May 2023 New Horizons

Editor’s Note

by Douglas Clawson

Editor’s Note : Below is an edited portion of the letter that Douglas Clawson, General Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Missions, wrote to the missionaries whose articles appear in this issue: Heero E. C. Hacquebord in Ukraine, M. in Asia, and Octavius Delfils in Haiti. Dear Brothers, Let me remind you of my hope for the articles. Currently, we have one applicant for foreign missions, and that family would be serving in more of a diaconal role. There just aren’t ministers (other than guys still in seminary) applying for foreign mission service, and we chiefly need men with pastoral experience at this juncture. For the April New Horizons , I asked James Folkerts to write an article about doing ministry in Uganda after the traumatic carjacking he experienced, in which he thought he would be killed, and the memory of which he still lives and works with each day. I also needed the article to describe how the work in Karamoja will transition into the future, following the Folkerts leaving ... Read more

Detained for Christ

by a persecuted Christian

Editor’s Note : A persecuted Christian shares her true story from a country where Christians are suffering for Christ, told through Orthodox Presbyterian missionary M. It was a cool Sunday evening in December in the large East Asian city where my husband and I lived. We had just returned from evening worship when suddenly the power went out. Several police officers rushed in, overpowering us. They yelled, “Don’t move!” “Who are you? What do you want?” we responded. They waved a piece of paper at us that said, “Notice of Suspected Illegal Business.” Recently the government has been charging church workers with running illegal businesses. Apparently, this is done to avoid the appearance of charging people with their true “crime”: worshiping in accordance with their consciences rather than in a church that is approved by the state and that capitulates to its demands. I was quickly separated from my husband, taken to the local public security bureau, and interrogated in handcuffs all ... Read more

Ministry in Ukraine During War

by Heero E. C. Hacquebord

The sun had not yet risen on February 24, 2022, when Anya’s voice pierced the air in our apartment: “Putin has attacked us!” My head was groggy from a bout with COVID, but the meaning of her words was unmistakable. Several minutes later, the air-raid sirens in our city wailed the incredible news for all to hear: Russia had launched an unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and there were missiles flying in the direction of L’viv. Military and civilian buildings around the country were bursting into flames. The big war had begun. Vika lived through the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. At that time, she fled Russia’s rule, which is especially oppressive to Protestants, to live in Kharkiv in far eastern Ukraine. Having experienced a Russian invasion before, Vika—along with her husband, Vasyl—were prepared this time around. They awoke on the twenty-fourth from the sound of thundering explosions in their neighborhood on the eastern side of Kharkiv, a mere fifteen miles from the Russian ... Read more