyiv hosted the chaplaincy forum “United in Service: Being Near,” organized by the Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine. The event brought together chaplains who serve in hospitals, on the front lines, and work with veterans and military personnel’s families.
They discussed new challenges, the expansion of ministry areas, support for women in the military, cooperation between different churches, and how chaplaincy ministry is shaping the core of our society even in the most difficult times.
VIDEO SCRIPT
We’ve expanded a great deal in several directions including hospital chapency trips to the front lines work with veterans and work with the wives of service members specifically with women and sisters of service members. This is a very delicate, very sensitive form of ministry because there are so many wives, sisters, daughters, and mothers who don’t know where to turn to find comfort.
We’re now very, very actively involved in this. The sisters from our Confederation of Jewish Messianic Congregations have been trained in a really robust and interesting program and now they were ministering to these women.
What we see for our soldiers, for example, when we talk with them, they really value the mutual trust between churches. That is unity, trust, getting to know chaplain from other denominations. Working together and forming interdenominational mobile teams. When chaplain come together with you, both Catholic chaplain and Greek Catholic chaplain, this gives off a very powerful impression so that the soldiers themselves can see that what truly unites us is Yeshua, our Messiah. Cooperation between churches is key because every chaplain receives a blessing from their own church even to become a chaplain or to go and serve with the military. We can take an example from Peter and Paul, Shaw and Shimon. They were two very different men. They didn’t even know each other at first, but a shared ministry united them. And we even read that they valued that time together when they met, communicated, came together, and made decisions. I’ve encountered situations where not everyone really understood the role of chaplain. When people actually meet chaplain and experience the motto to be there, it shows that this is even more than just a simple priesthood. A chaplain is a pastoral caregiver. These are the people who are truly present for others whether with families or with military personnel depending on the type of chaplain. I believe that our society is being shaped right now. I believe that chaplain are and we will continue to be an integral part of shaping this new society and I truly believe in the emergence of a new and rebuilt country.
Recording Location
Kyiv, Ukraine
Story Provider/Contact
Elena Bereza, kievjmc@gmail.com
Producing Organization
KJMC. Kyiv
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