The Daily Signal - Ukrainian-American Pastor Says His Homeland Is Watching for God to Show Up

Episode Date: March 16, 2022

In the darkest of times, we are tempted to give in to despair. For those living in war-torn Ukraine, the temptation must be enormous. But all around the world, people are seeing images of hope and faith amid Ukraine's gloom. In basements, rubble-strewn streets, and underground rail stations, the Ukrainian people are coming together. Pastor Andrew Moroz, an American, was born in Ukraine and has many relatives there. He says he understands the desire to keep up hope. "Life in some ways has to go on in the midst of a war zone," Moroz says. "There are some things that are normal and there are many things that are not normal that are happening right now, but people are continuing to pursue each other and pursue God in some way." Moroz joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss how Ukrainians are resisting the urge to give up, and how faith there is stronger than ever. We also cover these stories: The Russian Foreign Ministry announces sanctions against U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden, among others. Sarah Bloom Raskin withdraws her candidacy for vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Idaho House votes 51-14 to pass a bill allowing family members to sue medical professionals who abort a baby after six weeks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Wednesday, March 16th. I'm Kate Trinko. And I'm Doug Blair. In the darkest of times, there is a temptation to give in to despair. For the people living in war-torn Ukraine, the temptation must be enormous. But all around the world, people are seeing images of hope and faith amidst the gloom. In basements, rubble-strewn streets and underground metro stations, the Ukrainian people are coming together.

Ukrainian-American pastor, Andrew Marose, joins the show to discuss how Ukrainians are resisting the urge to give up and how faith is stronger than ever in the country. But before we get to Doug's conversation with Pastor Moro's, let's hit our top stories of the day. Russia is swiping back at top U.S. leaders. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced new sanctions Tuesday, writing in response to a series of unprecedented sanctions that prohibit, among other things, entry to the United States for top officials of the Russian Federation, starting March 15th. The Russian stop list includes, on the basis of reciprocity, President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin,

and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Millie, this step, taken as a response measure, is the inevitable result of the extreme Russophobic policy of the current U.S. administration, which, in a desperate attempt to maintain American hegemony, has abandoned any sense of decorum and placed its bets on the head-on containment of Russia. White House Press Secretary Jen Saki, who was also also among those sanctioned, seemed unconcerned about Russia's action via CBS. Won't surprise any of you that none of us are planning tourist trips to Russia.

None of us have bank accounts that we won't be able to access, so we will forge ahead. President Biden's nomination for Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve, Sarah Bloom Raskin, has withdrawn herself from consideration. Raskin's withdrawal follows a Tuesday speech by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, urging Biden to withdraw his nomination of Raskin, after West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin said he wouldn't vote to confirm her either. Here's some of McConnell's speech via the Senator's YouTube channel. There is bipartisan Senate opposition to Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Biden's radical and unacceptable nominee to the powerful Federal Reserve Board position of vice chair for supervision. At a time like this, the Fed's independence is paramount.

but President Biden's nominee for this powerful seat has spent years campaigning to turn the Fed from a nonpartisan central bank into a far-left super legislature that voters cannot get rid of. Raskin ran into trouble due to her views on integrating climate change policies into federal fiscal oversight. Raskin is on record supporting a shift in funding away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy. Biden will now have to select a new nominee to send to the Senate. Senate for confirmation. USA Today announced it's women of the year and one of the 12 winners is a biological male. The news outlet states, these honorees are strong and resilient women who have been champions

of change across the country, leading and inspiring as they promote and fight for equity and give others a place to seek help and find hope. Winners include Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Admiral Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who is a transgender woman who is. the Assistant Secretary of Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. Idaho is using Texas as a model for new pro-life legislation. On Monday, the Idaho House voted 51 to 14 to pass a bill allowing family members to sue medical professionals who abort a baby after the six-week mark.

The law permits the family of an unborn child to sue abortion providers for a minimum of $20,000 in damages within four years of an abortion. In a statement after the vote, the bill's sponsor, Republican State Representative Stephen Harris, said, this bill makes sure that the people of Idaho can stand up for our values and do everything in our power to prevent the wanton destruction of innocent human life. Idaho State Senate had previously approved the bill, which means it now goes to Republican Governor Brad Little's desk for signature. Now stay tuned for my conversation with Ukrainian-American pastor, Andrew Morose. As conservatives, sometimes it feels like we're constantly on defense against bad ideas. Bad philosophy, revisionist history, junk science, and divisive politics.

But here's something I've come to understand. When faced with bad ideas, it's not enough to just defend. If we want to save this country, then it's time to go on offense. Conservative principles are ideas that work. Individual responsibility, strong local communities, and belief in the American dream. As a former college professor and current president of the Heritage Foundation, my life's mission is to learn, educate, and take action. My podcast, The Kevin Roberts Show, is my opportunity to share that journey with you.

