Author ORCID Identifier
Valentyna Kuryliak: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5245-9700
Maksym Balaklytskyi: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7977-5594
Abstract
The process of development and activity of Ukrainian Protestantism due to the influence of the recently destroyed Soviet ideology is somewhat complex and unstable. Protestants became noticeable to Ukrainian society after the events of Euromaidan and the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 in the center of the capital of Ukraine. The Protestant community, however, did make real, material contributions in the territory of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, which began in April 2014. The aim of this article is to evaluate the volunteer work of Ukrainian Protestants and to understand the difference between secular and religious volunteering. The disadvantages and advantages of volunteer work are identified. There is a key difference between secular and Protestant volunteering, which is that religious volunteering, in addition to material assistance in earthly life, tries to draw the attention of its recipients to the heavenly realities. The numbers describe the activities of Protestants and show that the contribution of Protestant volunteers in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine is insignificant compared to secular humanitarian organizations. T heir motives for helping and rebuilding the destroyed areas, however, are based on religious principles, rather than in determining the enemy. In other words, Protestant volunteers are a priori not focused on what is desired, but on what is available.
Recommended Citation
Kuryliak, Valentyna and Balaklytskyi, Maksym
(2021)
"Armed Conflict and Protestant Volunteering in Eastern Ukraine,"
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 41
:
Iss.
4
, Article 20.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol41/iss4/20