Bible Society in Holland sends thousands of camouflaged Bibles to Ukrainian soldiers

The special Bibles have a camouflaged cover, the Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad reports, based on a press release from the Bible Society. The books were distributed by chaplain Vshyvskin. He is a pastor of a congregation in Brovary, which lies east of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

Spiritual questions

Soldiers are more open to spiritual questions than in earlier times, a source told the GBS. “There are no atheists in the trenches”, he said. “The people who fight are continually confronted with death; that is why they are now open to spiritual questions. When the war is over, soldiers will no longer be interested. Now is a unique chance to give them a Bible. They must know the way to salvation; they need the support and comfort that the Bible can provide. Chaplains need the Bible to lead their soldiers.”

Besides pastor Vshyvskin, also others are active in spreading the Bible, the GBS writes. A ten-year-old boy has been distributing New Testaments among soldiers since the beginning of the war, a local branch of the GBS states. “He encourages soldiers to believe in God and to pray. He does so himself every day. The soldiers appreciate him very much. His father, who was a Christian, was killed by Russian soldiers. His body was burned. Now, this boy lives together with his older brother and his mother. Yet, this brutal murder has not changed the steadfast faith of this boy. Passing on the Gospel will continue.”

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Earlier, the Norwegian Bible Society launched a new Ukranian Bible translation. The organisation noticed an increased demand for God's Word in the war-torn country, CNE reported last April. It then proceeded to print physical Bibles in Ukrainian, but also made the new translation available online.