Against the background of the announced partial mobilization in Russia, hundreds of thousands of Russian men left the country alone and with their families. Many kilometers of queues have accumulated at the borders with Mongolia, Georgia and Kazakhstan. The Christian media outlet Inlight.news visited one of the churches that became a place of help for Russians fleeing from participation in the war.
“The canteen of a large Protestant church in one of the border towns of Kazakhstan is crowded and noisy. The room is filled with mostly men of different ages, but there are also women and children. Everyone is offered a hot lunch and, almost without waiting for an answer, is invited to the table.
The hospitality does not end there, it just begins. Many church premises have been changed into shared bedrooms. People are helped with paperwork, consulted, prayed for, and sometimes you can hear a joyful shout when refugees receive news that someone else was also able to cross the border.
Most of them had to stand in line for 12 hours or more, but this does not guarantee that you will not be sent back – some are sent back right at the border.
Astonishment
A man enters the dining room of the church, bewildered, pale, exhausted. During a short conversation with him we learn that he left everything and just fled to where he could find a way. Arriving in this city without the slightest understanding of what to do next, he decided to turn to the church for help.
And here he is, standing in the church dining room, asking if it is possible to rent a place somewhere. At that moment they give him a place at the table, offering him free accommodation and food. The man is an unbeliever, at least he was up to this point. But everyone is helped here in the church. The astonishment on his face is the best illustration of what happens when people are helped by the ministry of mercy and charity, here in the churches of Kazakhstan.”
Find the full Russian article here.
