RUSSIAN PROTESTANTS RECEIVED HEAD OF UNRECOGNIZED LUHANSK PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC AND DISCUSSED DIFFICULTIES OF PROTESTANTS IN LUHANSK REGION
Bishop Oleg Serov, a member of the World Christian Council and pastor of the Living Faith church in Penza, met with the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), Igor Plotnitsky. The meeting with protestants was held in Penza, to which Plotnitsky had traveled, Religiia v Ukraine reports, referring to Invictory.
"I would like to express great thanks to the fraternal people, in particular the residents of Penza province, for providing humanitarian assistance for the Luhansk People's Republic," Plotnitsky thanked with such words.
"We understand that today the ministry of protestant churches in the Luhansk republic has certain difficulties. Our meeting has been held so that these questions may be aired and, where possible, a solution may be found so that the ministry of evangelical churches will be able to continue and to be useful for residents of these republics," Sergei Kireev noted, who is an authorized representative of the ruling bishop of the ROSKhVE [Russian Associated Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith] in Penza province and a pastor of the Living Faith church of Penza.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the ministers presented Plotnitsky a gift Bible and also a book, "Protestants in the service of Russia," and a souvenir collection of the city of Penza.
"Evangelical believers of our region have provided active humanitarian assistance to people in southeast Ukraine and to refugees who were forced to leave their motherland, fleeing from the civil war. Igor Venediktovich noted the huge contribution of people of Penza in aiding residents of the republic and he also noted that it will be needed there in the future also. Therefore in the future we intend to continue to provide humanitarian aid to all who need it on the territories of the Luhansk and Donetsk people's republic and also to refugees in Russia," bishop Oleg Serov said.
As stated in the report, congregations of evangelical Christians on the territories of DPR and LPR have been subjected to persecutions on the part of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian authorities who profess a militant Orthodoxy. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 March 2015)
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