Supporting Churches in a War Zone Ben & Angela Thorpe

Supporting Churches in a WAR ZONE

BEN AND ANGELA THORPE have long had a heart for the people of eastern Ukraine. For five years, the couple – and their daughter Annalise – lived amongst its people, loving and serving them, and introducing them to Jesus. Then in 2014, war suddenly came to the city they called home. They lost their apartment, their car and all of their belongings. Seven years later, they’re still living in, and ministering from, nearby Scotland – unsure when they’ll be able to return.

Q: Tell us about your ministry activities prior to the war. A: When we first arrived, we really got into learning the language and got involved in a local church. We helped set up programs that had never run before in the local churches – like a playgroup for mothers and toddlers, and an Englishspeaking class – all to help bring people into church. We also got involved with a local orphanage, doing life skills training with the kids who were ageing out – who were becoming adults but had nowhere to go.

Q: What happened in 2014? A: In 2014, Russian separatists invaded the eastern side of the country of Ukraine, so the city that we lived in is no longer part of Ukraine – it’s now part of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Life in the occupied area is very hard as the war continues into its seventh year. There’s no open border between this republic and Ukraine, and only Russia recognises it as its own country. People living there can’t leave unless they do a 240-mile trip via Russia to get out and back into Ukraine. And it’s still a conflict zone; over 14,000 people have died since the war began. Q: How has your ministry changed since the war? A: We’ve built relationships with five local churches and provide ongoing mentoring to the pastors, including getting leaders together for training sessions about evangelism and discipleship. We help pastors who are near the front line – on the Ukrainian side – who are pastoring churches and working amongst those who have been displaced by the war. There are about 1.5 million people who are basically refugees in their own country and many of them are very poor. We’ve been working with the local churches, running soup kitchens and the like. We’re also helping with church plants – as there are pastors who are now planting churches in parts of Ukraine that have never had a church, or whose pastors have fled due to the war. We also continue to help and support one pastor who is leading his church inside the occupied territory.

Q: What other opportunities have opened up since you’ve been in Scotland? A: I (Ben) am the chaplain to Stirling County Rugby Club; making me one of the first chaplains to a rugby club in Scotland. I’ve also been able to get involved in a local university, which is a sports university. We’ve had the privilege, this year, of leading one of the swimmers we’ve been mentoring to Jesus and recently baptised her. We started off just doing a Bible study at the beginning of lockdown, and that Bible study that was just the three of us has now become seven because she’s invited her friends along.

Q: What do you think the future holds for you and your work with the people of the Ukraine? A: We don’t know how long we’re going to be in the UK. This war in Ukraine is going on a lot longer than we thought. We obviously could never predict it, just like we couldn’t predict COVID. We’re grateful we had those five years to build partnerships so we could continue to support the churches and the people from here. Once COVID has passed and the borders open, we’ll be able to get back into Ukraine itself and not have to do everything remotely. We’ve learned though that we can make our plans but at the end of the day, we’ve got to do what God wants us to do.