You can make that future brighter with a gift to send needy, at-risk children and youth to an evangelistic Russian Ministries summer camp! In 2011, friends like you helped 8,554 children attend 98 different summer camps.

Most of the children who attend come from non-Christian homes, but at camp an estimated 20% make the decision to trust Jesus. All are given Bibles or other Christian literature to take home, and camp leaders—our School Without Walls (SWW) students—follow up with discipleship. We know from experience that many of these boys and girls will come to church for Sunday School and other programs, and soon, they’ll be bringing their families along. In this way, the simple seed planted at summer camp can reach whole communities!

Every $50 you give will send another boy or girl to a life-transforming—and fun—summer camp experience. How many young lives will you change today?

GIVE NOW!

These young people are searching desperately for direction. With your gift to Russian Ministries today, you can help them find a firm foundation for the future in God’s Word!

Every $25 you give is enough to place 10 copies of a book like the easy-to-read Discovery New Testament into the hands of young men and women seeking truth. Or, your gift of $25 may send 250 copies of a booklet like the dynamic, illustrated Story of Jesus Christ to at-risk children across the former Soviet Union.

You’ll foster the spiritual growth of young Next Generation leaders with Scripture and Scripture stories. And you’ll support creative evangelism to tens of thousands of children and youth with unique biblical witnessing tools. How many lives can you change with the Word of God today?

GIVE NOW!

Bibles and Christian literature your gift can provide include:

• The Discovery New Testament: a contemporary Russian-language translation also featuring testimonies from well-known Christian athletes and others
• The New Testament in Russian and Ukrainian (Contemporary Design): a new edition with a guide to salvation and a list of verses for crisis situations
• Message of Glory: a contemporary Russian New Testament with additional materials geared specifically for Muslims
• The Story of Jesus Christ: a colorfully-illustrated booklet containing the heart of the Gospel for children, printed in any of three languages
• The Azeri Picture New Testament: an illustrated children’s New Testament in Azeri, the language of Azerbaijan, where Christians make up only 0.05% of the population
• The Children’s Picture New Testament: a dynamically illustrated New Testament for children in simple Russian

Now, on April 25, after a 15-minute final hearing in the Church’s absence, a court ruled to liquidate the Greater Grace Church in the capital city of Baku — one of the Azerbaijani churches where Russian Ministries is active through School Without Walls and other outreaches.

Greater Grace Church has been legally registered as a church since 1993 by the Ministry of Justice and has served the community for 19 years. But as the Forum 18 News Service — a watchdog for religious freedom at www.forum18.org — reports, Judge Tahira Asadova upheld the suit lodged by the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations. The church has until May 25, one month after the decision, to appeal.

Wade Kusak, Russian Ministries’ Project Manager for Religious Freedom Issues in Eurasia, says, “They were denied for very unclear reasons. The judge didn’t explain what the requirements were, or why Greater Grace Church didn’t meet them. This is a very scary situation, because the government is testing the reaction from the West and from churches to this action. If there is no reaction, they will go further.”

Nor does the persecution end with the church’s liquidation. Wade explains, “If the members of this liquidated church continue to meet together, even two or three at a time, it will be illegal religious activity, and they can be arrested and jailed for up to four years.”

This is the first known open attack on a Christian church in Azerbaijan, and if the decision stands, sets a very dangerous precedent — not only in Azerbaijan, but in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and other nearby nations closely watching the situation.

Much of the persecution in Azerbaijan already follows the example set by Uzbekistan. Since a massacre in 2005, Uzbekistan has conducted a war against their religious minority. Christian literature, including Bibles, is often confiscated and destroyed for “illegal religious activity.” Believers are beaten up during raids on their homes, and courts impose excessive penalties.

The government is also intent on vilifying Christians to the public. Government-controlled mass media accuses believers of occult practices, hypnosis, and extremism, while newspaper articles encourage discrimination and physical abuse of Christians and other minorities.

Convert Tokhar Haydarov is one of around 1,000 believers sentenced to prison or various penalties for their faith. Tokhar is serving 10 years in a labor camp on a false charge of drug production. Fellow believers report that he was tortured and forced to sign the accusation against himself. It’s as if we are back in the old Soviet Union.

Life in many parts of the former Soviet Union has become increasingly difficult for everyone, as the four terrorist bombs that took eight lives in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine on April 27 show. But much of the current persecution against Christians violates their Constitutional rights, demonstrating how serious governments are about ending this “threat.”

Here are some steps you can take right now to support Greater Grace Church and persecuted Christians across the former Soviet Union:

1. Pray for God’s protection for all believers in the FSU, for His intervention in the governments of Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and other persecuting nations, and for freedom of religion and revival in the region.

2. Give to Russian Ministries to help support national leaders in their fight for religious freedom by continuing to provide Christian literature, training, and support to Christians, and especially pastors, in persecuted regions.

