‘We really need help from Heaven for this war,’ says Gennadiy Mokhenko, whose followers tread in dangerous territory to support those still living near the front lines
Pastor Gennadiy and his followers begin each day by singing a few alleluias, followed by a soft prayer at their base in the industrial district of the city of Zaporizhzhia. Then they load boxes of food aid, each closed with red-and-white “God loves you” tape, into a van and a pair of pickup trucks.
On Wednesday, a Russian air strike was reported in the area just 30 minutes after the volunteers – and The Globe and Mail team – left the district.Pastor Gennadiy says the Chaplains’ Battalion, which has no actual affiliation with the Ukrainian army, has about 90 members delivering assistance on three parts of the front line.
Pastor Gennadiy and the Chaplains’ Battalion say their morning prayers in Zaporizhzhia before the day's missions in towns near the front lines. Evidence that Hulyaipole is within range of Russian artillery is everywhere. The city’s main administration building, largest school and central market have all been destroyed by direct hits. Locals say the hospital was struck on Monday, killing two people and wounding five.
Hulyaipole, like many Ukrainian communities, has an official help station, or Point of Invincibility, where people can go for food, a haircut or basic necessities. “Now, half my country is homeless. I’ve worked with homeless children many years, but now I’m homeless. Millions of people are homeless,” he said. “So maybe I’m just still helping homeless people.”
Pastor Gennadiy, who was himself the child of a home plagued by alcoholism, established Pilgrim Republic in the late 1990s and said he began adopting some of the orphans who lived there when it became obvious they had nowhere else to go.
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