Russian Troops Stole Ukrainian Pastor's Home: New Christian Podcast Reveals Kherson Seminary Horror

Ukrainian Seminary President Says Russian Troops Stole His Home in Kherson, Faith Without Frontiers Podcast Launches With Story of War and Christian Resilience

Christian Daily International has launched a new weekly global podcast called Faith Without Frontiers, and the debut episode features Ukrainian theologian Valentyn Syniy recounting how Russian forces seized his home and seminary in Kherson.

The episode, titled "They Stole Our Home: Transformed by War," is hosted by Gordon Showell Rogers and features Syniy alongside his wife, Luba.

Syniy serves as president of Tavriysky Christian Institute, an evangelical seminary previously based in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson near the Crimean Peninsula. He has held the role since 2006.

Russian troops took over the institute's five buildings and 15 acre campus in March 2022. The facilities were repurposed as a military training base, barracks, and hospital during the occupation.

They stole our home. Valentyn Syniy, president of Tavriysky Christian Institute

Russian soldiers looted and ransacked the institute's buildings during the occupation. The contents of its 30,000 volume library were destroyed.

While the campus was occupied, Tavriysky Christian Institute continued its work from rented space in Ivano Frankivsk, 540 miles to the northwest. The relocated staff provided relief aid and assisted internally displaced Ukrainians.

Faith Without Frontiers Podcast Debuts With Ukrainian Christian Family Telling Story of Displacement and Hope

The episode explores how the concept of "home" encompasses family, church, city, and nation, and how that understanding is reshaped under the pressures of war.

Syniy discusses the loss of colleagues and students, the emergence of new churches among Ukrainian refugees scattered across Europe, and ongoing chaplain and peacebuilder training efforts.

He has also documented these experiences in a memoir titled Serving God Under Siege: How War Transformed a Ukrainian Community, published by Eerdmans.

Faith Without Frontiers is a weekly series from Christian Daily International that examines how Christian faith intersects with real world challenges across cultures. The first episode is available on the Transistor platform.

The Crusader's Opinion

Russia calls itself a Christian nation. Then why are they looting seminaries, burning libraries, and driving pastors out of their own homes? Valentyn Syniy gave his life to train Ukrainian believers in the Word of God, and Putin's soldiers turned his classrooms into barracks. That is not the act of a Christian empire. That is the act of a thief. Pray for Ukraine's church. They are losing buildings but gaining witnesses across every refugee camp in Europe. God is not finished with Kherson.

Take Action

• Listen to the Faith Without Frontiers podcast debut episode and share it with your church small group: faithwithoutfrontiers.transistor.fm
• Donate to support persecuted Christians around the world through The Shepherd's Shield: www.TheShepherdsShield.org
• Support Ukrainian believers and displaced pastors through Voice of the Martyrs: www.persecution.com
• Stand with suffering churches worldwide via Open Doors: www.opendoorsus.org
• Pray for Tavriysky Christian Institute's leadership as they work to secure a permanent home in Kyiv
• Read Valentyn Syniy's memoir "Serving God Under Siege" to learn more about the seminary's story