Praying with a prisoner of war

"The guards constantly kicked us, hit us…… but I met these guys who are like priests and they helped me to understand that I can talk to God and ask him for help, ask him for support."

Revd Barry Sloan works in the Connexional Team of Methodist Church in Britain as Partnership Coordinator for Europe. But he is also a Mission Partner, leading INSPIRE, a fresh expression of church in Chemnitz city, in the east of Germany.

When the war started in February 2022 and Ukrainians began to arrive in Chemnitz, the INSPIRE team set up Cafe Ukraine. A cafe, a safe space for Ukrainian refugees to meet, support each other, and find help in a welcoming community.

One of the families who have come to Cafe Ukraine are from Mariupol. Mariupol was one of the cities in eastern Ukraine that suffered heavy bombing. Konstantin, an electrical engineer by trade, arranged for have his wife and daughter to be evacuated to Germany.

Konstantin stayed behind in Ukraine to help others but he was captured by Russian forces, spending over three months in a prison camp. Barry interviewed him at INSPIRE Chemnitz.

This is Konstantin's story.

The Methodist Church in Britain, with its Global Relationships team, partners the United Methodist Church in Ukraine to serve and support refugees and displaced people fleeing the war. The Methodist Church in Britain and All We Can joint appeal fund has also supported our United Methodist Church partners in the area with over 160,000 GBP to aid their ministries with refugees.

The Global Relationship team collaborates in many areas of work with All We Can and particularly in areas of joint appeals. The ongoing work of the Methodist Church in Britain with partner churches around the world is made possible by donations to the World Mission Fund THANK YOU!"