As David is preached on Dnieper River, Russian pastors preach peace from Moscow.
As Russia met stiffer resistance than expected from Ukraine, Sunday worship services adapted appropriately.
“The whole church prayed on their knees for our president, our country, and for peace,” said Vadym Kulynchenko of his church in Kamyanka, 145 miles south of Kyiv. “After the service, we did a first-aid training.”
Rather than a sermon, time was given to share testimonies from the harrowing previous days of air raids. Many psalms were offered, and Kulynchenko’s message centered on Proverbs 29:25. Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.
Both disruption and ordinary life were on display at Calvary Chapel of Svitlovodsk.
Traveling 185 miles southeast from Kyiv along the Dnieper River, Andrey and Nadya, displaced from the capital, exchanged their wedding vows amid great celebration.
Scheduled to have been married this weekend in Kyiv, the Russian missile barrage on Thursday sent the couple fleeing to Nadya’s home church—with a request for an impromptu wedding.
“In the middle of a war? That doesn’t make sense!” said Benjamin Morrison, with irony. “But during war is when it makes the most sense. What better reminder that even war cannot stamp out love. And what better way to say that we serve a higher King, than to rejoice in the midst of chaos?”
They were married Saturday, as planned.
On Sunday, the congregation of about 80 people—just beginning to swell with newcomers seeking refuge—regathered to hear a sermon on David and Goliath.
“Yes, David still had to fight. Yes, it was still hard and scary—but God was his confidence,” concluded Morrison, an American missionary veteran of 20 years, …