An Update from Anatoliy Prokopchuk of Ukraine
Chase Oaks Church has joined countless communities around the world in praying for the people of Ukraine. Recently, Pastor Greg Holmes was able to catch up with Anatoliy Prokopchuk, a long-time Chase Oaks missionary partner based in Kyiv who is now in the United States.
Watch a short video of their conversation and Anatoliy's personal update, here.
A transcript of the conversation follows below:
Greg: Well, hey there, Chase Oaks! I have the privilege of welcoming Anatoliy
Prokopchuk. Many of you have been praying for Anatoliy and asking questions
about Anatoliy. Anatoliy has been our partner in Ukraine for a long, long time. He
founded Kyiv Theological Seminary in 1995, he was president of the seminary for 25
years, and he is now on the board. Because of you and your family the war in Ukraine has been—it's personal to us, you know, and we care for you and we've been praying for you—and you have just, you just made it here to America just a few days ago. And so we'd love to get just a little bit of an update. So first, how is your family? Is everybody safe and where is everybody? Get us up to date.
Anatoliy: Praise God they are reasonably safe. We are actually the safest position in Texas. Our daughter and two granddaughters are in Romania—Bucharest—and our daughter-in-law, our son, and son-in-law, they are in Ukraine in Rivne and they are also doing fine.
Greg: And they are in Ukraine because they're not allowed to leave, right?
Anatoliy: No, men under 60, they cannot leave because they're fighting age.
Greg: How are things at the seminary? And your faculty, and staff, and students? How is that going?
Anatoliy: It is amazing, you know, God really takes care of all of us. Definitely seminary shut down operations, like educational operations. Our new president and I, we really encouraged people to leave if they could. We have a couple of families staying there in seminary. They find it pretty much safe, and they have food supplies, and they use it for humanitarian reasons: they let people come and stay, and they feed them. It's a transitional point because Kiev is not safe really. It is intact and a special provision for us that no one from seminary circle, the inner circle, anyone didn't hurt.
Greg: That's incredible. Wow. So no faculty—all of your faculty staff, all of your students are safe.
Anatoliy: We're all dispersed all around the world.
Greg: But some have stayed, and they've opened up the building and they're doing what they can to provide food. That's incredible. How can we pray? How can we pray for you and your family first off, and then how would you like for us to be praying about this conflict going on in Ukraine and Ukrainians?
Anatoliy: For our family, our dream and a prayer is that we finally would all come together. It's simple. For Ukraine, that God will give a victory to Ukraine. Because it's not about only Ukraine, it's about Europe, it's about the former Soviet Union, even about Russia, and it's about even United States because…
Greg: …there’s a lot at stake.
Anatoliy: It's a bastion of civilization, you know, fighting for freedom, values, for religion, for faith. It's what I call real spiritual battle. So that God would win in Ukraine again, because He won before a couple of times, and we would be all free again praising God in the normal and civilized and peaceful conditions.
Greg: Well, thank you for that. And we're so grateful that you made it here. People have been asking me questions like, “When is Anatoliy coming back?” and you've been here now for a few days, and we look forward to seeing you around a little bit. I know that your heart is (in Ukraine) and you're grateful for being here but your heart is over there, and your heart is with your family. And we will pray that you all can be united here real soon. And that this conflict will come to an end really soon, and that God will be gracious to Ukraine. And in the meantime we're grateful that your people are loving on those who are in trauma and that God continues to work. He's continuing to work through you, He's continuing to work through the seminary. We love being a partner with you.
Anatoliy: Thank you very much. We very much appreciate your partnership and care for us.
For a more in-depth conversation with Anatoliy about his experience escaping from Ukraine, be sure to watch or listen to his extended interview at The Good Complex podcast.