Children from the Lutheran church in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard traveled three hours each way by boat to mark Orthodox Christmas with 40 children in Barentsburg, a village owned by Russia’s Arctic mining company in the remote Norwegian territory. https://t.co/vhoaZaUPRa

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 9, 2023

The war will end, eventually; these kids (it is to be hoped) will live in this world for another half-century or more…

BARENTSBURG, Norway (AP) — A 15-year-old boy in a polar bear hoodie took turns reading the Gospel passage about Jesus’s birth in Russian with three girls in dresses and bows who proclaimed it in Norwegian, in a shared celebration of Orthodox Christmas deep in the Arctic undimmed by war and the round-the-clock polar night.

The girls and a dozen of their fellow members of Polargospel, the children’s choir at the only church in Svalbard – an archipelago closer to the North Pole than to either Oslo or Moscow – traveled three hours by boat Saturday to mark the holiday with the 40 children in Barentsburg.

At midday in the snow-covered square of this village owned by Russia’s Arctic mining company, a full moon illuminated a bust of Lenin standing in front of a big, twinkling Christmas tree and an even larger old monument reading “Our goal is Communism” in Cyrillic script…

For more than a century, mining has driven permanent settlements in Svalbard, including Longyearbyen, with about 2,000 residents, and Barentsburg, where about 350 people live. Even though it’s Norway’s territory, the Soviet Union was party to an early 20th century treaty that allowed other countries to share in mining rights, and Arcticugol continues to operate Russia’s mine.

During the Cold War, tensions flared between the two countries in Svalbard, as they have again since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including over transit for Barentsburg’s food supplies in July. In October, the Svalbard’s tourism council – representing the archipelago’s growing leisure industry – announced it would cut off Arcticugol’s tourism branch in protest against the war.

But church members approved the choir’s Christmas visit, Limstrand said, to help the children not see one another as enemies but rather pray for all – especially in such remote communities…

Leonard Snoeks said his 10-year-old daughter had fundraised for Ukraine, selling waffles and coffee outside their home in Norway, but had no qualms coming on the choir trip with the new friends she’s made since the family moved to Svalbard six months ago from the Norwegian mainland.

“Although things are as they are, it doesn’t separate the fact that people are people,” Snoeks said. “The church choir is really important to see beyond that, to show that you care.”…

The Russian program followed the Norwegian choir’s performance. Since most families in Barentsburg are Ukrainian, it included a poem and a rendering in that language of the globally popular “Carol of the Bells,” which was first penned a century ago in Ukraine.

Svetlana Yanevska, the school’s assistant director since May, sang the carol a cappella along with students.

She later explained that it was especially important this year to follow religious traditions together, from preparing for the performance to going house to house in Barentsburg on Christmas Eve sharing sweets like kutia, a rice pudding with nuts and raisins.

“Kids everywhere are kids. Our aim is that all kids are happy and safe,” Yanevska said.

Lots more photos at the link.

To highlight that this wasn’t a diplomatic overture but ministry from children for children, Saturday’s celebration took place at Barentsburg’s school. https://t.co/GEzBpEozdu pic.twitter.com/L4RjMjI9aG

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 9, 2023

“We who live in the north in darkness, we know how much the light means,” said the Rev. Siv Limstrand as she handed slim yellow candles to the children.

“Even one weak candle in the window is enough to find the way to each other.” https://t.co/vhoaZaUPRa

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 9, 2023