3. Contact the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the U.S. to protest the closure of Greater Grace Church and all other attempts to eradicate Christianity from their country, before the church’s month of appeal runs out:

By email: azerbaijan@azembassy.us or consul@azembassy.us
By phone: 1 202 337 35 00
By fax: 1 202 337 59 11
By mail: 2741 34th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

4. Learn more ways you can help persecuted believers in the former Soviet Union by contacting Wade Kusak, Russian Ministries’ Project Manager for Religious Freedom Issues in Eurasia, at: wade@russian-ministries.org. For an interview Wade recently gave on Mission Network News, visit this link: http://mnnonline.org/interviews/date/2012/04.

With white ribbons, balloons and flags snapping in the wind, protesters held their anti-fraud banners high as motorists jammed Moscow’s Ring Road on Sunday, January 29, continuing their opposition to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Putin is expected to begin a six-year run as president if the election goes as predicted.

Another massive protest is planned for Saturday, February 4.

Even as demonstrations increase, protesters’ hold on religion and civil liberties appears to be slipping in the North Caucasus and Central Asia. The situation in Russia  has been building over the last several years, and is as much about religious liberty as it is about political freedom.

“A campaign [to limit religious freedoms] has been taking place in many regions of the Russian Federation for several years already,” comments Michael Cherenkov, vice-president for Association for Spiritual Renewal in a recent blog.  “Requests from the Orthodox Church to local authorities to destroy rental agreements and other forms of partnerships with Protestants have become common practice. …They are concerned about ‘extremism.’  …The formation of a common enemy is the best grounds for the mobilization of the ‘Orthodox.’ Orthodox leaders are losing their authority, so they need to portray Protestants as ‘sectarian fanatics.’  In comparison, the Orthodox portray themselves as the real, native spiritual leaders—something they never were in reality.”

Recent reports document an alarming increase in limiting the freedoms of minority or dissenting religious perspectives across much of the post-Soviet region:

• In Siberia, local courts have attempted to ban the publication of alternate religious books, calling adherents to Hare Krishna “madmen.” In Soviet times, cults were targeted for persecution, and evangelical Christians were purposefully labeled as followers of a cult.
• Forum 18, a human rights monitoring service based in Norway, reports that in Kyrgyzstan, “No progress has been made in dealing with registration applications from—among others—hundreds of mosques, unregistered Protestant churches, and the Hare Krishna community.”
• In the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a Baptist conscientious objector was sentence to a one-year prison term for refusing to serve in the military.
• Fines against Baptists and other religious workers in Uzbekistan are on the upswing. Activities under fire include reading as a group, allowing children to participate in services and any other activity consider as “proselytism” or  “missionary activity.”
• Fines have been levied and repressive laws against religious freedom sign into law in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

At the same time, violence is on the rise, with Russian officials reporting the deaths of 13 people in a shootout in the North Caucasus between Islamist militants and Russian servicemen.

With ethnic violence rising at the same time as religious liberty is under threat, the need to train Next Generation Christian leaders has never been higher. Local Christians can respond correctly and wisely to the changing political climate across the region. Russian Ministries is committed to promoting religious liberty for all in Russia, Belarus and Central Asia where religious restrictions and persecutions are on the rise.

Twenty years after the collapse of the USSR, Russia has fallen upon hard times, as you may have read in the news. Tens of thousands have taken to the streets this past December in the biggest opposition demonstrations since Putin rose to power in 1999. The last massive rally was held on December 24th in central Moscow (100,000 protestors).  Unrest is rising in Russia and the Next Generation is marching against corruption, deceit, lies, theft, hypocrisy and power-grabbing leaders.

The Psalmist says:  “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry…. “  God has heard our cry, and unrest in the hearts of Russians is evident.   Join us in praying for the troubled land of Russia, especially for peace and wisdom for its leaders and for the transforming power of the gospel.

You may have also read of Putin’s condescension and apparent disregard for the mass demonstrations that have opposition leaders vowing to hold more rallies after the country’s January holidays are over in a few weeks.

We have prayed that God would provide wisdom, knowledge and unction from on high for each day, each decision, and each challenge facing the leaders of Eurasia.

The psalmist says: “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; ?he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand…“

Join us in praying for protection for Russian Ministries’ workers across Eurasia.  Pray with us for His intervention where needed. Ask God to bless Next Generation leaders who seek His will and want to serve God in their communities.

Today, there is a new move of God among Next Generation Christian leaders in the Eurasian window. These include homemakers, construction workers, nurses, lawyers, medical workers, mass media personnel, executives, CEOs, pastors and vocational ministers who, like other protestors, are members of the middle class. However, instead of simply protesting, these trained Next Generation Christian leaders are peace-makers, bringing Jesus to their work places and their communities.
God is helping graduates of School Without Walls understand the importance of bringing the presence of Jesus into their communities. God is calling evangelicals to part of the process of changing Russia from within because the unrest across Russia is a SPIRITUAL problem. School Without Walls students trained by Russian Ministries are bringing God’s presence into their work places, resulting in real transformation. They welcome more freedom to impact their communities for Christ.
God is calling Next Generation Christian leaders to establish “church-plants” in this new frontier of freedom seekers that the church has failed to focus upon. The “church” is two or more believers who come together in the name of Jesus. It is not a building. It is people. So today, pray for School Without Walls graduates to bring the church to the greatest mission fields of the 21st century—their work places and communities.