I'll be diving into the critical issues that plague our nation, having deep conversations with high-profile guests, some of whom may surprise you. And I want to ensure freedom for the next generation. Find the Kevin Roberts Show wherever you get your podcast. My guest today is Pastor Andrew Marrose, a Ukrainian-American pastor, with Gospel Community Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Pastor, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me.

Before we dive into the meat of this interview, which is about obviously what's going on in Ukraine right now, I want to know what is your connection with Ukraine. Do you have family and friends there still, or is it mostly people here in America? Yeah, so I was born in Ukraine during the Soviet Union in the mid-80s. My family moved to the United States. My mom, my dad, my brother and I moved to the national.

United States in the mid-90s. And so I still have many aunts, uncles, cousins, a lot of friends, people I love, individuals that we've done ministry with through our church, many relationships over there. And are they safe? I know that there's been a lot of concern with people who have their friends and family in the country. Are they evacuated? Are they in a safe place in Ukraine? How are they doing? Yeah. So I have some family members that have made it to Poland, who are now refugees, waiting to see what happens with Ukraine. I have others who have made it to smaller communities. They've left the big city. So many of my family members were living in the city of Kiev, but they have moved to smaller communities temporarily, and they're still sheltering in place,

trying to learn how to do life in the midst of a war zone. So, you know, they are out of harm's way, but nobody's really safe. until this thing's over. Absolutely. Well, we are keeping them in our thoughts and our prayers, and we hope that they remain safe if they are right now. So I want to talk about something that you probably have a little bit more insight is the religious parts of this ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

So we've been seeing all this footage from, you know, the battlefield of people praying and gathering together to worship. How has this conflict overall affected the faith of the Ukrainian people? Yeah. whenever people experience a suffering and pain, there are obvious questions about, number one, God, where are you? So there's a group of people that are saying, God, where are you? And why aren't you intervening? Which is normal. That's a very important question. And then there's a group of people that are on their knees crying out to God. God, like, do something about this. We know you're real,

and we know you can do this. And so as I'm engaging with spiritual leaders in Ukraine, they're both addressing the questions for people who are asking God, are you even here? What are you doing? And then there's, and helping to shepherd those who are praying and seeking God. I, I saw pictures of worship services over the weekend, um, where people are gathered in the basements of their churches. They're smaller groups of people or people are doing, you know, a church or ministry in their homes right now. I saw, I saw a picture of a young couple that was getting engaged, uh, which is interesting, you know, life, life in some ways has to go on. in midst of a war zone. And so there are some things that are normal and there are many things

that are not normal that are happening right now. But people are continuing to pursue each other and pursue God in some way. It does seem like it would be hard to keep up hope amidst all of this. So what are some of the Ukrainians doing to keep up with this? And I guess sort of as a further question on that, do their history or does their history as a former member of the Soviet Union play into this kind of like, we'll get through this. So yeah, and not just the Soviet Union, but going back maybe even a little bit further, Ukrainians have had to adjust throughout the course of their history. You know, they've been conquered and invaded before.

Ukraine's been destroyed before. They've had to make more with little. And, you know, as I've been talking to friends and various reporters about the country of Ukraine. One of the things that is absolutely true about Ukraine and Ukrainians is they are resilient people. So they're resilient. The church in Ukraine, the spiritual community Ukraine is resilient. They had to, you know, worship underground during the Soviet Union. They were not allowed, many of them were not allowed to express their faith. But the people as a whole also are just very resilient. And so what we've seen is they're coming together, maybe in ways unlike ever

before as a nation, as a people. They are serving each other and encouraging each other. And, you know, many of my friends are experiencing this, especially those who are involved right now in refugee work. As they're driving in to rescue people, they are stopped along the way and people give them money or people will give them supplies or, you know, just when they know that the work is going towards serving those who are displaced, Ukrainians are very generous. And so, yes, historically, they've had to do this before. And so they've functioned in this environment before. But of course, we are praying that this ends quickly and that this ends in a positive light where Ukraine is able to remain a nation where they can continue to develop as a democracy.

So we spoke briefly before. There are these images that are coming to us across the world of these prayer services and worship services in the kind of most strange of places, metro stations in the middle of streets and basements. Is this sort of leading to a resurgence in faith in Ukraine this conflict? I think moments like this certainly prompt faith in revival and renewal. You know, when you're being, when you're in a situation where you are completely helpless and the Ukrainian nation, especially when we began this war almost three weeks ago, they were at a terrible disadvantage.

