From Valentyn Korenevych, Colonel (Retired), President of “Olive Branch” Ukraine
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, my acquaintances and friends, I convey to you my festive Easter greetings from myself and Marina, from the Kyiv church “The Path of Truth”, from our seminary community in Kyiv, from “Olive Branch” Ukraine and from our entire country Ukraine, which is defending itself from Russian aggression.I congratulate you all on the wonderful historical holiday of Easter, when about 2025 years ago a miracle from God was accomplished on Earth – Jesus Christ, born of Mary, was resurrected! He was the first to rise from the dead, He is God’s firstborn, He is my pledge that I will also be resurrected!
On this fourth Easter in Ukraine, which is still taking place during hostilities, our soldiers, officers, chaplains, civilian volunteers and peaceful citizens continue to fulfill the words of the Lord Christ: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
I thank you all for supporting us during the war in various ways. In this way, you continue to reflect the qualities of the Father in Heaven. For me, He is first and foremost holy, then loving, and of course, just. It is when we reflect these three qualities in our lives that we come closer to God’s likeness and do His work as the Son.
Ukrainians are tired, but we do not give up, we are exhausted, but we pray constantly, we are stressed, but we have hope.
I also want to separately thank the Americans who live permanently in Ukraine or often come to Ukraine to support those who have weakened. Thank you and I pray for you during 1145 days of full-scale aggression.
Whenever an American couple leaves our seminary after completing their service, I always have great gratitude and good memories of them in my heart. And this good memory is hidden in God and in my heart. May God bless them for their sacrificial work.
Next, I will give an excerpt from a letter from an American couple, who also dedicated their lives to Ukraine. Now this couple does not live permanently in Ukraine, but from time to time they return to us to spend as much time with us as they can. May God bless them for their sacrificial work.
Here is an excerpt from their letter:
“We continue praying for a fair end to the war. We spent ninety days in Ukraine followed by three days of travel . In Ukraine, we experienced 33 days out of 90 hearing or seeing the war firsthand—missiles, drone swarms, helicopters and anti-air fire.During our last Stateside Assignment, we were in over fifty church services. I have taken dozens of video of strikes and defense for future visits. The first drone witnessed came one morning around 2:45am. I first began seeing what looked like fireworks near the city center. After realizing fire was coming from multiple directions to a point, tracer rounds, I observed an Iranian Shahed drone flying in our direction along a city tram line, just above apartment high-rises, at about fifty mph. I would watch our map app tracking drones, typically entering Kyiv from the northeast, making their way around the city clockwise. Defense would use search lights located throughout the city, open fire on drones over the Dnipro River running through the middle of the city and as drones passed over wooded areas, attempting to avoid strikes on citizens and infrastructure. An eerie feeling came when search lights panned in our direction, followed by AA fire with tracers. Drones remained close to civilian rooftops for cover, but once they reached a wooded area, the sky would light up with defensive fire. Over the last three months we have seen multiple drones shot down in an explosion and literal ball of flame to the ground. One landed on a nearby airport followed by explosions I could not see. Hours later, while watching the news, I realized missiles were striking the city center, simultaneous to the drones attack on the airport. One drone was hit over the airport but continued forward, striking an apartment building behind a Toyota dealer we use, and killing an older man asleep in his apartment. On multiple occasions we observed Ukrainian helicopters following and firing on drones—cowboys. One Sunday morning, on our way to church, a drone passed in front of us, just above traffic. It was not a Shahed, but a smaller, metallic airplane shaped drone we had seen on video taken downtown during a visit by the British Prime Minister. In another location, a week earlier after a military settlement visit, we had been parked 30-feet from a missile strike that created a large hole in the road and blown the windows and doors out of a metro station and McDonald’s. One couple had drone debris land on their house, another church leader with windows blown out of their rented apartment, another with spent anti-air land in their yard, and one church family experiencing at least five drone and over twenty missile strikes in the last three years. Most drones are very loud. Imagine a remote controlled, aircraft propeller engine times ten. Tank tread grooves have worn into main streets and an 18-wheeled truck imitates the sound of drones all day and night. Shock waves from missile strikes felt like they went right through us. Truck mounted machine guns can be heard for miles and often parked on bridges during drone swarms. Rush hour traffic simply drives around them, business as usual. Launched anti-air missiles give off several swoosh and thumps per second. We had daily air alerts over 95% of three months and observed active warfare one-third of the time. Sleep deprivation was the most difficult issue. Several days we experienced below 15F with windchill pushing passed zero while praying and watching from 22nd floor balconies. We have been in Ukraine three months at a time while almost all Ukranians have passed the three year mark without a break. The Church continues to move forward.
….Much has been said about the clothing the Ukraine president wears. As we have travelled in countries such as Georgia and Romania, we see products on shelves that say, “Made in Ukraine”. This gives patrons the choice to support the Ukraine economy in the midst of a war. In Ukraine we also see clothing sold that promotes Ukrainian patriotism while supporting the country’s economy. This is the same type of clothing the Ukraine president has worn since the beginning of the war. During church visits on Stateside Assignment, we displayed examples of this clothing. The president is not “disrespecting” the American president by wearing a “sweatshirt” anymore than Elon Musk in the Oval Office, but adding to the patriotism and economy within his own country at war. He is identifying with the Ukrainian people who elected him…. We had a routine that when in bed we would not get up unless hearing explosions or our phone app vibrated us awake. During attacks I would move from the front to the back balcony keeping watch and would tell my wife if she needed to sleep on the kitchen floor where we had the most walls for protection.
Thank you for praying, giving, going and sending!”
This Monday I start teaching a five-day course for student chaplains.
We have formed a group of full-time military chaplains for master’s studies at the Tavria Christian Institute in Kyiv, about 25 people, and we have also formed a group for simultaneous bachelor’s studies at the KTS and the Humanitarian Institute in Bucha, about 20 people. We are also involved in the formation of a master’s degree for chaplains at the state institute in Ostrog. Remember this in prayer, because both the work has increased and the expenses for paying teachers and translators have also increased.
At KTS, we are renovating my office and a special class for chaplains has already been created.
We are completing the translation into Ukrainian of a 400-page manual for chaplains from author Mark Jumper.
I invited the author of another manual for chaplains, Naomi Paget, to KTS this fall. She agreed to teach.
And on May 26, a course from the authors of many books, Chris and Ranela Adsit, will begin at KTS.
We have an English-language camp ahead in July for teenagers from military families, and in August in the Carpathian Mountains we are planning a special event for women, who serve for all military people.
All the best to you. Hold on to God courageously. With God.
I wish that we have in the soul a peace from God.
Valentin.
Valentyn Korenevych,
Colonel (retired)
President of the Public organization “Olive Branch” Ukraine
Program director of “Pastors-Chaplains Leadership” of the Kyiv Theological Seminary
www.ktsonline.org
+38 097 9638406
Give to Olive Branch Ukraine via this webpage: https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/Zy9iEw?vid=1iw7fl Enter “Ukraine” to annotate that there is where you want this gift to go.
This letter was translated by an electronic translator, so I apologize in advance for any errors that you may have noticed.
J3Khai.fun 