Russians are really not that bloodthirsty… They don't kill for language. You say language has nothing to do with it? If so, then allow me to ask: have you been in Kharkiv recently, say? If you have, then how do you explain this? According to Forbes data, 10% of Ukraine's educational infrastructure was damaged by Russian shelling. That's 261 schools and 127 kindergartens that were completely destroyed and cannot be restored. Think about it: 261 schools and 127 kindergartens. Besides, 1,441 schools and 942 kindergartens were damaged. The degree of damage varies. In some places, shelling damaged communications, in others entire wings or roofs of buildings were destroyed. This is a kind of educational genocide of Ukraine. What do you think? A bulletproof vest with the inscription "Speak Russian or die"—is this really fake or not? Our conversation partner today is Pastor Alexander Vialov, a teacher and founder of a Christian school in Kharkiv. Once he studied in this very 47th gymnasium. In the late 1990s he worked there as a physics teacher. It turned out that at the ruins of the school we met with the headmistress who once taught Alexander. Imagine what happens in her heart when she looks at the ruins of the place where she invested her whole life. How to explain all these atrocities of Russians against Ukrainian culture? What did they manage to achieve? How to survive after all that happened? — this is what our conversation with Alexander Vialov is about.
Alexander Chmut: — Kharkiv is a Ukrainian city. At the beginning of the century it was the center of Ukrainian culture. Today it is largely a Russian-speaking city. Why did this happen, in your opinion?
Alexander Vialov: — First of all, proximity to the border with Russia. As a person with a degree in physics, I can say this reminds me of the process of diffusion, when mixing of substances due to molecular movement occurs mainly in the immediate vicinity of the boundary where different substances touch. Therefore, of course, Russia could influence Kharkiv more than, say, Chernivtsi or Vinnytsia… On the other hand, Kharkiv was an industrial, educational city in Soviet times, where a certain mentality was formed. We remember from the history of the Israeli people: you can physically leave Egypt. This is a short-term process and relatively easy, especially when God sent plagues on enemies and miracles for His people. But to change mentality—that is a much slower and more difficult process. Here in Kharkiv, we are at the beginning of this process, many Kharkivites are reconsidering themselves, the spiritual and cultural heritage we have. But this process will take years.
I used to speak Russian. But I made the decision to open a Ukrainian-language school. My own command of Ukrainian could be better. In 2000 I began my own Ukrainization: read the Bible in Ogienko's translation, pray in Ukrainian, conduct lessons only in Ukrainian at school. When the full-scale war began—and my wife completely refused to speak Russian, it presented no difficulty for me, since I already spoke Ukrainian fluently.
At the beginning of the war I was already preaching in church only in Ukrainian.
Alexander Chmut: — As you understand, friends, Putin dared to erase Ukraine from the face of the earth, to destroy its culture, identity, language. Everything absolutely that could remind of Ukrainian.
The Moscow monster thought he had almost achieved his goal, but fortunately it is not he who directs world history, not he.
God is over all. God gave Ukrainians to live on this land, and only He can allow an end to their existence.
And if the Ukrainian people still exist, it means they have their own identity.
And the main characteristic of any people, of course, is language.
I hope you won't argue with this.
If I am Ukrainian, then of course I must know my language and speak it freely.
This is logical, this is biblical. God limited the existence of peoples by language; this was the very barrier that was not crossed in ancient times, because people did not understand foreign languages. And language served as a border. If you wanted to live in the territory of some country, you had to speak the language of that people.
The place where people lived was determined precisely by their language. Remember what happened during Pentecost and is recorded in the Book of Acts of the Holy Apostles:
"How is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" (Acts 2:8-11).
Each people had their own language—and this is right. This is how God intended it, but for some reason when it comes to Ukraine, we say: "What's the difference…"
As you can see, the "difference" is very great.
Putin said that Russia ends where the Russian language ends.
So will we continue to pour water on his mill? Will we help Putin spread his territory or will we finally come to our senses and learn the language of the people to which we belong?
Because we don't know what awaits us in the future.
It may happen that it will be very much "not a difference" for those who don't want to speak Ukrainian.