You have an incredible military force that's coming in. When you're in this place where you're not sure how you're going to survive, then, yeah, it's natural to cry out, to call out to a higher power. And so I do think that there is a renewal and a revival that is taking place. And I'm genuinely hopeful for the community of faith, but also for the nation as a whole. On the other side of this, with the tools and resources that they're able to gain from the rest of the world, I think they're going to be in such a good position to rebuild and to be a healthy nation, as long as they can get through this season of conflict.

Now, we've seen faith leaders from across the world, like the Pope, the Dalai Lama, even from other religions, not just Christianity, who have called for the Russian Federation to end hostilities in Ukraine. There was one notable exception to that, which would be the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patrick Cyril. How have religious leaders' statements on both sides, both the Russian Orthodox Church, pro-Russian forces, and then sort of the rest of the world, anti-Russian invasion? How have those statements affected the war?

So the people of Ukraine are so grateful to hear the support of various spiritual leaders across the globe. It's important for them to hear that we're standing with them. And, you know, I'm not as connected to the Russian spiritual community or even the Orthodox Church. But my understanding is there's so much propaganda and so much brainwashing in the Russian Federation that there have not been as many expressions of condemnation from, you know, the Russian spiritual community towards the conflict in Ukraine. I mean, they're still getting caught up on information. I'm like, what exactly is going on?

Because what they've been told is different than the actual experience. And so part of the conflict, and you alluded to this earlier, one of the things that Vladimir Putin is furious about is the separation of the Ukrainian Orthodox. church from the Russian Orthodox Church. And he wants a realignment with those two churches. That was one of his early demands in this war is we're going to get rid of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. We're going to have one Orthodox Church. And I think the reason why that's important for him is because he is in a very close relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church. And individuals who are in positions of power, if they can control religion and they can control politics and they control media, that's one of the

ways that they manipulate people. That's one of the ways that they keep people in bondage. And so I know as I've been watching this and communicating with friends in Ukraine, there is this fear that if the Russian Federation is actually able to take over Ukraine, which is a big if, that there will be oppression and persecution for individuals that want to have free expressions of faith, who do not align with the Russian Orthodox Church. And the Putin regime. So I don't know. We're watching that very closely. So it does seem like that there's this expectation in Ukraine that the religious element of Putin's war of conquest is part of that. It's not just about taking terror. It's also about

conquering the religion. Absolutely. It's about total alignment and conformity to the Russian regime, to the way that Putin operates Russia. And he wants to have. total control over the financial district and business leaders. You know, I'm hearing, as all of these sanctions have been put in place, I'm hearing that Putin is, you know, being very critical of business leaders in Russia right now and scaring them into conforming to his regime. And I know that also, you know, he wants alignment in the religious sector. He wants, he wants the religious community to endorse him, to support him, because then that, that, you know, makes it seem like he is a spiritual man or God's man, like he, you know, he's a man of good. He's pretending

like he's doing something good in Ukraine, which is in reality not true. He's an agent of evil. And we see all the pain and destruction that he is causing under the banner of maybe this faux support from the Russian Orthodox Church. To keep something positive, to shift focus to something positive, there was an article from the news in advance earlier this month that highlighted something really nice that you and your congregation did for the Ukrainian people. So apparently you guys took a photo of prayer time over here in the States and sent it over to your contacts in Ukraine. What was the reaction from the Ukrainian people that you sent those photos to about what you did? Man, it was such a blessing to invite my church and other churches in our community to support Ukraine and to be able to do it as a Ukrainian. So they know, they know who I am. And that photo, man, there were tears of joy.

There was so much gratitude. I had messages from Ukrainian friends who were saying thank you for standing with us. Thank you for praying for us. We, you know, and they really sense it wasn't, they really sense the support. They really sense what we would call the presence of God with them in the midst of their struggle. And one of the ways that they were able to sense it was through that act of love. And the act of love was we, we paused our services and we prayed. We just stopped.

We stopped our normal. We allowed interruptions into our life. Their life is being interrupted. We allowed an interruption into our life to stand with. them in this way. And, you know, not everybody from Lynchburg, Virginia can go over and serve on the front lines in Ukraine. But everybody here in the States can do something. They can do their part, whether it's praying or serving or giving. Have you or your contacts in Ukraine done anything like this since? Has this been an ongoing thing? Or are there other ways that you've shown support

through the church community for Ukraine? So we are continuing to pray. And I'm weekly basis. We are also actively supporting work on the ground. So right now, a lot of the focus is refugee care and serving those who are displaced or those who can't leave. They're individuals that are not able to leave the country of Ukraine for various reasons. They're taking care of somebody that they love, an elderly family member, or maybe they have disabilities, or maybe they're actively serving on the front lines defending Ukraine. So there's many reasons why people can't leave, but we are supporting financially the work of those who are transporting refugees. We're helping to purchase medicine and supplies. And so one of the beautiful things about being a globally connected world is

