Odessa
In May 2014, the pastor of the Odessa congregation, Andrei Hamburg, wrote - “It is loud again in the streets - 'I can hear the drunk students yelling,' my wife says. She's happy, even though she can't go to sleep. It was unusually quite here a few days ago. It seemed like the whole city was holding its breath. There had been a horrible tragedy. 46 people died. We are still asking how this is possible in one of the most peaceful cities of our country.... There are attempts to explain what happened, but you can only explain it in part; in any case, it is impossible to understand it – 46 dead! Why? After May 2nd our city was split. I especially felt it the next morning on the TV broadcast. And I've never found it more difficult to find words than when answering calls from victims. It is never easy to soothe the grieving, but when a person also wants revenge, you simply go mute and can barely say a word. And then at the memorial events we heard the following: 'We'll never forget, and we'll never forgive.' In the church it became clear to us – it is still too early to talk about reconciliation. First it is necessary to heal the horrible wounds. It is hard to accept one's own powerlessness. So we simply limited ourselves to the most important things – to helping the wounded in hospitals and providing psychological support. The hotline that we set up after the first deaths on Maidan in Kiev was now very much in demand; those who called in were transferred to our volunteer psychologists. This 'first aid' helped people get by during the crisis situations, especially in the context of the 'information war' that makes many ordinary people – like you and me – lose their psychological stability. Thank God that our church made itself known during peaceful demonstrations, that we did not look only at Romans 13 and not only totally submitted to those in power. We held together, supported and strengthened one another! Thanks to that people began to trust our church more, and now we were able to help people without first breaking down barriers of mistrust. We were criticized many times for being active in politics, but I remember the words of one Orthodox priest who came to me and talked with me, inspired by Bonhoeffer and Dorthee Solle... for me this was a sign that our Church is doing the right thing.
In the work of reconciliation, we all are limited, we all need help. And because of that the type of unity that earlier seemed impossible suddenly arose – all of the religions of Odessa united! Muslims, Jews, Christians of all denominations, Hindus, Hare Krishnas... We all came together for an outdoor event; we prayed for peace, for the people, for the country. It was an amazing feeling! All the same I must admit that it is not only this that brings me hope...it is also the loud singing of students late at night in our neighborhood.”
In May 2014, the pastor of the Odessa congregation, Andrei Hamburg, wrote - “It is loud again in the streets - 'I can hear the drunk students yelling,' my wife says. She's happy, even though she can't go to sleep. It was unusually quite here a few days ago. It seemed like the whole city was holding its breath. There had been a horrible tragedy. 46 people died. We are still asking how this is possible in one of the most peaceful cities of our country.... There are attempts to explain what happened, but you can only explain it in part; in any case, it is impossible to understand it – 46 dead! Why? After May 2nd our city was split. I especially felt it the next morning on the TV broadcast. And I've never found it more difficult to find words than when answering calls from victims. It is never easy to soothe the grieving, but when a person also wants revenge, you simply go mute and can barely say a word. And then at the memorial events we heard the following: 'We'll never forget, and we'll never forgive.' In the church it became clear to us – it is still too early to talk about reconciliation. First it is necessary to heal the horrible wounds. It is hard to accept one's own powerlessness. So we simply limited ourselves to the most important things – to helping the wounded in hospitals and providing psychological support. The hotline that we set up after the first deaths on Maidan in Kiev was now very much in demand; those who called in were transferred to our volunteer psychologists. This 'first aid' helped people get by during the crisis situations, especially in the context of the 'information war' that makes many ordinary people – like you and me – lose their psychological stability. Thank God that our church made itself known during peaceful demonstrations, that we did not look only at Romans 13 and not only totally submitted to those in power. We held together, supported and strengthened one another! Thanks to that people began to trust our church more, and now we were able to help people without first breaking down barriers of mistrust. We were criticized many times for being active in politics, but I remember the words of one Orthodox priest who came to me and talked with me, inspired by Bonhoeffer and Dorthee Solle... for me this was a sign that our Church is doing the right thing.
In the work of reconciliation, we all are limited, we all need help. And because of that the type of unity that earlier seemed impossible suddenly arose – all of the religions of Odessa united! Muslims, Jews, Christians of all denominations, Hindus, Hare Krishnas... We all came together for an outdoor event; we prayed for peace, for the people, for the country. It was an amazing feeling! All the same I must admit that it is not only this that brings me hope...it is also the loud singing of students late at night in our neighborhood.”
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