In the history of the Israeli people, something like this happened once. As you know, the Jews spoke Hebrew, but each region had its own dialects. And then there was civil war. War between their own. The people of Gilead fought against the tribe of Ephraim. Here's how it's written in the Book of Judges, 12:4-6: "Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, 'You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.' The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, 'Let me cross over,' the men of Gilead asked him, 'Are you an Ephraimite?' If he replied, 'No,' they said, 'All right, say Shibboleth.' If he said, 'Sibboleth,' because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time."
In this meat grinder the Ephraimites had no time for jokes; for them it was very much "not a difference."
The question of language was a matter of life and death! Just think about this seriously.
It turns out that pronouncing "palanytsia" sometimes can be vital.
And one more important question.
Our knowledge of language (I am addressing now exclusively the believers) and our ability to speak it testifies first and foremost to our deep respect and love for our own people. This is very important to demonstrate today. And one of the ways to demonstrate it is our language.
Do you know that in the century before last, when there was war between Russia and France, in Russia they simply fined people just for using French words? So that's how it was. And we have—"what's the difference."
Therefore it is important to pay attention to what language we preach in and what language we sing in. And what this ultimately does to the hearts of those who listen to us.
Do we wound them with our language or heal them?
I like the story of the Roman centurion who sent to Jesus asking him to heal his servant. Here's what the sent ones said:
"They came and pleaded with Jesus earnestly, saying, 'This centurion deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue'" (Luke 7:4-5).
Just think, friends, is it normal for us as a church today to address our people in the language of those who have caused us so much sorrow?
Precisely today and precisely in Ukraine, language matters as never before.
This is the method of our reaching human hearts today, this is the method of demonstrating our love and respect for Ukraine and Ukrainians.
The Book of Proverbs says: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits" (18:21).
Today these words are especially relevant for Ukraine.
May the Lord give us much wisdom so that by the power of our language we may serve the building up of our people and for God's glory.
And may God help us in this!
RECONCILIATION AND FORGIVENESS: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
Today we return to the painful topic of rape. It is known that a raped person is broken in three ways: first, her relationship with God is destroyed. This is the vertical relationship. Such a person is offended at the Lord, and she closes herself off from Him, cannot love Him with all her heart, does not understand how God could allow such a thing. Second, such a person's understanding and acceptance of herself is broken: she feels herself dirty and worthless. Third, her relationships with people are broken horizontally. Girls who have been raped cannot perceive men afterward and themselves suffer from it. This is why a dishonored person cannot live as a person. She cannot love her neighbor as herself, and cannot accept love from her neighbor, because she is deeply wounded.
In order to restore relationships with God, one must believe that He is truly good, that He suffers with us. And Christ, crucified on the cross, is a bright testimony to this. In order to stop thinking of ourselves as dirty and worthless, we must believe in how God looks at us. And agree that He loves us and values us, despite everything.
But how do we restore relationships horizontally—with neighbors? What can we do to love our neighbor as ourselves? And to allow him to love us. What can we do to stop seeing in our husband the monster who once raped? How to stop hating him? And with him—all men? Many people say: "You need to forgive." But how? When today at the mere hint of the word forgiveness we explode with rage. There can be no forgiveness for these degenerates and sadists. I understand that we are all in great pain today. We are all as if broken together with those girls. We are as if stabbed in the heart—and we are bleeding. But, strangely enough, it turns out that it's not only for this reason that we react so painfully to the word "forgiveness." It turns out that many of us don't even know or understand what it really is.
I think you will be surprised when you learn that forgiveness does not free the perpetrator from responsibility for sin, nor does it free from the consequences of sin. Did you know this? It turns out that neither human nor divine forgiveness frees a person from the consequences of sin. When David dishonored Bathsheba and then killed her husband, it took a year for God's prophet to come to him. God does not punish people immediately for their sins, but He forgets nothing. When the prophet Nathan exposed David's sin, the king acknowledged his guilt. Here's how it's written in God's Word: "Then David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' Nathan replied, 'The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die'" (2 Samuel 12:13-14). The Lord took away David's sin, meaning He forgave him, but David did not escape punishment for his sin. The Lord promised that the punishment for sin would remain on David's house forever: "Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own" (2 Samuel 12:10). This is what the Lord said. And this is exactly what happened later.
Forgiveness does not free from responsibility for sin, and the Bible teaches this nowhere. All these perpetrators who violated the dignity of Ukrainian girls will pay for everything with interest for generations. And some of them have already paid the price of their own lives today and will soon stand before the judgment of the Almighty. Do not sin! Remember this. Everything will have to be paid for.
