Talk and training for Ukrainian army chaplains
Meeting of army chaplains in Rivne, Photo Baptyst.com
Eastern Europe
In the Ukrainian city of Rivne, a group of 60 chaplain pastors came together for training and exchange of experience. In the past weeks, they were in the field with the army.
The meeting was in Rivne's Renaissance Church, as was reported by Baptyst.com. Rivne is a city in the northwest of Ukraine, between Kyiv and Lviv.
One of the organisers, Andriy Korniychuk, said: "We must be leaders of God's grace for both civilians and the military. We want to meet the urgent needs of our society."
The keynote speakers at the seminar were experienced army chaplains who spoke about the peculiarities of service among the military. The participants learned that the ministry of a chaplain is:
- spiritual work among the military;
- guardianship work with the families of the victims, in particular, spiritual and practical assistance to the wives and parents of the deceased;
- completion of funeral services in the field;
- pastoral work with the military after the service.
Chaplains-practitioners emphasised that the service of a military pastor does not begin with a sermon but with a practical service: digging trenches, cleaning, helping in the kitchen and more.
