Supporting Ukraine as a pacifist. Johan Matthies is the new prophet (or pastor) in political Berlin. As political commissioner for the Evangelical Alliance in Germany, he will represent the Christian churches in the political world.
Johann Matthies has been installed as the political commissioner for the Evangelical Alliance in Germany. He will be the voice of the Christians in the German Parliament and the government. His role is there both "pastoral and prophetic", he says.
His roots are in Soviet Kazakhstan, where he was born in a family of what's called Russian-Germans. As a missionary, he spent many years in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He also has fluent Russian. By having this, he could speak with Vladimir Putin during a long train journey, in the early nineties. But later on, this became essential for the continuation of his mission work in the Caucasus.
As a child from a Mennonite family, he will never get enthusiastic about weapons and armies. But he will never deny Ukraine's right to self-defence. And he keeps his pacifist conviction as a private one.