Where is God in Ukraine?

The psalmist cries out in a time of crisis: “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10 in our English Bibles, the latter part of Psalm 9 in Ukrainian Bibles).

I am typing in the darkness of an overnight train journeying from Kirovohrad Oblast in central Ukraine back towards the West, after several long but enjoyable days teaching at a church planter training hub. There is nothing to distract me but the rattle of the train and the breathing of those asleep around me.

It seems that some of the most consequential events over the past 10 years have occurred while I have been on a ministry trip in Ukraine. The past week has been no exception: from heinous votes in the UK to decriminalise abortion and introduce assisted suicide to escalating conflict in the Middle East, there’s a lot to ponder. But whether my mind drifts to the UK or Israel, the USA or Iran, it comes back to Ukraine.