{"id":4471,"date":"2014-10-02T12:53:58","date_gmt":"2014-10-02T09:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/?p=4471"},"modified":"2015-03-24T00:03:20","modified_gmt":"2015-03-23T22:03:20","slug":"is-there-a-war-against-the-protestant-church-by-radical-orthodox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/is-there-a-war-against-the-protestant-church-by-radical-orthodox\/","title":{"rendered":"Is There a War Against the Protestant Church by Radical Orthodox?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Back in June I wrote about how Peter Dudnik&#8217;s church in Slavyansk was <a href=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/churches-and-church-members-used-by-separatists-as-a-live-shield\/\">seized by separatists<\/a> and then used as a military base and as a firing position on Ukrainian forces.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully in August Ukrainian troops regained control of Slavyansk and Dudnik&#8217;s church building was returned to the congregation.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fDNQcQFq3WY?rel=0\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Recently reports have surface that Russian Orthodox priests worked alongside rebels to seize not only Dudnik&#8217;s church but other protestant churches in Eastern Ukraine. This alarming trend reveals the surprising truth that the war in Eastern Ukraine isn&#8217;t simply about politics. There are deeper religious currents at work.<\/p>\n<p>Novorossiya is what the rebels have called the breakaway nation that they are trying to establish. If they succeed \u00a0it will not only encompass Donetsk and Lugansk but also Zaparozhiya, Kharkiv, Kherson, Nickolaev and Odessa.<\/p>\n<p>The recently written constitution of Novorossiya identifies Russian Orthodoxy as its main religion:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;The normative form of spiritual and religious education will be belong to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which allows for freedom of religion, with the exception of religions that are foreign to Russian cultural and civilization.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Yes, you read that correctly! They include the words &#8220;freedom of religion&#8221; but it&#8217;s kind of like saying,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;You&#8217;re free to worship however you want as long as you choose to worship in the Russian Orthodox Church!&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Unfortunately evangelical Christianity is foreign to Russian culture and for many protestant churches in Eastern Ukraine this means that they no longer have a building to gather in! It also means that they are often labeled &#8220;Western spies!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>You may recall that nearly the same scenario that happened in Dudnik&#8217;s church also played out in my friends church in <a href=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/another-church-building-seized-by-armed-men-in-eastern-ukraine\/\">Antratsit<\/a> just a month ago where Orthodox priests also accompanied the separatist when they seized his church.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a list from the <a href=\"http:\/\/ecbua.info\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=3213%3Arazrushili-zhertvenniki-tvoi3czar1914&amp;catid=13%3As-&amp;Itemid=53&amp;lang=ua\" target=\"_blank\">Baptist Union<\/a> of churches that have been seized by rebel forces in the last few months in Donetsk and Lugansk.<\/p>\n<address>\n<blockquote><p>1. &#8220;House of Prayer for All Nations&#8221; -Antratsit, Lugansk region<br \/>\n2. International Union of Churches Evangelical Christian Baptist -Lugansk<br \/>\n3. &#8220;Bethany Church&#8221; -Donetsk<br \/>\n4. Donetsk Christian University<br \/>\n5. Brotherhood of Independant Churches and Mission -Donetsk<br \/>\n6. &#8220;Renewal Church&#8221;, Union of Free Churches -Krasny Luch<br \/>\n7. &#8220;Word of Life Church&#8221; -Donetsk<\/p>\n<p>Additionally as a result of fighting the following churches were either damaged or destroyed.<\/p>\n<p>1. &#8220;Christ the Savior Church&#8221; -Lugansk (damage to walls and roof)<\/p>\n<p>2. &#8220;Revival Church&#8221; -Pervomaisk, Lugansk region. (burned)<\/p>\n<p>3. Evangelical Christian Baptist Church -Ilovaisk, Donetsk region (destroyed by a rocket)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/address>\n<p>Please take some time to pray for Evangelical churches in Eastern Ukraine. Don&#8217;t be fooled into thinking that everything is better there now because of the cease-fire.<\/p>\n<h4>Times are still desperate, armies are still shooting, people are still dying and persecution is still happening!<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back in June I wrote about how Peter Dudnik&#8217;s church in Slavyansk was <a href=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/churches-and-church-members-used-by-separatists-as-a-live-shield\/\">seized by separatists<\/a> and then used as a military base and as a firing position on Ukrainian forces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[193],"tags":[346],"class_list":["post-4471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ukraine-2","tag-orthodox"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/orthodox-war.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-1a7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3862,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/easter-comes-violently-in-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":4471,"position":0},"title":"Easter Comes Violently in Ukraine","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"April 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Easter morning did not bring with it the typical beauty of painted eggs and little girls in new dresses for many people near the Eastern Ukraine town of Slavyansk. Instead they were met with the news of more violence in an early Easter morning shootout that left several dead. Shooting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ministry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ukraine_2888033k.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ukraine_2888033k.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ukraine_2888033k.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5226,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/donetsk-war-on-protestant-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":4471,"position":1},"title":"Donetsk&#8217; War on Protestant Churches","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"March 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Is there a targeted effort to take out Protestant Churches in the Eastern Ukraine war-zone? In this video reporter Simon Ostrovsky\u00a0recently traveled to Donetsk and visited several Protestant church buildings that are now under the control of Donetsk People's Republic soldiers. One pastor describes how armed men came to their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/new\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/propoganda.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/propoganda.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/propoganda.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6505,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/bombed-and-abandoned-buildings-in-slavyansk-ukraine-photos-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":4471,"position":2},"title":"Bombed and Abandoned Buildings in Slavyansk, Ukraine (Photos + Video)","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"May 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This is what war looks like even after the battles are over and the guns are gone. Artillery destroys in seconds what took years to build and what will take generations to heal! Recently I visited Slavyansk, Ukraine which for several months in 2013 served as headquarters for a quick-moving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/new\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/DSC00648.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/DSC00648.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/DSC00648.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3913,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/violence-erupts-in-odessa-ukraine-over-30-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":4471,"position":3},"title":"Violence Erupts in Odessa Ukraine, Over 50 Dead","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"May 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't look forward to checking the news on Ukraine any more but I do it anyway with my eyes half-shut anticipating more bad news, more unrest and more violence. Unfortunately today was no exception. The only difference was that the bloodshed was much closer to home this time! Fighting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ukraine&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dead-in-odessa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dead-in-odessa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dead-in-odessa.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6238,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/rising-propaganda-against-sects-in-eastern-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":4471,"position":4},"title":"Rising Propaganda Against Sects in Eastern Ukraine","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"February 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Get them out of our republic, they are just turning people into zombies\" One woman says in the video below as she talks about how terrible \"sects\" are and how they should be kicked out of Donetsk People's Republic. (\"Sect\" is a general term used mainly by Russian Orthodox that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/new\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-02-01-at-4.39.05-PM-e1454337649209.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-02-01-at-4.39.05-PM-e1454337649209.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-02-01-at-4.39.05-PM-e1454337649209.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4028,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/churches-and-church-members-used-by-separatists-as-a-live-shield\/","url_meta":{"origin":4471,"position":5},"title":"Churches and Church Members Used By Separatists as a &#8220;Live Shield&#8221;","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"June 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine continue to use terror tactics as they fight against the Ukrainian government. Arsen Avokov, Interior Minister of Ukraine, wrote\u00a0on Sunday that separatist were firing a 120mm mortar they had set right in the yard of a church on the outskirts of Slavyansk. Why did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ukraine&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ukraine-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/thomas-rueters-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/thomas-rueters-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/thomas-rueters-001.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4471"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4530,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4471\/revisions\/4530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}