The Psalmist said: “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in Him.”
Evangelicals across Eurasia want more freedom of assembly and God has heard their cries. “Chanting ‘Russia will be free,’ opposition activists took to Moscow’s Triumph Square Saturday (New Year’s Eve) to demonstrate for their right to assembly.”  (New York Times)

These are hard times for Eurasia’s evangelicals who are expressing their desire for freedom of assembly. Pray with us that God will grant them the desires of their hearts. “At least 60 demonstrators were detained in Moscow after the latest wave of protests against the ruling United Russia party.”  (New York Times)

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; ?he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.  (Psalm 40: 1 – 3) NIV

Please pray in agreement with God’s Word for the entire Russian Ministries’ team: staff, leadership, board of directors, national directors, School Without Walls students and faculty and intercessors for:
•    The Lord to move across Eurasia as we intentionally wait patiently on Him.
•    God would hear our individual and corporate cry to Him for Eurasia.
•    Whatever seems to hold down a spiritual awakening would be removed from Eurasia.
•    We would find ourselves established on the solid rock of God’s sovereign will, and would be ready to respond to the spiritual needs of Eurasia.
•    We would find His Spirit surrounding every step of Russian Ministries, giving us greater confidence.
•    A new song of praise to God would come from each country where Russian Ministries’ School Without Walls program is taking place.
•    Many would see the difference God is making in the lives of new believers and would trust in Him.
•    Next Generation leaders who are reaching out to tens of thousands of needy children in the countries of the former Soviet Union during the Russian Christmas season, which begins January 7.

“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’” Luke 2:10-11, ESV

Dear Friends of Russian Ministries,

This Christmas, we thank God for sending His Son to be the Savior of all the world . . . and we thank you for helping to carry that Good News to the furthest reaches of the former Soviet Union.

May God richly bless you this Christmas season and throughout 2012.

Merry Christmas from Sergey Rakhuba and the staff of Russian Ministries

"Father, forgive them!"

Persecution of Christians is a reality.  In the U.S. government’s “2009 International Religious Freedom Report,” Christians in at least 30 countries suffered noteworthy violations of their religious freedom. Praise God that Russian Ministries has active ministries in the persecuted countries of Eurasia.  As persecution continues to increase, our ministry continues to provide what persecuted believers need and want most: training the Next Generation, God’s Word and our prayers. Your partnership with Russian Ministries makes this possible.

Thank you for helping to provide the resources to equip these leaders with ministry tools, such as the Scriptures, that they can distribute across Eurasia to Christians who are persecuted for their faith. You gave from your blessings, and they received the blessing of God’s grace and peace.

Tensions between Muslims and Christians often run high in Central Asia, Tatarstan and the Northern Caucasus region of Russia.  When these tensions spill over into families, many difficulties result. Just ask Aigul. She grew up in a Muslim family. In 2010, she became a Christian and wanted to share Christ with her family. So she went to her village to tell them the Good News. When her father heard that Aigul was now following (Isa) Jesus, he tied her up and arranged for her to marry a Muslim man. Another family member freed her, and she escaped. She went back to live in the city.  Every time she tries to make contact with the family, she is always rejected.

This is what persecuted Christians face in the Muslim-dominated areas of Central Asia, the Northern Caucasus of Russia and Tatarstan.

• Rejection and attacks by family members
• Worship only in restricted areas or in secret
• Churches closed or locked
• Violent physical attacks and abuse
• Anti-conversion laws
• Arrest and beatings
• Verbal harassment and false accusations
• Displacement and isolation
• Required registration of churches
• Children unable to attend church

Thank you for providing tangible Christian love and care by providing Scriptures to Christians persecuted for their faith across Eurasia. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, your support and encouragement are reaching them in their most desperate moments. Please continue to lift them up in prayer as they continue to serve our God faithfully.

Someone said, “No one is more secure than the one who is held in God’s hand.”

We praise God for you and your interest in Russian Ministries!

“People in persecuted regions of Russia express their thirst to read and study God’s Word. Contact with them is very limited, so we must communicate with them through letters. They are asking for Christian support, fellowship and Bible study materials.”
—National Director of Russia

“With the help of Russian Ministries, many who are persecuted for their faith find the grace to stand for Christ.”
—National Director for Belarus

Prayer requests
As you pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Eurasia, please pray for:
• Christians to find sensitive ways to share their faith in countries that aggressively persecute Christians.
• Those who read God’s Word in a new translation (name not given because of opposition and persecution), that they may learn about God and His great gift to them.
• Protection for contacts, new converts, and Christians in the Northern Caucasus.
• Protection for pastors from attacks both physical and from the mass media.
• Success of several countries’ underground ministry programs in bringing more people to Jesus.
• Workers’ safe entry into Central Asia so that they can share the gospel.
• Christians to stand against radical religious groups and extremists.

To reserve your place or for more details, call Sarah at (630) 462-1739 today, or email her at sarah@russian-ministries.org.  We hope you can join us for this great time of fellowship and celebration!