http://www.baptist.org.ru/templates/default/rss_logo.jpg8484http://www.baptist.org.ru/news/mediahttp://www.baptist.org.ru/news/mediaÍîâîñòèThu, 18 Dec 2008 13:12:00 +0300Baptist World Alliance http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=970http://www.baptist.org.ru/news/media/1521Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Neville Callam has sent a letter of condolence to the Russian Orthodox Church upon the death of Alexy II, the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All of Russia.Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:12:00 +0300Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Neville Callam has sent a letter of condolence to the Russian Orthodox Church upon the death of Alexy II, the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All of Russia.Alexy, who died on December 5 at age 79, was buried on December 9. “It is with deep regret that the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) has learned of the loss suffered by the Russian Orthodox Church with the passing on December 5 of His Holiness Alexy II,” Callam wrote to Metropolitan Kirill of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church. The BWA General Secretary met the Russian Orthodox leader on his trip to Moscow in June. In speaking of that meeting, Callam declared that the patriarch “impressed many by his profound Christian faith, his unwavering commitment to the church,” as well as his “strong stance against the encroachment of secularism, the dangers of which he identified with great clarity.” Callam, who was joined by leaders of the Russian Baptist union in his meeting with the most prominent Christian leader in Russia, stated, “I remember, with satisfaction, his call during our meeting, for continued collaboration between Orthodox and Baptist Christians in ongoing discussions on matters of moral import for the people of the Russian Federation.” “We mourn the loss of such an outstanding leader of world Christianity, and pass on to you the prayers and good wishes of Baptists from all over the world,” Callam said in his letter to Metropolitan Kirill.Bob Allen, ABP http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3675&Itemid=53http://www.baptist.org.ru/news/media/1487Baptists in the city of Lipetsk, Russia, claim local authorities are using bureaucratic methods to restrict their activity.Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:57:50 +0300MOSCOW (ABP) -- Baptists in the city of Lipetsk, Russia, claim local authorities are using bureaucratic methods to restrict their activity. The provincial capital 235 miles southeast of Moscow has in recent years become a focal point of tension between Russian Orthodox and Baptist Christians. Photo shows broken windows in the Lipetsk church. (Photo courtesy of RUECB) According to Forum 18, a Norway-based news service that monitors religious freedom, two local congregations recently lost legal status for allegedly failing to file tax returns on time -- a charge that Baptist leaders strongly deny. A third lost its rented worship space for failing to have a representative appear at a court hearing that congregation members claim they weren't informed about. "Soon there won't be a single Baptist church in Lipetsk!" exclaimed a Nov. 28 headline on the Forum 18 website. Vitaly Vlasenko, director of external church relations for the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, said it is obvious that government officials in Lipetsk are partial to the Orthodox, but he personally does not believe events there represent a campaign aimed specifically at local Baptists. Vlasenko said the processes of registration, documentation and taxation for churches have become entangled in bureaucracy, and that issues once settled through negotiation with government officials now often wind up in court. Most Russian Baptist congregations have neither made the effort nor had the funds to hire bookkeepers and lawyers in the past, Vlasenko said, but now they must focus on including such safeguards. The Russian Baptist union said in a recent news release that tensions between religious groups may revolve largely around money. In 1989, Lipetsk city leaders handed over the former Orthodox Church of the Trinity's Conception for Baptists to renovate and use for worship. Four years later, officials reversed the decision and ordered Baptists to return the building to Orthodox officials in exchange for appropriate compensation. The Orthodox side did not agree to compensation and accused the Baptists of seizing an Orthodox sanctuary. The 100-member Baptist congregation has said they are willing to return the building for monetary compensation for improvements to the building or use of another building of comparable size and value. In April the city decreed the Baptists must give up the building without compensation. Officials dissolved the congregation as a legal entity, claiming the church neglected to file required tax statements. Vladimir Ilovaisky, the church's pastor, accused local officials of deceit. "We have always handed in our tax reports on time," he said. "If we are guilty of something, then tax offices should inform us accordingly or levy a fine. They have instead taken away our legal status." Ilovaisky said the Baptists "are not barbarians" and would not resort to defending the building by force, but still hoped for a settlement through legal means. Not all residents of Lipetsk have shown as much restraint. On Nov. 4 about 200 marchers took part in an annual procession from Lipetsk's central Orthodox cathedral to the outlying Trinity Church now used by Baptists. The event celebrated National Unity Day, a state holiday introduced in 2005 to commemorate Russia's 1612 expulsion of invading Polish and Lithuanian forces. In recent years, the day has become a forum for demonstrations by nationalist and far-right activists. Two nights after the march, 28 windows of the Baptist-run structure were broken by vandals thought to be members of the nationalist Slavic Union. Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18 News Service http://www.forum18.orghttp://www.baptist.org.ru/news/media/1481Baptists in the town of Lipetsk south-east of Moscow complain that the authorities are using "a bureaucratic way" to restrict their activity. Two of their local congregations have lost legal status for failing to file tax returns on time.Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:32:03 +0300Baptists in the town of Lipetsk south-east of Moscow complain that the authorities are using "a bureaucratic way" to restrict their activity. Two of their local congregations have lost legal status for failing to file tax returns on time, a claim Pastor Vladimir Boyev vigorously rejected to Forum 18 News Service. The tax office refused to speak to Forum 18. One of the congregations has been using a former Orthodox church for nearly twenty years and without legal status cannot now defend its interests in court as the Orthodox diocese wants the building back. The third has lost its rented place of worship it has used for nearly twenty years amid redevelopment plans. The court claimed it had invited the congregation to attend a hearing to set compensation, but the Baptists complain they never received an invitation. Lipetsk's regional religious affairs official, Olga Fyodorova, told Forum 18 the Baptists are deliberately rejecting possible solutions "in order to aggravate the situation". Asked how the Baptists would defend themselves in court after losing their legal status, she responded: "That's their problem!" In what they believe is deliberate state action against them, two Baptist congregations in the regional centre of Lipetsk (approximately 400km south-east of Moscow) have lost their legal status and a third has lost its rented prayer house. "There's been nothing like this in Lipetsk for 20 years," Vladimir Boyev, pastor of one of the congregations, exclaimed to Forum 18 News Service on 25 November. "They're taking the last of what we have!" The state's methods may not be those of the Soviet period, when religious believers could end up in prison, Pastor Boyev admitted. "But they have found a different way – a bureaucratic way – to put our Church in a terrible position," he pointed out to Forum 18. "We are defenceless!" Lipetsk's regional religious affairs official, Olga Fyodorova, defended the state's recent treatment of the Baptists to Forum 18 on 26 November. They have been offered a number of solutions to their situation over the past decade, she claimed, "but they refuse to accept them on purpose, in order to aggravate the situation." Currently, Lipetsk's 200-strong first Baptist congregation is still able to meet at the former Orthodox church it was allocated by the local authorities in 1989. "But the situation is very tense right now," Pastor Boyev told Forum 18. Vandals broke 28 of the building's windows in the wake of this year's 4 November National Unity Day celebrations, he pointed out. Introduced in 2005, National Unity Day is a state holiday commemorating Russia's 1612 expulsion of invading Polish-Lithuanian forces. It has become a focus for public demonstrations by nationalist and far-right activists. Lipetsk Regional Arbitration Court has begun hearing a suit for control of the former Orthodox church, filed three months ago by the Orthodox diocese of Lipetsk and Yelets, added Pastor Boyev. The Baptists are quite prepared to vacate the building, he stressed to Forum 18, but want another as compensation for their substantial renovation work. Instead, the local authorities have offered what Pastor Boyev described as "semi-ruins" and respond to the Baptists' objections with "Let the Americans help you!", he said. The church has no wealthy foreign sponsors, however, Pastor Boyev told Forum 18: "We're Russian people, just like them!" The Baptist congregation worshipping at the former Orthodox church is now without legal status. The tax authorities removed it from the Single State Register of Legal Personalities in June 2007 for failing to file its annual tax return on time, Pastor Boyev told Forum 18. Under Article 21.1 of the 2001 Law on the State Registration of Legal Personalities and Individual Entrepreneurs, an organisation may be removed from the State Register without any court proceedings if it fails to file a tax return or use its bank account in the course of a year. A Baptist church in the Black Sea port of Tuapse managed to overturn a similar decision in May 2008 on the grounds that it did not take into account the fact that the aims and functions of a religious organisation differ from commercial legal personalities (see F18News 10 September 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1185). In Lipetsk, meanwhile, the case to determine who has use of the former Orthodox church was adjourned when the judge realised that the Baptist congregation has no legal personality, Pastor Boyev told Forum 18. The Baptists responded by filing a separate suit