By Jeff Thompson
Here is an excellent, short debate about the west helping Ukraine between two conservative radio hosts. You will enjoy it.
Click here —> Charlie Kirk and Sebastian Gorka.
For full disclosure, I was forcibly removed from Russia by gunpoint in 2008 presumably for my missionary activity. In spite of that fact, we have supported Russian missionaries financially for over 25 years. We love the Russian people, but do not agree with totalitarian types of government.
Our approach at Mercy Projects is that we share the gospel and help people. God loves people, and thus we do as well.
There is no “free speech” amendment in Russia. The media is state owned or controlled. Religious expression is limited to the church building. Public evangelism activities are not allowed. Foreign missionaries have been forced to leave due to visa restrictions. In Putin’s Russia, you can go to prison if you criticize the president, the war effort, or the government. There is no political opposition. The opposite is true in Ukraine.
A Timeline
1989 – The Berlin Wall fell when Gorbachev said he would not send Russian troops to shoot protestors.
1990 – Former East Germany is reunified with West Germany and is part of NATO.
1991 – The Soviet Union collapsed. The Ukrainian SSR voted to leave. The other republics followed.
1999 – Putin came into power.
1999 – Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary join NATO.
2004 – Warsaw Pact countries join NATO including Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. All of these countries requested to join and desired protection from RUSSIA. They wanted to make sure they were never dominated by the Soviets again. Ukraine was not so fortunate.
2004 – The ORANGE REVOLUTION takes place in Kyiv. Ukraine elects a pro-Western president.
2004 – Russia finishes their war to subdue Chechnya.
2014 – Ukraine desires to join the EU. The president sides with Putin instead. The MAIDAN revolution forces the president to flee to Russia. Free elections are held.
2014 – Russian invades Crimea and the Donbas region. Obama ignores this. Biden is vice president.
2016 – Burisma, an oil company in Ukraine, pays Hunter Biden millions.
2019 – A comedian V. Zelensky is elected president of Ukraine.
2021 – America withdraws from Afghanistan. Putin observes our weakness.
2022 – Russia invades Ukraine. They plan to topple the government in 3-5 days.
Q. Is NATO threatening Russia? Did NATO start this war by expanding toward Ukraine?
A. NATO expanded because these countries desired safety, freedom, and security. They requested to join. They desired the western way of life. They are not Russian. The Soviet Union brutally invaded them and ruled by military force. NATO is not attacking anybody. Today, the West is protecting freedom and western values.
Q. Why should we care about Ukraine’s border with Russia if we do not care about our own southern border?
A. This is not a border dispute. This has nothing to do with borders or our border policy. There is no connection.
Q. Aren’t Ukrainians and Russians the same? isn’t this an internal war that we shouldn’t care about?
A. No, they are not the same. Ukraine has it’s own culture, language, writers, and history. They were never “one people” as Putin has claimed. They were invaded by Russians, and then later by the Soviets. They fought against the Russians in WW2 because they desired their freedom. Ukraine has always had an underground “nationalist movement.”
Q. Couldn’t we put the money spent to better use in America?
A. Yes. However, would we? No. A nation of 40 million people desires freedom and a western way of life. Why would we simply hand them over to the Russians? Putin is not a world leader. He is an ex-KGB thug and murderer of those who oppose him.
Q. Isn’t Ukraine corrupt? Where is the money going?
A. Ukraine was corrupt under previous leaders controlled by Russia. They are trying to break the chains of corruption. This war is a defining moment for them. An existential crisis of identity. Zelensky is not a billionaire like Putin. However, our government should closely monitor how the money is being spent.
Q. Does Ukraine have religious freedom? Tucker Carlson said they are closing churches.
A. Yes they have full religious freedom like in the west. (not like in Russia) The churches strongly support the war effort to save their country. The few churches being closed down are RUSSIAN Orthodox churches that have collaborated with the Russian military or spread Russian propaganda. (Tucker does not tell the whole story).