We believe that the Lord will intervene and that the war will end

The small Ukrainian village of Veselynivka lies 120 kilometres north of the port city, Odessa. Yet it is inhabited mostly by Czechs. Veselynivka was founded a hundred years ago by descendants of Czech exiles after the Battle of White Mountain. Among the old inhabitants is Marie Provazníková, who has been leading the local evangelical community as an assistant preacher for a good quarter of a century. She is well aware of the joys and sorrows of her sisters and brothers. Together with them, Marie is going through one of the most difficult trials of her life - the war. Yet she seems calm, speaks brilliant Czech, and talks openly and with humility. We discussed in my office what place faith has in her life and in the current war situation. Marie has been a regular visitor to Prague for years. She considers the Czech Republic her home. She hasn't missed a trip this year either, even though she's turning 80. And even though the Russian army has been plundering Ukraine for 12 months.

How do you practise your faith in everyday life?

By giving thanks. For every morning. For what I have experienced throughout the day, for what I have been given courage, strength, sometimes wisdom and patience.

Is it more important for you to pursue personal, inner piety or to live your faith in community?

I experience faith very strongly in worship. I'm glad we have a place to come together. Where we can laugh, cry, sit down together for coffee or tea and have a space to talk freely. Faith feels like freedom.

Hope is an important part of what Christians believe. Hope in God's kingdom, in eternal life, but also hope that goodness and love will prevail.

How does this message of hope work its way into your life?

It's hard to say right now in our situation. We live in terrible times. But we keep telling ourselves, even in worship – we have hope that God himself will intervene. There is so much evil in the world, but goodness and love are supposed to be stronger. Love will outlast all. So, we have hope that better times will come. We trust God, we pray to him and ask him to hear us. We believe that the Lord will intervene and that when the war is over, it will be a great boost to our faith.

Many people say from their own experience that their faith helps them in difficulties, in the trials of life. Ukraine has been gripped by war for a year now, the horror of which is probably beyond description. Does faith help you in war? Can it help at all?

I think it can. We see in the news that even soldiers are coming together to pray. I think faith helps them, too. They have chaplains who pray with them and bless them.

What's it like in Veselynivka now? How did the war affect you there?

We're a long way from the front line, thank God. The closest to us is Mikolajiv, 120 km away. It's a wreck there. We've only heard planes launching drones and missiles a few times in the last ten months, but thankfully nothing here. We live in such a quiet zone. But we watch the news all day long, so we can see what's going on... The worst is now in Bakhmut. A lot of people are dying on both sides.

But it's certainly changed life in your village too.

I think people have gotten more together. We in Veselynivka were lucky in adversity. We lived through the First World War, the famine, 1947 and 1948... There were some deportations, but nobody died. People stuck together. I was born in 1943, so I remember the fifties. After the war everything was hard to build, my parents worked for free. The entire Ukraine just pulled together to repair the damage. And I think it's the same now.

My great-grandmother lived through both world wars, very up close, especially the second one. But I remember that despite everything she went through, she seemed calm and composed. One of the verses she followed a lot was, „The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.“ (Job 1,22) Do you have that too? Are you reconciled to what is to come?

I personally feel God's support in my life. When my daughter died, it was hard because at that moment I lost her as a person, but I believe the Lord held me. Like you say - the Lord gave, the Lord took away. He also held me so I wouldn't reject Him for it. I have three grandchildren left. But we never felt abandoned. I always told them, „You don't have a mother, you don't have a father, but we have the Lord who protects us.“ In these personal situations, my faith has always supported me.

Don't you sometimes wonder, on the contrary, how is it possible that the Lord can allow so much evil? Don't you blame him for something?

 It's awful now with this war. When one hears the pounding and sees the news, one has a right to doubt at times. We have the right to say, „Lord, where are you?“ But I don't blame the Lord for anything, and I never have. Not when my daughter died, not now that there's a war. I think we ourselves have failed the Lord many times. I think the Lord forgives but does not forsake.

And how do you explain the evil that is going on in the world? And what is happening in Ukraine?

These are people who hold nothing sacred. Not family, not children, not loved ones, not nature. All they see is money and they don't mind having blood on their hands. Evil will stop at nothing.

I have great admiration for how brave, resilient, determined and united the people of Ukraine are. How do you explain that? Is it part of the Ukrainian character?

I think it's the situation. People are very angry because everything they have put effort into, everything they have built, is being destroyed. They stick together more because where it's broken, they have nothing. They leave empty-handed. I think it gives a lot of strength to the people and the soldiers, too, to see that President Zelenskiy is not afraid.

Recently we talked to an expert on crisis situations. He says that rituals can help a person going through a difficult situation to cope with it. Do any rituals help you?

I don't have any rituals. I think when you're in a difficult situation, you need someone by your side. He needs a word, maybe sometimes a moment of silence, and the knowledge that a person has come to him who feels that he is not well. My only ritual is that I go to someone and ask for help, for advice, and that person listens to me. A lady in my village was in a difficult situation. So I talked to her. Not directly about the situation, but about all sorts of things. We gradually got to the bottom of it. And she was relieved.

Here in the Czech Republic, the Church is very much united in helping Ukraine, and of course we also care for our compatriots, we regularly send messages and write prayers. Recently, two of our pastors also went to visit the Ukrainian evangelicals. How do you perceive this support reaching you?

The money reaches us, it is a great support for our village. I read the messages and prayers regularly. I don't know how to use the computer, but my niece always prepares it for me and we read it together during the services. They are all very grateful and thankful for it. They all say that as long as the congregation lives, the village lives. Now, unfortunately, the situation is such that nobody comes to us much. The last time was in the autumn of 2021, when the anniversary was in Bohemka, and now only Mirek and Tomáš (Miroslav Pfann and Tomáš Vítek, evangelical pastors who visited Veselynivka in October 2022, ed.). We understand that it is complicated, but it is not enough for us. The Czech Brother rarely comes to us. Nothing for a long, long time, and then several numbers come at once. We don't know where it disappears.

I'm very sorry, because I see the Czech Brother as something we can send you for your enjoyment.

We are happy! Everybody will read it. But I always tell even Mirek [Pfann] when I see how much it costs – if you can't do it, leave it alone. It costs money, and then it gets thrown in the trash somewhere...

Do you have a passage or verse from the Bible that you often return to?

At my age, I like to go back to the 90th Psalm. I like to read the Bible, both Old and New Testament. It was given to me as a gift at my ordination. In 24 years, it got scratched and dirty. Some people say you're not supposed to write in books. But it helps me. I read something and then I can't find it, so I underline it. Sometimes in red, sometimes in blue. When I'm preparing the service, I have the sermon read, but I add more reading. I choose the mission statement and blessings according to the situation at hand. When our congregation started, not many people could read the Bible, so we added an extra reading so people could hear it. That's how it was established in the beginning and now we are so used to it.

What is most important to you in your life of faith?

I still live with the hope that all will be well. Faith makes me calmer, I have a kind of easy optimism. I have all the grannies at my services and I always tell them that everything will be okay. Sometimes they complain about how old they are. And I tell them, „We're the nicest of all!“ My neighbour used to say to me: „You're having a good life because you're not in trouble.“ And I've had trouble after trouble after trouble. But I always thought, „What's it going to bring me?“ My faith was a big part of my life. And kind words. I think the words help to strengthen faith.

Adéla Rozbořilová