with the same court in an attempt to restore their legal status and so continue their defence. The latest hearing in this case took place on 26 November. Asked about the pressure on the Baptist congregation at the former Orthodox church, Olga Fyodorova, the religious affairs official, maintained to Forum 18 that they were "sitting there, doing nothing" while the building had "essentially" already been given to an Orthodox parish. She then admitted that she did not know whether a court had in fact decided the issue, however. Fyodorova also said she did not know how the Baptists would defend themselves in court after losing their legal status: "That's their problem!" Asked about compensation, she maintained they "could find another place, or build using donations." A second Lipetsk Baptist organisation – Good Shepherd Mission – was also removed from the State Register in September 2007 for failing to file its tax return on time and correctly. Pastor Boyev insisted to Forum 18 that both organisations filed their tax returns on time as in earlier years and had never had problems with the tax authorities previously. "We supposedly needed more documents for the Good Shepherd Mission, but they didn't warn us – they should have explained to us what they wanted," he argued. "They told us we should have looked on the internet, or in some journal or other, but we're God's people, not a business, we don't know how to do this." Forum 18 reached an official in the relevant tax office on 28 November, but she categorically refused to give any information by telephone. The authorities also took issue with the de-registered Baptist organisations because neither kept a bank account, said Pastor Boyev. "But we spend any money as soon as it comes in," on church activities, bills and building materials, he explained. Olga Fyodorova maintained to Forum 18 that the Baptists had been de-registered because they "didn't pay tax - not a single kopeck - and you know how every state in the world is scrupulous about tax." They claim not to have any income as a cover for not paying tax, she suggested. Led by Pastor Boyev, Lipetsk's second 200-strong Baptist congregation, Holy Trinity, retains its legal status, but the land and building where it worships come under Good Shepherd Mission, he told Forum 18. The Lipetsk authorities closed the Good Shepherd Mission building for several months in early 2007 on the grounds that it had not been formally declared fit for use, and also fined Pastor Boyev (see F18News 22 February 2007 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=917). A third Baptist congregation, 60-strong Golgotha, has rented a traditional wooden house in central Lipetsk since 1989 and carried out substantial repairs to the building, Pastor Boyev told Forum 18. The city authorities are gradually replacing such living accommodation and the owner was recently allocated a new flat as compensation, he said. On 11 September, the state's confiscation of the building was upheld when no one representing Golgotha appeared at Lipetsk's Soviet District Court. "They said they sent us a summons," Pastor Boyev told Forum 18. "But we didn't get one." Fyodorova directed all further questions to Larisa Loshkareva, a regional official dealing specifically with the Baptists' situation. On 27 November Loshkareva asked Forum 18 to seek permission for this from her departmental director on 28 November. His telephone went unanswered, however. Vicki Brown, ABP http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3497&Itemid=53http://www.baptist.org.ru/news/media/1327Baptists around the world continued to respond with prayer and humanitarian aid to people displaced by continuing conflict between Georgia and Russia Aug. 29. Meanwhile, Russian Baptists have invited their Georgian counterparts to discuss the future.Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:59:41 +0400Friday, 29 August 2008 TBLISI, Georgia (ABP) -- Baptists around the world continued to respond with prayer and humanitarian aid to people displaced by continuing conflict between Georgia and Russia Aug. 29. Meanwhile, Russian Baptists have invited their Georgian counterparts to discuss the future. Russia has been slow to remove its troops from Georgia after a cease-fire was declared Aug. 13. Thousands have been displaced in the conflict that began earlier this month when Georgian authorities attempted to regain control over the breakaway territory of South Ossetia. The province is regarded by international law as officially part of Georgia, but many of its residents consider themselves Russians and hold Russian citizenship. The province of Abkhazia also stepped up its continuing effort to break away from Georgia. Leaders of the former Soviet Union had made Abkhazia part of Georgia, and Abkhazia has fought for independence since the USSR’s collapse in 1991. Abkhazia declared its independence from Georgia in 1992 but has not secured international recognition. Russians sent thousands of troops into Georgia to assist both provinces on Aug. 7 after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili launched an assault in South Ossetia. The Baptist World Alliance estimates that more than 158,000 individuals have been displaced by the fighting. In the midst of conflict, Russian Baptists are seeking to restore friendship with Georgian Baptists, according to Vitaly Vlasenko, director of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists’ department for external church relations. In an