Ukrainian-Language Radio Sermons : Preacher Aims Ministry at Soviets

The Rev. John Shep likes to picture a Ukrainian housewife huddled near her radio to hear his explanation of Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son.

Shep can only imagine the scene, because he is halfway around the world from his intended listeners, in a dinky office in little Stoughton, Wis.

Shep writes, co-produces and raises funds for “Thoughts of Faith,” his evangelical Lutheran radio show in the Ukrainian language. He is the founder and only full-time employee of this broadcast ministry--a long step down in glamour and money from Jerry Falwell and other broadcast evangelists.

“Thoughts of Faith” is beamed into the Ukraine from shortwave religious broadcasting network transmitters in San Francisco, Saipan and Southern Lebanon. In the process they reach Ukrainians in other parts of the Soviet Union and in other parts of the world, including Australia and Canada.

One-Fifth of Soviet People

The Ukraine, scene of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, is about the size of France and is at the western end of the Soviet Union. Its major city is Kiev and its 50 million people--one-fifth the population of the U.S.S.R.--have their own language and culture.

Shep, 40, born in Germany of Ukrainian parents, calls his homeland “the largest unknown nation of the world.” He began his radio ministry eight years ago. On the air he uses the name “Yaroslav Romanuk” in honor of the Ukrainian priest Vasyl Romanuk, who was imprisoned for his faith.

Shep’s parents came to America in 1950 after spending five years in German refugee camps and spending most of World War II as slave laborers in Nazi Germany. They lived in rat-infested storefronts in Chicago but survived on the dreams of their homeland.

“I remember the first Bible story my father told was Joseph’s exile into Egypt,” Shep said. “My dad would make a connection to our situation. There was a sense of building up Ukraine as a mythical country and that was part of the nationalistic spirit that we were raised in.”

Denial of Freedoms

In 1976, Shep went on his first trip to the Ukraine and saw the poverty of the people and the freedoms they were denied. Two events steeled his determination to do something, he said.

“Customs officials asked me whether I had any religious materials on me,” he said. “They didn’t ask me whether I had any controlled substances or whether I had any weapons in my possession, they were asking me about a book.”

At the end of the trip, he met a woman in his grandmother’s village and, lacking another gift, gave her his own Ukrainian Bible.

“She began to cry when she realized she was holding Scripture in her hand,” Shep said. “I thought to myself, ‘I’ve preached on the parable of the pearl of great price, and here I see it, flesh and blood, a woman who hasn’t seen Scripture in over 40 years.”’

He returned to his northern Iowa congregation and began speaking about his trip.

Voice in the Darkness

“I would always end the presentation, ‘Really, we free Christians have to do something about this,’ and it would end,” he said, “until one night in Petoskey, Mich., a voice came from the darkness and said, ‘Well then, do something about it.’ ”

The voice from the audience belonged to Ernie Manthei, who with his brother, Ted, made the financial contribution that put “Thoughts of Faith” on the air in 1979. The ministry grew and, in 1984, Shep quit his parish ministry and became its full-time director.

He writes three weekly Bible studies and a Sunday devotional program and works with a producer in Chicago to come up with the final product, including Ukrainian music.

“There are some 7 1/2 million Ukrainians who live outside the Ukraine all over the Soviet empire,” Shep said, adding that he even got a letter once from a Ukrainian soldier in Syria.

Estimating Size of Audience

There is no way to determine how many Ukrainians listen to the broadcast. “Basically, we go on the testimony of people who have returned and have been asked to interview their relatives,” he said.

“The report that we get back is consistent that ‘Thoughts of Faith’ is a program Ukrainians really do listen to.”

The cost of one week’s programming, including transmitter time, is $1,600, and the ministry’s annual budget is about $130,000. Foundations provide about $27,000, and Shep travels across the country speaking to churches, church women’s groups and schools to raise the rest.

Shep’s annual salary is $20,000, he said.

He would like eventually to produce his show seven days a week and to branch out his ministry to other Soviet bloc countries, possibly including Poland.