Quote from Forum Archives on February 5, 2010, 7:48 pm

Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>

Dear LUM Friends, Family and In-Pact Partners:

 

As you know, Ukraine is a very special country to us, having ministered there periodically since 1995 and having lived there from 2003 to 2009.  We lived there under former Communist Kuchma, then through the Orange Revolution, and subsequent political gridlocks and infighting as politicians vied for power and control.

 

Tragically, while some major positive strides were taken toward true democracy, the momentum of the Orange Revolution ground to a sluggish halt as a result of political infighting between President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, leaving room for the rising influence of hoodlum-turned-politician Viktor Yanukovich.

 

As the result of 18 different people running for the office of president last month, no single candidate received the required 50% majority vote.  Subsequently, arch rivals Tymeshenko and Yanukovich are now battling in the run-off election to be held this coming Sunday.  President Yushchenko finished a dismal fifth in the Primary election.

 

Many people believe that this election is between the "lesser of two evils" in that neither politician has a good clean trusthworthy record.  The danger in the election's outcome revolves around two issues ---- which direction Ukraine will move under the new government (Tymoshenko will be pro-west and Yanukovich will be pro-Russia), and the level of religious freedom for non-Orthodox Christians, churches, and missionaries (Yanukovich will almost certainly push legislation that could potentially shut down evangelical missions and church growth).

 

So, we are asking that you make this a matter of prayer, and that you pass this information on as quickly as possible to others.  The article below helps explain the situation.

 

Remember, we don't have much time to pray about this issue.

 

In His Bond, By His Grace, and For His Kingdom,

 

Bob Tolliver

 

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----- Original Message -----

From: <a title=ANS@Assist-Ministries.com href="mailto:ANS@Assist-Ministries.com">ANS@Assist-Ministries.com

To: <a title=USASSIST@sheperd.com href="mailto:USASSIST@sheperd.com">USASSIST@sheperd.com

Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 5:24 PM

Subject: Ukrainian presidential election threat to religious freedom

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com Friday, February 5, 2010 Ukrainian presidential election threat to religious freedom By Peter Wooding Special to ASSIST News Service KIEV, UKRAINE (ANS) -- As voters in Ukraine decide who'll be their next president this weekend Christians in the former Soviet Union country are concerned about the potential loss of religious freedom. Sunday, February 7th marks the date for a run-off election which pits Viktor Yanukovich, against Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko - the two who took first and second in the elections. Sergey Rakhuba (center) with Alexander Turchinov, Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister who is the right hand man for Yulia Timoshenko's election team Sergey Rakhuba with Russian Ministries is concerned that if Yanukovich wins, "He will follow the Russian example, and religious freedom will have a lot more problems. He will limit Christian activity. He will control non-profit organization, mission activity, and he will give priority to the Orthodox Church." He added: "Viktor Yanukovych the leader of the Party of Regions, has spoken out in the past against the evangelical church, saying that all priorities should be given to the Orthodox church because he wants the whole nation to follow this tradition," explains Sergey. He added: "Because he's supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, which monopolizes all religious activity back in Russia, it means if he wins, the evangelical church and all ex-patriot mission activities could be limited as they are in Russia under the current administration. It would mean they wouldn't be able to do their social ministries such as reaching out to needy children in orphanages and helping poor families, without an approval from the Orthodox Church.   Sergey preaching "They won't be able to reach out to poor families or conduct evangelistic events or any outside church activities without special permission from the authorities and approved by their local Orthodox priest. From our experience in Russia none of the Orthodox priests would approve any religious activity especially involving the evangelical church but theirs. "So lots of Christian leaders have concerns that if this pro-Russian candidate wins the election he might apply the same approach to restrict religious freedom and will limit all other pro-active groups. So they would give a more prominent role to the Orthodox Church which is enjoying that cozy relationship in Russia, but also they have all the power to push everybody else out of Russia." Rakhuba says their work will continue no matter what. "We'll continue to train national leaders despite any political implications. It could be more difficult. It could be more restrictive. We would have to be more proactive and creative to equip the national leaders." He asks Christians around the world to pray for the February 7th election. Russian Ministries works in eight countries in the former Soviet Union including Ukraine. For more details about their work, go to: www.russian-ministries.org. Peter Wooding is a TV, radio and print journalist and media consultant having spent 10 years as news editor with UCB Radio in the UK. He has traveled extensively reporting from countries including Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Dubai, South Korea, Zambia, Gambia, Mozambique, Croatia, Israel and India. He reports regularly for CBN News, KCBI radio, ASSIST News and Sorted Magazine. Peter and wife Sharon live in North Wales, UK with their three children. Passionate to see God's Justice and Mercy impact lives, Peter is director of a new UK ministry Mercy Project International (www.mercyproject.org.uk) to help at-risk young people in Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Kosovo, the Middle East and beyond. Contact Peter for consultation at woodingpeter@hotmail.com or tel. +44 1244 549167/+44 7500 903067. ** You may republish this story with proper attribution. Send this story to a friend.   <a style="TEXT-DECORATION: none" class=fb_share_button onclick="return fbs_click()" href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=" target=_blank>Share <!--BYLINE:By Peter Wooding Special to ASSIST News Service-->

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