Protestant Pastor from Crimea Runs for Parliament

Senior Pastor of the Kingdom of God Church in Crimea, Valerii Makarenko, is running for the Parliament in electoral Circuit 181 as a candidate nominating himself, invictory.org reported.

In his address to the voters, Makarenko stressed that unlike the “professional” politicians, he understands well the complexity of necessary changes. “And I understand that I cannot do it without your support. Important matters not done on one’s own,” noted the candidate.

In 2002, in Kharkiv, he opened the first regional rehabilitation center for drug addicts in the village of Komunar and headed a public organization called the Emmanuel Center for Spiritual and Social and Psychological Rehabilitation.

“The work quickly reached the national level and then was transformed into an international foundation for the formation of healthy way of life. The foundation, called Healthy Youth Center, is active now in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Germany, Israel and Bulgaria. The main objective of the center is to propagate a healthy way of life and rehabilite addicts of various types. The work of the foundation was distinguished by President Medvediev. Social problems and competent settlement thereof is the priority for Valerii Makarenko,” reads his website.