Aug. 24 statement, Vlasenko called on believers to “rise above the fray; rise above narrow, selfish political partisanship.” He acknowledged that Baptists in the two countries had “grown distant” in the past 15 years, laying part of the blame on propaganda efforts. He called on both sides to recognize their part in the conflict and the results of war. Vlasenko extended an invitation to Georgia and to “other nations and peoples who were once part of the Eastern Bloc” to talk about the area’s past and future. “How can we who once lived in the Soviet sphere become a great force for peace?” he wrote. “We by no means want to fall back into the ways and conditions of the Cold War.... Together we evangelical Christians can help reverse the present trend which is leading us down the path of a renewed Cold War.” Vlasenko said monetary donations can be sent through the North Ossetian Mission of Christian Compassion (www.nomcc.org), which primarily assists children, or through the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia’s Betheli Humanitarian Association (www.ebcgeorgia.org). In an Aug. 28 press statement, Baptist World Alliance President David Coffey and General Secretary Neville Callam called on Baptists worldwide to pray for peace in the region. According to the release, Baptist World Aid, BWA’s humanitarian arm (www.bwanet.org), has sent funds, including a contribution from the German Baptist Union, for relief efforts in Georgia. International Ministries of the American Baptist Churches USA has designated a $7,500 emergency grant. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has given $5,000 for relief efforts, with its Georgia state affiliate, which has a partnership with the former Soviet country, sending $2,000. CBF of Georgia has partnered with the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia since 2006, according to a CBF statement. Georgia CBF supports several ministries in its partner country, including a care center for the elderly, an orphanage, a theological school and a women-in-ministry organization. Southern Baptists sent a four-person team to the Georgian capital, Tblisi, Aug. 18 to assess needs. They were scheduled to begin remodeling a building in the devastated Georgian city of Gori on Aug. 25. A Texas Baptist disaster-relief feeding team headed to Georgia Aug. 27, and teams from the Kentucky Baptist Convention and Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma are scheduled to go next week, according to Jim Brown, stateside director of Baptist Global Relief, the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board’s aid arm (www.baptistglobalresponse.com).Baptist World Alliance http://www.bwanet.org/default.aspx?pid=897http://www.baptist.org.ru/news/media/1328BWA President David Coffey and General Secretary Neville Callam are appealing for prayer for those affected by the conflict between Georgian and Russian forces over the Georgian breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:47:00 +0400Washington, D.C. (BWA)--Baptist World Alliance (BWA) President David Coffey and General Secretary Neville Callam are appealing for prayer for those affected by the conflict between Georgian and Russian forces over the Georgian breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.  Estimates are that more than 158,000 persons are displaced as a result of the fighting. “Already, the Baptist World Alliance has sought practical ways in which to give expression to our love for the people affected by the war in the region,” said General Secretary Callam.  “Baptists across the world are praying for the resolution of the conflict over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.” Archbishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, the president of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia, has appealed for assistance to provide shelter, food, water, blankets, medicine, and counseling for those affected by the fighting. “We need to remember in our prayers Archbishop Malkhaz Songulashvili and other pastoral leaders as they seek to minister in this dangerous and uncertain situation,” said President Coffey. Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the BWA, sent 40,000 euros, including a 20,000 euro contribution from the German Baptist Union, to support the relief efforts of Baptists in Georgia. “I urge Baptists to pray for the peace and safety of Georgia and the surrounding regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” said Coffey.  “What has happened in the past few days is a reminder that the Caucasus is a complex and volatile region and we have many Baptists who will have been caught up in the suddenness of this conflict.” Fighting in the region began on August 7 as Georgia launched an assault against separatist forces in South Ossetia.  Russia sent thousands of troops into South Ossetia and launched attacks against Georgia, both in the province and at points throughout Georgia.  “I applaud the initiatives taken by the European Union and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in addressing the situation in which resort to force has resulted in loss of life, destruction of property and disruption in people’s lives in the Caucasus,” said General Secretary Callam.  “We also wish to assure Georgian Baptists of our commitment to urge respect for the territorial integrity of their country,” Callam said.  “We pray for the success of the initiative of the United Nations to resolve the political conflict between Russia and Georgia. We also pray for the peaceful co-existence of all concerned.”Robert Dilday, ABP (reduced) http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3479&Itemid=53http://www.baptist.org.ru/news/media/1329An eye-opening visit by a Baptist Sunday school class to a Moscow hospital nearly 20 years ago sparked a project that today provides millions of dollars in medical supplies to almost 100 countries around the world.Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:06:26 +0400FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) -- An eye-opening visit by a Baptist Sunday school class to a Moscow hospital nearly 20 years ago sparked a project that today provides millions of dollars in medical supplies to almost 100 countries around the world. In 1989, emboldened by the Soviet Union’s new perestroika policies, a few members of Columbia Baptist Church in the Washington-area community of Falls Church, Va., traveled to Moscow to explore a mission partnership with the Soviet capital’s Central Baptist Church. While there, a tour of a nearby hospital -- suffering from the country’s economic tailspin -- shocked them. Medical personnel removed gauze from a wound, washed it and reused it. Surgeons used common sewing thread instead of sutures. Medical supplies were limited and sometimes non-existent. Over the next few years, the class worked with its church and community to collect medical supplies, eventually shipping 17 40-foot containers filled with medical supplies to Moscow. The first shipment of supplies was valued at $131,532. Three years later, almost $5 million in supplies had been sent. In 1996, the Russian relief program ended when it became too difficult to ship containers to Moscow. But by that time, Columbia’s volunteers had developed effective systems to acquire and ship donated funds and supplies around the world, and they were determined to continue the project. In November that year, CrossLink International was incorporated as a  non-profit humanitarian aid ministry. Jere Phillips, BP News http://bpnews.org/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=28605http://www.baptist.org.ru/news/media/1330Before the sun rose in Moscow on Monday, July 28, Teri Tarleton went to be with her Lord. Her son Adam and her oldest daughter Anna were away at college in the States. Her twin daughters Rachel and Rebecca were away at camp.Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:13:21 +0400CORDOVA, Tenn. (BP)--Before the sun rose in Moscow on Monday, July 28, Teri Tarleton went to be with her Lord. Her son Adam and her oldest daughter Anna were away at college in the States. Her twin daughters Rachel and Rebecca were away at camp. Shortly after 5 a.m. she began to have breathing difficulty, but before the emergency people could arrive, with husband Ed by her side, Teri left her modest apartment and entered a mansion prepared by the hands of her Lord Jesus.Teri and her husband Ed had co-labored among the Russian people for nearly 15 years. Ed is the leader for International Mission Board work in Russia. Over the last six years, it has been my pleasure to work with them in a number of mission projects across the Russian Federation.The first time my wife and I met Teri was at a retreat for the leaders of the Russian Baptist Union and their families at Sochi on the rocky shores of the Black Sea. She helped lead a conference for the wives and was moved to tears as the women prayed for their husbands. The men spent many days away from home, much like many denominational leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention. Teri sang in Russian for the worship service on Sunday, touching the hearts of Russians and Americans alike with her love for the Lord.The last time I saw Teri and Ed was in their home 14 months ago when they invited me to their apartment for a meal. They were in the fourth week of a 40-day fast, praying and fasting for the Russian people, so they did not eat, but provided a delicious meal for me and their girls. They had not wanted me to know about the fast and would probably not approve of my telling you about it, but Southern Baptists need to know the depth of love their missionaries have for the people they serve.Teri was a lady of grace and a lover of God. We often use the phrase "a man of God" -- which certainly describes Ed. However, the same term accurately describes Teri -– "a godly lady." Teri was the epitome of a missionary, not just a missionary wife. She was a partner with Ed in every way. She loved the Russian people as an extended part of her family. Teri and Ed rarely came back to the States during their tenure; they did not want to be away from their people -– for the Russians were their people.We will all miss her greatly. We grieve with Ed and the children, but we grieve also for the Russian people, for they have lost a great friend. Their love was displayed in a fitting memorial service for Teri the night before Ed brought her body back to America. In the sanctuary of the historic Central Baptist Church in Moscow, the Russian Baptist leaders, the pastors and lay people gathered to say "thank you" and "goodbye" to this lady who had touched their lives with her love and her life.Please keep Ed and the children in your prayers and -- as Teri might urge -- pray for yourself to see if God might be touching your life with His call. Perhaps you will join that great host of Southern Baptist missionaries who are reaching people for Jesus in Russia and around the world.