Church Without Walls: Post-Soviet Baptists after the Ukrainian Revolution, 2013-14, Joshua T. Searle, 2016

it futile to speak of any “winners” emerging from the inevitable Armageddon. Everyone and everything would be obliterated. Moreover, as we struggle against these violent and dehumanising ideologies, we should be aware of the danger that the fight against evil can easily acquire an evil character itself. The best way to dispel a shadow is by casting light onto it. Likewise, the way to respond to falsehood, hatred and violence is through truth-telling, compassion and peacemaking initiatives — or speaking 3 See, for instance, the following article: www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article4399758. * Keir Giles et al (eds.), The Russian Challenge (London: Chatham House, 2015). °° Mykhailo Cherenkov, “A Holy War Against Common Sense”. the truth in love.”° As Christians we believe that God loves the persecutor just as much as the persecuted and that the aim of our efforts must not be the defeat and humiliation of those who call us their enemies. Rather, our aim as followers of the Risen Christ is to take the costly initiative of loving our enemies all the way to reconciliation.’’ As the President of the Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine, Valeriy Antonyuk, put it, “Evil can be defeated only by good, so we aim to be constant in prayer and service through works of compassion and mercy.””® For Baptists this principled stance is costly and challenging, especially considering that the Russian World ideology, which gained a foothold in Ukraine under Yanukovych’s term as President, left no room for religious pluralism or tolerance of Christian minorities, such as Baptists and other evangelical churches.”” As such, the Russian World ideology reinforces the perception of Baptists as a marginal or alien presence in the territory of “Holy Russia.” There is no doubt that Baptists are a small minority within the family of churches in Ukraine. The membership of the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians—Baptists (AUC ECB)*° for 2010 was assessed at 151,000 members, although such figures are difficult to corroborate. Even if these figures are accurate, Ukrainian Baptists °° This was the main theme of the 2015 London Consultation on Ukraine at Lambeth Palace, London. The Consultation was co-hosted by Mission Eurasia and BMS World Mission. As Chairman of Mission Eurasia UK, I served as one of the co-moderators of the Consultation. The Consultation concluded with the signing of a Resolution, in which the signatories pledged to “commit to the development of formal and informal partnerships that will advocate for religious freedom and social justice in Ukraine through international networking and the sharing of resources.” See http://www.bmsworldmission.org/news-blogs/archive/the-london-consultation- resolution-ukraine. °7 Glen H. Stassen, A Thicker Jesus: Incarnational Discipleship in a Secular Age (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2012), 196-98. °8 AHTOHIOK, CeanzerecoKa Huea 3 (2014), 2