Bible ‘a source of hope’ to people living through war in Ukraine

Demand in Ukraine for copies of the Bible has surged since the Russian invasion, the Bible Society has reported.

In the first nine months of this year, Ukrainian Bible Society staff and volunteers distributed 359,000 Bibles, more than double the previous year’s figure.

Its Deputy General Secretary Anatoliy Raychynets believes that, amid death and destruction, people are turning to the Bible for true comfort and hope.

‘Spiritual bread’

Raychynets told The Daily Telegraph: “People usually ask ‘if God loves the world why did He allow this to happen?’ Many of them saw a lot of brutal behaviour from the Russians, torturing other people, killing civilians.

the Bible is a point of hope to people who are living through the war

“I expected that they would be blaming God or don’t want to receive Bibles but it’s totally the opposite. They have difficult questions, but they want to be close to God.”

He said: “I think the Bible is a point of hope to people who are living through the war”.

Healing

Andriy and Yana, along with their two children, fled the horrors of war in Mariupol and now live in a church facility in Lviv.

In Mariupol, the family had to live in a cramped cellar. Andriy told the Bible Society: “Every 20 minutes a plane was coming to throw new bombs on the city. You just cowered and listened”.

Through reading the Bible, the couple both came to faith. Yana testifies that as you read “the wound in your soul becomes smaller”.