Source: Lausanne Movement, August 1, 2022
Early one December morning in 2021, Zmicier and Anna Chviedaruk woke to loud knocking and shouting at the door. The Belarusian police had come.
“It was like in the movies, with armed guys holding shields and guns, shouting ‘Lie on the floor!’” says Zmicier.
The police beat Zmicier, pilfered through their belongings, and took him away. In the car, they used a taser to force him to record a video saying the police were polite to him.
“He was sentenced to 15 days in jail,” says Anna.
An hour after Zmicier was taken away, Anna learned she was pregnant with their first child. It was the beginning of a harrowing months-long journey that would take the couple from Belarus to Ukraine—at the outbreak of war—and finally to Poland.
The full story provides background on the situation in Belarus, includes an interesting snapshot of Zmicier’s experience in prison, and explains how the family ended up planting a multi-ethnic church for Russian-speaking refugees.
Another Lausanne article, this one from 2017, asks, Is God Reviving Europe Through Refugees?
See also Where Evil Abounds in Ukraine, the Church Is the Best Remedy (The Christian Post).