Catch up with our columnists<\/a><\/p>\nA desire to express his faith in practical ways led to Murray visiting the beleaguered country. The team weren\u2019t simply jetting in, creating a few feel-good photo opportunities and then returning home; they were fully engaged with the people they met, committed to supporting them both in the short and longer terms.<\/p>\n
\u2018We were told several times how much it meant to the Ukranians that we had made the effort to travel there,\u2019 Murray told me. \u2018We assured them that they\u2019re not forgotten, that we love them, that Jesus loves them, and that we stand with them in word and deed\u2019.<\/p>\n
He describes the practical work he undertook. Digging a potato patch, painting a wall, working on constructing a house for Valentyna, her daughter and granddaughter, whose village was devastated in the failed Russian advance on Kyiv in 2022.<\/p>\n
![\"Foundations](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg)
Foundations of Valentyna’s new house in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
For Ukrainians, says Murray, \u2018Life does go on, but it\u2019s not as before.\u2019 He worships in a Kyiv church, visits well-stocked supermarkets, and strolls round tourist sites \u2018all the time conscious that the air-raid siren could go off at any moment.\u2019<\/p>\n
There is grief,and loss and sheer weariness; conscription; war memorials in every community; the absence of men; the trauma of returning soldiers.<\/p>\n
For some of the Christians Murray meets, holding on to faith in such circumstances is difficult. There are questions \u2013 why does God allow such suffering? Valentyna reads the book of Job in the Bible often, finding inspiration in this story of a man afflicted, who never, never gives up hope.<\/p>\n
Murray and Simeon return to Scotland, their hearts filled with these stories of hope and despair, fear and courage. They return to awaken empathy and action on the part of Scottish people.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s encouraging to learn how many organisations are getting behind the Ukrainian people. In one week, Murray saw a plant sponsored by Operation Mobilisation, recycling plastic into electricity, and met a group of Dutch volunteers from Hope for Ukraine on their 26th trip since 2022.<\/p>\n
One-off trips are valuable; sustained ongoing support is priceless. Murray and Simeon are planning future visits with larger teams. For, convinced that darkness will never, never have the final word, Christians are people of resurrection, agents of healing, reconstruction and flourishing.<\/p>\n
Says Murray: \u2018I can\u2019t stop a war \u2013 although I continue to pray that it will cease soon in a just and fair way \u2013 but I can do a little to help.\u2019<\/p>\n
And: \u2018There\u2019s so much more to be done.\u2019<\/p>\n
Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here<\/b><\/a> to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Murray McCheyne and Valentyna. \u2018There\u2019s so much more to be done!\u2019 says Murray McCheyne, just back from a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7654],"tags":[21529,2000,299,21530,1501,657],"class_list":{"0":"post-111247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ukraine","8":"tag-columnist","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-give-me-perspective","12":"tag-latest-news","13":"tag-ukraine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114527927517357063","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}