Like many in America, evangelicals in Ukraine feel under siege.
It may be why people are starting to elect them—in record numbers.
“Ukraine has become the epicenter of a global spiritual battle,” said Pavel Unguryan, coordinator of Ukraine’s National Prayer Breakfast.
“Today, as never before, our nation needs unity, peace, and the authority of God’s Word.”
Their perceived threats are coming from all directions.
From the east, Russia recently amassed 100,000 soldiers on the border.
From the west, the European Union pushes LGBT ideology.
And from within, corruption is rampant.
On each issue, evangelicals align well with Ukrainian voters.
“The shortage of good leaders is so intense, parties are starting to recruit in the churches,” said Unguryan. “Honest and responsible politicians are easiest to find there.”
Last October, more than 500 evangelicals were elected to all levels of government. One even heads a major city—Rivne, in western Ukraine—as mayor.
With evangelicals comprising only 2 percent of Ukraine’s 40 million people, it is a significant achievement.
Two-thirds (65%) of the population identify as Orthodox Christians (split across three groups), 10 percent as Greek Catholic, and a further 8 percent as “simply a Christian.”
But the piety does not translate to politics. Ukraine ranks 117th out of 180 nations in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index—the second-lowest ranking in Europe.
As a result, 78 percent of Ukrainians distrust state officials, and 71 percent distrust politicians, according to a 2020 poll by the Razumkov Center.
But the church is trusted by 63 percent, second only to the army, trusted by 65 percent. Once reviled as a “sect,” evangelicals have benefited also from the overall social sense of refuge in the church.
“I see my career as the means to advance the values of Jesus, working for the sake of my fellow Ukrainians,” said Unguryan, elected to parliament in 2008.
“Why not go when God opens the door?” A Baptist from Odessa on the Black Sea coast, Unguryan chairs For Spirituality, Morality and the Health of Ukraine, an inter-party parliamentary caucus that includes more than…
This article was originally published by Christianity Today, on May 10, 2021. Please click here to read the full text.
Jayson Casper 