Langham Scholar Oleksandr Geychenko, the principal of Odesa Theological Seminary, has been involved in many humanitarian efforts since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But, speaking on our recent Langham Live zoom call, he explained that reflecting theologically on experiences of injustice, pain and trauma has helped people in unexpected ways.
From drug-taking to Bible-reading
And Oleksandr himself has a very interesting back story! He became a Christian through the witness of a former classmate, who met Jesus Christ when he was in prison. This friend shared the Gospel with Oleksandr, which had a big impact. He had slipped into taking drugs and was far from God.
Then, his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and a local church gave her a New Testament while she was dying in hospital. She started reading it and so did Oleksandr. He attended his friend’s church and after a few weeks gave His life to Christ.
Since then, he was heavily involved in his local church and decided to go to Odesa for a one-year course at a seminary – but he stayed on, eventually becoming the senior librarian and later the principal, a role he still holds today.
Before taking on the leadership of the seminary, Oleksandr gained a PhD in theological studies at the University of St Andrews, enabled by the Langham Scholars programme.
Challenges facing the Ukrainian Church
Langham stays in touch with its graduates and has continued to equip and support Oleksandr in his role at the seminary, which has been challenging for a number of reasons.
Since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, some of the faculty have moved away or are serving in the Ukrainian army. That has weakened the seminary’s normal academic activities. But Oleksandr said at the same time, they’ve seen significant opportunities:
“People suddenly realised that theology is about life. What we tried to do, with my colleagues and friends, was to use our ability to theologise about our experience.
“For example, our academic journal decided to publish a special issue under the motto “God among the Ruins”. In that journal, we were trying to reflect upon the experience of injustice, betrayal, pain, trauma and so on. We invited the authors to reflect theologically on all of that.
“That was the most successful issue of our journal historically. We sold up to 500 copies or something like that, and people were very grateful because, of course, all of us were involved to some extent in humanitarian aid and other activities, but nobody did what we decided to do.
“That is how we learned that theological education is important for people, especially for people who are under such harsh circumstances.
“We were trying to bring biblical teaching, theological doctrine and experience together in order to help people see how these things answer their challenges and address their issues.”
Oleksandr was recently invited to a church in a Southern Ukraine city, which is near the front lines, to help organise their education programme – he noticed that the average age in the congregation was 60+. The pastor commented, “should we wait for better times? No, we are working with the people God has sent to us”.
What can the rest of the world learn from the Church in Ukraine?
Oleksandr was involved in a ‘Summer School’ last month, focusing on ‘theological imagination’. He was keen to emphasise that the topic is not about fantasy – it is about “bringing something which you cannot see into your reality, allowing this to reshape your reality and activities.
“For us here in Ukraine, we are trying to imagine a world where justice is done and where God is on the throne, where those who are unjust will be punished. To live according to this world means living as though this world is real—and it is real.
“That’s why the Summer School is so important; learning how the Kingdom of God, God’s character can shape us in dealing with challenges.”
Deepest experience of the body of Christ
Oleksandr is hugely grateful for the prayers of believers around the world who are standing with the Ukrainian Church.
“Ecclesiology is my topic of research. I knew what the body of Christ is — the mystical body and so on — but only when we started experiencing this connection through prayer, involvement in practical matters, receiving help and so on did I really realise how deep and strong the connections between the members of the body are.
“So I really appreciate all those prayers which you in Ireland, Northern Ireland, in the UK, sent to the throne of the Almighty God. And I’m really thankful for your assistance and involvement in the different projects which we are trying to accomplish here.
“That is what the body of Christ is. I think the Lord’s Prayer—’Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ — is the kingdom manifesto which we proclaim and try to live according to.
“So keep proclaiming this manifesto together with us.”
Read more
- Oleksandr contributed a chapter in the Langham book ‘Light in the Valley of the Shadow of Death’, a book of powerful testimonies by believers in Ukraine about their experiences during the war.
- The Langham book ‘Tackling Trauma’ was translated into Ukrainian and distributed to nearly 2,000 pastors, leaders, students and other believers across the country.
- Read about Markiyan Klepach’s humanitarian efforts during the war and his gratitude for Langham resource ‘Tackling Trauma’, which he’s sharing with others for its timely contents.
- Our Langham Live interview with Langham Literature’s Roman Soloviy, in Ukraine, from 2024.