Personally, I am a supporter of capital punishment for the sin of premeditated murder. The Bible teaches this. And not only in the Old Testament. In the New Testament it is also written: "For the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer" (Romans 13:4).
Why is the sword given to authority? Certainly not for stroking. It is needed to destroy criminals. And forgiveness does not free the criminal from punishment. Before execution, criminals were given the opportunity to repent. That's another matter. But for premeditated murder, they were always executed. God commanded this in His Word.
Forgiveness does not mean reconciliation with the perpetrator. Did you know this? It turns out there is no such teaching in God's Word at all. If a person continues to sin and commit crimes, then there can be no talk of reconciliation. Moreover, the Bible forbids communicating with such a person who commits wrongdoing. In God's Word it is written: "Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh" (Jude 1:22-23). By the way, this commandment is left for the believers. The Bible never taught turning a blind eye to sin. Reconciliation occurs only after sincere repentance of the sinner. Otherwise it is impossible. When one person sincerely repents and another forgives, then reconciliation takes place. But Russians today are nowhere near repenting. This is why there is no talk of reconciliation. The next important thing to know about forgiveness: it does not depend on the repentance of the sinner. Many believe that you can only forgive when a person repents. But what if the person is already dead and will never ask for forgiveness. Imagine: a Russian soldier raped a girl, and the next day he was killed, and he will never ask for forgiveness. I think that the Russians who survive will soon ask for forgiveness. But the bitterness and hatred in the heart of the raped victim remains even when the perpetrator is no longer among the living. Do you know this? It turns out that in this case forgiveness is more needed for us than for the perpetrators. Because it is forgiveness that frees us from bitterness and hatred. Because bitterness and hatred are dangerous. In the Epistle to the Hebrews it is written: "See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15). As a result of bitterness in a person's heart, problems arise in that person's own life. This is why God made the decision to forgive people long before many of them were born and had time to sin. This is written in the Bible: "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19). Despite people's offenses, God made the decision to forgive.
One more important thing: to forgive does not mean to forget. Neither God nor man suffer from poor memory. The Bible does not teach us to forget; the Bible teaches us to forgive. Some moments from life we will never forget. If, for example, a husband committed adultery—and as a result a child was born, and then the husband crawled to his wife on his knees and begged: "Forgive me." Does the wife forgive her husband? This is a real story. Whether to forgive or not depends on our decision. But even if we forgive in such a case, it is impossible to forget that from the sin of adultery a child was born—and she lives. You cannot forget this. But you can forgive it. The Bible truly teaches forgiveness. Because it is forgiveness that allows us to restore relationships horizontally and to love our neighbor as the commandment of God teaches. Forgiveness frees us from bitterness and hatred without freeing the perpetrator from responsibility for sin. Forgiveness is first and foremost necessary for us, not for them. They need repentance. This is why in the prayer that Jesus Christ taught us, there are these words: "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12). It is very painful—to forgive. It is unjust. It is wrong, in our view. But in order to be freed from heartache, God has prepared one way—forgiveness. And all those girls who were raped (no matter when and by whom) sooner or later must go through this to be freed from bitterness and to allow the men whom God will give them (I believe in this) to love them. And in turn to love their husbands. Unfortunately, I do not know another way. But I know well that a healed heart is capable of loving and receiving love. And this is what I sincerely wish for all.
How to Survive the Betrayal of Russian Christians and Others?
What do we do with Russian "brothers" who go into Ukraine with automatics, bless Putin, believe that there are fascists in Ukraine, pray that God would eliminate the fascists?.. What do we do with them when the war ends, when there is victory? We are speaking real things today. How do we live on? The Church of Jesus Christ is not limited by borders. We must acknowledge this, whether we like it or not. The Church of Jesus Christ is His Body, a single organism. And suddenly in it—a real cancer tumor. How to treat this?
I have been working in TransWorld Radio ministry for 21 years now. This is an International organization: TransWorld Radio of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It used to be one, and now we are completely different.
How to treat those who have taken a position of darkness or are indifferent, or say it's not their business—they are "outside politics." I mean "brothers." What do we do with them? Act as if nothing has happened? There are such. They say: "We have relatives in Russia. We are connected. We made the decision that we won't raise this topic." Will this solve the problem? No. Others constantly quarrel—and there's neither
