Posted on 09/15/2014 1:17:32 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
EASTERN UKRAINE- Ukraine's evangelical Christians are bearing the brunt of the country's conflict, often with deadly consequences.
It's a scene that has played in Elena Velichko's head over and over. Pro-Russian rebels took over her hometown in early April. Her husband Vladimir told her to take the kids and leave the city.
"He took us to the train station and we said goodbye. He said, 'I love you.' He kissed me and kissed the children and left," Elena said.
Several days later, her life and that of her eight children, ages 2 to 16, suddenly turned upside down.
Surreal Reality
It was June 8, Pentecost Sunday. The church was half empty. That's because the city was under tremendous assault by both the pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army.
Once the church service ended everybody made their way to the front of the church to go home.
But then the unimaginable happened.
"The church called and said my husband, along with three other believers, had been taken by men who were waiting outside the church," Elena said.
Alexander Gayvoronski, a church deacon, was there that Sunday morning.
"The men wore masks and had machine guns. They told the four Christian men to get into their cars," Gayvoronsi said.
The rebels took the pastor's sons, Ruvim and Albert Pavenko, Victor Brodarsky, and Elena's husband, Vladimir.
Multiple sources told CBN News what then happened to the four Christian captives.
First rebels took them outside the city and tortured them. The next day the men were put in car and told to drive away.
Then, minutes later they were recaptured and shot multiple times. Elena's husband was burned in the car.
"I don't hate my husband's killers. It is easy to start asking questions. Why did this happen? But if I keep thinking about this it will only wear me out," Elena said.
Christians Targeted
That same day rebels burned down the largest furniture factory that belonged to Ruvim and Albert Pavenko's father.
It had become clear rebels were targeting the city's evangelical community.
Sergey Demidovich, a top evangelical leader in Slavyansk, said Christians face constant threat.
"I never thought in the 21st century, in (a) free country as Ukraine, it was possible to experience this level of persecution," Demidovich said. "The separatists saw Protestant Christians as enemies. They viewed us as cults."
But the persecution was just getting started.
"All the Protestant churches in the city were either taken over by rebels or forced to close. We were forbidden to meet for services and the leadership forced to leave or be under risk of arrest," Demidovich said.
And the persecution is spreading far beyond just this city. Throughout the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as rebels gain more territory, assaults against evangelicals are growing.
Two pastors told CBN News they were arrested and tortured for their faith.
"If I went to Donetsk today I would be arrested at the first checkpoint and put in jail," Oleg, a pastor from Donetsk, said. "The last time I was in prison they beat me up so badly, but I kept preaching the gospel and telling them to repent."
Unwavering Faith
Many believe the persecution is linked to pressure from the Russian Orthodox Church, and the pro-Russian rebels are only happy to do their bidding.
"When I was in prison, a rebel soldier told me they have an order to kill all the Christian pastors who are not part of the Russian Orthodox Church," Anatoly, a pastor from Luhansk, said.
While that has forced some to go underground, others are deciding to stay.
"Many heroes were born out of this conflict - men and women who are boldly sharing their faith and helping those caught in the war," Oleg said.
Elena Velichko said there's not a day that goes by that she doesn't think of that last goodbye, that final kiss she had with her husband at the train station.
But she is unwavering in her faith, trusting God to take care of her, the children, and Ukraine.
"People often ask me how I am doing. I tell them about a mighty God who can heal our hearts, maybe not as quickly as we would like it, but the process is going on and the prayers of people around the world help," Elena said.
"The biggest thing you can do for me is to pray for me and my family, about the future of my children and my country," she said.
So no answer huh?
Figures.
We have no business getting involved there as well as many of the other places we have stuck our noses into.
Like I said before, send them your money if you support them so much but keep your fat grubby fingers out of my pockets and don’t think about sending my Marines, Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen to fight for you.
I am not sending “your” marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen to fight for you. Once you get that straight, we can have a rational discussion, instead of the verbal diarrhea that you use as a substitute.
They are MY Marines.
You have no comprehension of the word rational.
You start calling names right out the gate like some scared little school boy, incapable of having a rational discussion like an adult. You twist and parse words to try and make your argument like a two bit greasy small-town politician.
Listen, wimp. Don’t get personal with someone unless you expect them to get personal back. Piss off.
So suggesting that you put your money and ass on the line for something you said we, as a country, should support is getting personal?
You have some thin skin little boy.
I have no problem getting personal, by the way, I just was not expecting it during an adult conversation. However, since I was the only adult, you start calling names and throwing insults. Grow up and get a pair.
Again, that’s why it’s bad form to carry an argument from thread to thread. As far as I remember, you got your panties in a wad because I observed that you were being disingenuous when you claimed that you were being “objective.”
Not my fault you can’t do more than one thing at a time or remember the course or topics of conversation.
Just the opposite, in fact: carrying an argument from thread to thread allows the inference that you are avoiding something on the other.
Only you would think that.
If someone was trying to run or hide, why would they even respond in one thread or the other?
That’s a rhetorical question, by the way.
Actually, a stupid one . . . as mentioned, you must be new here.
Weak, as to be expected.
Whatever, newb.
Smh.
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