TERRORISTS SEIZE CHURCH OF CHRIST THE SAVIOR IN DONETSK
On 12 November in Donetsk, armed persons seized the building of the protestant "Church of Christ the Savior" and stole an automobile from one of the ministers, a father of ten children.
This was reported on the Facebook page of Sergei Kosiak, a pastor who in his time was a captive of the terrorists and an organizer of a prayer marathon for peace in Ukraine.
"The armed militants and their commanders, who drove people out of the church, do not have in their hearts either God, or honor, or conscience. And this whole war has now become one not against Ukraine but against the church of Jesus Christ and against God himself," he thinks.
The pastor notes that previously he kept statistics, "how many 'brave fighters' for the DPR seized church buildings and detained and beat ministers." Then he lost count since the seizures became very many and "weekly detentions or seizure of church buildings began to the perceived as a part of the 'noble' strategy of DPR in the struggle for a 'shining future.'"
"But today's incident upset me, probably, most strongly. I am writing to everybody who is still sitting in rose-colored glasses, especially 'brothers and sisters' from Russia, who support the policy of the Kremlin and think that we have in Ukraine the militias of the DPR, noble fighters for independence. And so all these DPR, LPR, and other sham people's republics are nothing other than puppets in the hands of godless puppeteers, inspired by the underworld itself. And in their philosophy of the 'Russian World,' protestant churches and other non-Orthodox people are ideological enemies, sectarians, Uniates, and schismatics, who infringe upon 'sacred' Rus," Sergei Kosiak writes.
"God sees all. For the first time in the
whole time I wish that God would physically cleanse the land
of Ukraine from manmade evil," the protestant pastor
emphasized. (tr by PDS, posted 13 November 2014)
ABOUT DOZEN CHURCHES SEIZED BY MILITANTS REMAIN IN THE DONBASS
Religiia v Ukraine, 14 November 2014
On 12 November, armed persons seized the protestant church building "Church of Christ the Savior" in Donetsk and stole the automobile of one of the ministers, a father of 10 children. At the present time in Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, there remain about a dozen church buildings that have been seized by pro-Russian militants, Religiia v Ukraine reports with reference to RISU, Portal-credo.ru, and the website of Baptists of Ukraine.
The seizure of the building of the Church of Christ the Savior in Donetsk and the theft of the automobile from the minister with many children was described on his Facebook page by Sergei Kosiak, a pastor who in his time was captive of terrorists and the organizer of a prayer marathon for peace in Ukraine. [ . . .]
There remain about a dozen church buildings in the Donbass seized by militants. At the same time in the city of Antratsit of Luhansk province, the building of the church of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, "The House of Prayer for all Nations," has now been released for conducting worship services and returned to parishioners. Now Baptists are continuing to pray for the return of the remaining church premises, which, beginning in April 2014, were taken under the control of separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk provinces. As of today, there remain commandeered buildings and property of the following churches and organizations of Evangelical Christians-Baptists [EKhB] and related evangelical confessions:
1. Building of the EKhB, "House of Prayer for all Nations," Antratsit, Luhansk province;
2. Building of the International Council of Churches of EKhB, Luhansk;
3. Building of Bethany EKhB curch, Donetsk;
4. Complex of buildings of Donetsk Christian University;
5. Building of EKhB church of Brotherhood of EKhB Independent Churches and Missions, Donetsk;
6. Building of Renovation church, Union of Free EKhB churches, Krasnyi Luch;
7. Building of Word of Life church, Donetsk.
In addition, the following church buildings have been damaged or destroyed as the result of shelling:
1. EKhB church of Christ the Savior, Lisichansk, Luhansk province (damaged wall and roof);
2. EKhB church of Regeneration, Pervomaisk, Luhansk province (burned);
3. EKhB church of Ilovaisk, Donetsk province (destroyed as the result of shell strike).
"Several ministers have been declared to be American spies. There even have been cases of the threat of physical violence against pastors," the website of the EKhB church union, noting "the creation of hostility toward evangelical churches" on territories occupied by pro-Russian separatists.
We recall that militants of DPR and LPR have conducted regular raids for the liquidation of non-Orthodox confessions. (tr. by PDS, posted 16 November 2014)
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