Volume 3 - 1989
A Russian pastor describes the problems still encountered under perestroika in the USSR: “Change is in the air and there are rumours of increasing freedom, but there has been no change in the laws on religion. For churches the situation varies from area to area — some officials are just as hostile as before and short-term arrests and fines are the result. At work Christians continue to have their wages docked and they don’t get the same extra benefits or bonus payments as other workers. Sometimes they are forced to work overtime at weekends etc., when otherwise they would be involved in church activities.
0 Comments
Volume 5 - 1989
Yugoslavia is a unique communist country, consisting of:
When we entered Yugoslavia in 1989, the country was gripped by 1000% inflation. One meal cost 1 Dinari “The prices double or treble every time we visit a shop,” a Yugoslavian leader exclaimed. “These communists, they experiment with us and now there is record unemployment and our country is in an economic mess. That is what ‘scientific socialism’ has done for us. The people are disillusioned. There is inconsistency everywhere. The laws are changed overnight. They are not honest. The communists keep changing the rules. They sieze investments. They change contracts. The situation is so sensitive. You can go to prison just for saying something. And what is ‘wrong’ changes daily.” Volume 3 - 1989
Former prisoner, Ivan Antonov, shares what he found to be most important of all: “While in prison camp, I felt that my primary ministry was prayer. Like Daniel, I prayed three times a day, opening the windows of my heart towards my friends in freedom. I also prayed for our persecutors. I would sing hymns. I was really glad that I knew so many. I had memorized about one hundred and seventy hymns, and in order not to forget them, I reviewed several every day. So over a time, I sang through all of them. I want to emphasize to my young friends that you should worship God with songs and poems and memorize them. They will come in handy. But most important of all, you should study and memorize the Word of God. When I was in prison and camp, I had no Bible, but I was able to review what I had stored in my heart. I went over two chapters from the Old Testament and two chapters from the New Testament every day. Volume 3 - 1989
The pastor and deacon of the independent registered Baptist church in Brest, on the Soviet-Polish border, have sent an open letter to the Christians in the West, expressing their concern at the ways in which the registered All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians-Baptists is using funds raised from the sale of Bibles. The AUCECB receives 30 rubles for each Bible, and local leaders charge an additional 3-10 rubles to cover expenses in bringing the Bibles from Moscow. The Brest church leaders are very grateful to Western Christians for taking the opportunities available to send Bibles to the churches in the USSR, and report that they are “bearing fruit to God’s glory.” Volume 1 - 1989
In the Soviet Union in 1989 where
Volume 3 - 1989
When a Christian is fined for attending a worship service, his personal details (name, address, nature and place of employment etc.) are taken down and subsequently notice of the amount payable arrives, sometimes by post. The Christian then has a certain amount of time within which to pay the fine. Failure to pay within this limit may lead to the imposition of a court order to dock the amount from the offender’s wages or the confiscation of some personal possession in lieu of payment. Volume 3 - 1989
“Recently I visited East Germany and saw both sides of “the Wall.” The “Berlin Wall” is concrete proof — should any further evidence be needed after Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Angola, Nicuragua and Afghanistan — of the nature of “Scientific Socialism”. To prevent Germans in the Soviet Zone from fleeing to the Western Zone in Berlin, a 165 km wall has been constructed, with 289 concrete observation posts/machine-gun towers and 123 km of electric fencing, to separate communist East Germany from free West Berlin. Volume 3 - 1989
A German Lutheran stepped up to me and declared loudly for all to hear: “You are a supporter of apartheid, oppression and racialism in the facist Pretoria regime!” I looked around me in surprise and asked, “Excuse me, but I don’t remember meeting you before. Do you know me?” “You are a racist!”, he spat. “You don’t know me. If you knew my life and ministry assisting Black Christians suffering persecution, risking my life to bring the Gospel to Black people in communist lands, then you would know what a stupid accusation that is.” The Director of Frontline Fellowship recently returned from an extensive 9 nation, 2½ month speaking tour which involved:
36 flights and 90 speaking engagements. It also involved driving 4 300km by car and 10 border crossings in Eastern Europe alone. In this report Peter Hammond describes some of the important developments which he observed and lessons to be learnt from the previous Soviet satellites of Eastern Europe. Volume 1 - 1994
Are you prepared for persecution?The Bible warns us: ‘everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.' 2 Tim 3:12 Perhaps you will never suffer the vicious and violent persecution which the Christians in Sudan and Nagorno Karabagh are suffering at this time - but if we remain faithful to the Lord then there will be times when we will be misunderstood, slandered, discriminated against, threatened and abused. |
More Reports
All
Archives
November 2018
|