relatively quickly, like instantly, you can send money from the United States to individuals in Ukraine who are doing good work. And so we're doing that. In addition to that, today, as we're recording this conversation, we are partnering with another church to send a small team of spiritual leaders and trauma counselors to Poland to help work with refugees and hopefully to create some pathways for us to send additional individuals to help in the future. So we're just trying to think of all the different ways that we can be present, financially, spiritually, and then even actively being on the ground whenever we have those opportunities. I know that when I'm looking at these images on screen, it can sometimes feel

like as just one person here in Washington, it's very difficult for me to make an impact on this. Is there a way that the Ukrainian people themselves have expressed this is what you can do for me in Ukraine right now? What are they saying for us to help them? How can we do that? You know, the sentiment that you described is one that I hear often. People, when I have conversations with reporters or friends and they're saying, I just don't know what else I can do. And the fact that we're having this conversation that you and I are able to engage is advocating for the people of Ukraine. It's keeping the message in front of those of us here in the United States who have normal lives and who are easily distracted. So it's important to keep advocating. And the Ukrainian

people are asking for that. Like, please don't forget us. Don't forget that there's still a war happening here. We know it's dragging on longer, but don't forget about us. And it's not lost on me that in Russia, you would not be able to have this conversation. You would not be able to have this podcast because there are restrictions on who's allowed to speak and what they're allowed to say. And so because we have a voice, we have to use that voice, whether it's on social media or through various other relationships that we have. So people are asking us to advocate. They need help with medicine and supplies. And there's various groups that are helping with that. I have a friend in Ukraine that's working for a group called the Medical Procurement of Ukraine.

It's a national group that's helping to secure supplies, medicine, and technology. And of course, they're asking for military support. They're going to keep asking for us to advocate to close the skies because they're being bombed heavily every single day. And so there are things that they're asking us. And I think it's important for us to pay attention to the Ukrainian government. They're sending out messages every single day. President Zelensky is doing an incredible job at both managing this crisis. Ukraine, but also communicating clearly about what they need. And I think it's important for us to pay

attention to him and to his government because he's asking for some very specific things. And I think we need to ask of our leaders. So not all of us are in positions of leadership, but we need to ask our leaders to respond and to be present and supportive. As we wrap, I do want to follow up on that question about hope. Because I feel like, again, as we're watching these images, It can be so simple to just be like, this is the worst. The world is terrible. What's the point? And of course, the Ukrainian people are still fighting back and they're fighting for their lives, their livelihoods, their homeland.

And how do we hear across the world watching these images on our screen? How do we keep up the hope? How do we keep the faith that things are going to be okay? So, you know, I'm going to come back to something that Jesus said when he was on Earth. And he kind of warned us or brought back to our attention. that in this world we're going to have trouble. And he said, there's going to be things that happen that are challenging and that seemingly steal our hope and steal our joy.

But Jesus said, take heart, I have overcome the world. And what he meant by that was he was going to die. He was going to be crucified. And then Easter, you know, in Easter we celebrate his resurrection. He was going to come back from the dead. And Jesus showed to us that he was going to overcome death. what we're experiencing on our screens and through media. We're seeing images of death and violence.

And Jesus said, I came to overcome that. And the ultimate hope for followers of Jesus Christ, and for those of us here who are watching these images, is that one day, evil will be defeated. Good will win, because Jesus will win that victory. And so in the book of Revelation, we have this image of a new world, one day in the future where there is no death, there are no tears, there is no pain, and that world is possible because Jesus truly has overcome.

And in the meantime, while we wrestle and reckon with the death and the brokenness around us, we look for elements of good and beauty. And it's beautiful to see Ukrainians coming together. It's beautiful to see people sacrificing to fight for good in order to defeat evil. And so I'm saying let's look for good. now and let's look forward to this future that Jesus promised and anchor our hope in that. That was Pastor Andrew Morose, a Ukrainian-American pastor with Gospel Community Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Pastor, thank you so much for those inspiring words. I wish you the best of luck in

your family, of course, in Ukraine. And hopefully we get out of this soon. Thank you so much. God bless you. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for listening to the Daily Signal podcast. You can find the Daily Signal podcast on Google. play, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and IHeartRadio. Please be sure to leave us a review and a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and encourage others to subscribe. Thanks so much for listening and we're back with you all tomorrow. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation.

It is executive produced by Virginia Allen and Kate Trinko, sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. For more information, please visit DailySignal.com.