Today is Veterans Day, a day to honor those who served and those who care for them. Christianity Today reports that as Ukrainian soldiers grow discouraged in their long war with Russia, chaplains are traveling to the front lines, some of them from America, to offer what it calls a ministry of presence.

Gospeller profiles one of them. Mikhail Pavenko, a 34-year-old Ukrainian American from Seattle, recently began his tenth two-week rotation as a volunteer military chaplain in Ukraine. Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, he has gone to the front to give spiritual support, help with medical evacuations and deliver supplies to soldiers. He often sleeps in bunkers or abandoned homes while serving beside troops in active combat zones.

The danger has grown, Pavenko says. First-person-view attack drones have made the front lines far more deadly, and he recounted a close call in April 2025 in the Zaporizhzhia region. He and fellow chaplains narrowly escaped a drone strike when their vehicle's electronic jamming equipment appeared to break the drone's signal. Pavenko credits his survival to the technology and to God's mercy.

He is not alone. Gospeller reports that more than 400 official military chaplains and about 700 volunteers now serve with the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Despite the fear and the physical risk, Pavenko keeps going back, describing the work as a deeply meaningful commitment to the soldiers he serves.

Galatians 6:2 speaks of sharing one another's burdens. That is what a chaplain does, in Ukraine and in the places here at home where our own veterans are cared for. Pray today for Pavenko and the chaplains with him, for the soldiers they serve, and for the chaplains who sit with our own veterans.

Read Galatians 6:2