A Ukrainian Saint; Serge Zevlever

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #9

March 7, 2022

A Ukrainian Saint; Serge Zevlever

Just a few miles up the road from us is the town of Harrington Park. It is a beautiful NJ suburb, and a place where the rather prosperous live. A seminary friend pastors the church there. Pastor Steve and his wife, Jeri, have a unique ministry. They have adopted several special needs children from an orphanage in the Ukraine. This special ministry has brought them great joy, but recently the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia has given them a great deal of heartache and now they are mourning a man they knew quite well, Serge Zevlever.

Serge had dual citizenship both in the United States and in Ukraine. He was a gruff man who directed the orphanage from which Pastor Steve and his wife adopted these special needs children. Beneath his gruffness, I have read, he had a big heart and put the whole of his being into protecting and finding homes for the children that he protected as if they were his own.

When Russia invaded he could have easily fled. He was, after all, a United States citizen. He chose to stay. He wanted to protect “his” children and the Ukrainian people that he had fallen in love with. Because of these desires he chose to stay and defend the Ukraine. Tragically, he was killed in the conflict. He was a victim of a bullet fired from a Russian gun. I doubt that the Russian soldier who fired the shot had any idea of who he had killed or the  good work that the man had been doing. Whether he knew it or not, he did the world a great deal of harm by killing Serge.

I wish that I had been able to meet Serge and thank him for all that he did. “His” children and the families that adopted them will always feel gratitude for his work. For his selfless work on earth and his selfless death I believe that he is a true saint. May his life and death be examples for us all.

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

# Ukraine                                                                   #Russia

#Peace                                                                      # Conflict

#UkrainianFaces                                                      #SergeZevlever

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book:https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/