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03
Dec, 09
Prayers Needed - Religious Freedoms in JeopardyAccording to a recent article, new amendments to the Law on Religious Activity would impose fines on ordinary believers for sharing their faith, if ratified by the State Duma. This would greatly curtail religious freedom and is of greatest concern to evangelical groups who actively share their faith with those outside of Christ.
Pray for God's hand to intervene and protect the ability of ordinary believers to share their faith without fear of retribution.
See excerpts from the article below:
Missionaries Face Fines for Sharing Their Faith, 12/3/2009 by Alexander Bratersky
Ordinary believers face fines for sharing their faith with strangers in the metro or on the street under amendments drafted by the Justice Ministry that are stirring worries among Protestant groups about a clampdown on religious freedom.
Under the proposed changes to the Law on Religious Activity, only leaders of registered religious groups and their officially authorized missionaries would be allowed to pass out religious literature, preach and talk about their faith in public, according to a draft of the amendments published in Kommersant on Wednesday.
Anyone else who shares their faith would face a fine of 2,000 rubles to 5,000 rubles ($65 to $170) for individuals and 5,000 rubles to 7,000 rubles ($170 to $230) for legal entities.
Currently, no permits are required for missionary activities. Some Protestant groups said Wednesday that the amendments were a violation of Jesus' call in Matthew 28:19 to "go and make disciples of all nations."
Andrei Sobentsov, secretary of the governmental commission in charge of religious organizations, confirmed that the amendments violated the Constitution and called them "unacceptable," Kommersant reported Wednesday.
No date has been set for the bill to be submitted to the State Duma, but it has a high chance of being passed because it faced no opposition from within the political establishment, said Alexander Soldatov, head of the Credo.ru religious news wire.
Religious experts estimate that about 20,000 Protestant groups are currently active in Russia. 07
Nov, 09
More Than We Can Imagine
Committed to seeing more new churches planted in Russia, Russian Outreach Network has become a catalyst for renewed interest in church planting among Russian leaders. In August 2009 we sponsored a seminar focused on Church Planting for Russian leaders from various churches. This was the second such seminar and revealed that interest is growing. Russian leaders recognize the need and desire help to figure out new strategies for planting new churches. They also want to strengthen existing churches, so that they can take a more active role in planting more churches. A new wave of God's Spirit is at work! Many of our brotherhood missions working in Russia over the past 18 years gathered near St. Louis, MO, in late September to discuss what God has been doing in Russia, and seek ways we can partner to see more churches planted. We believe that we can accomplish more when we work together and so it is exciting to see a growing network of partners. Our prayer is that God will move in a distinct way to foster expansion of His Kingdom in Russia. An enormous need still exists in Russia for churches. Of the 142 million people living in Russia, less than 2% are evangelical Christians. That's less than 2 out of every 100 people you would meet on the street! According to Russia Now, "Most Russians are an urban breed – three-quarters of them live in cities. The two major ones are the capital Moscow with more than 10 million people, and St. Petersburg with more than four million. Roughly 80 percent of the population is ethnic Russian. The rest is a mix of other ethnic groups, with the Tatars and Ukrainians making the largest minorities." This is one reason why we are partnering to plant churches in Moscow, like the Peace to Our Home Church. But our vision is for other Russian-speaking peoples as well. This is why we have helped send a Russian to be a missionary to her native culture in Kyrgyzstan. But we can't stop there. We serve an amazing God who is able to do this and infinitely more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Yet when you read that verse, you realize He wants to do it through us, His Church. We are his chosen instruments to accomplish His divine will on this earth. That's humbling and motivating all at the same time. So, let's not hold back. Instead, let's boldly ask and join with Him in what He wants to do among all people including the Russian-speaking people of our world.
07
Nov, 09
Church Planting Seminar
What is it going to take to plant churches in Russia and beyond? With the rapid pace of change in our world, the strategies used even just ten years ago to plant churches are largely outdated. New approaches need to be developed. One place that can happen is by getting leaders together who share a heart and vision for church planting. These type of gatherings can serve as an incubator for fresh ideas and provide not only a training ground, but also a forum where new approaches to starting churches can be discussed and developed. The ultimate goal is to help MORE churches take shape filled with MORE people who want to become lifelong followers of Jesus Christ. To help be a catalyst for new churches, our mission is taking a multi-faceted approach:
If God is prompting you to get involved, please contact us. We would welcome the opportunity to explore together what God wants us to do for his cause.
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Russian Outreach Network
P.O. Box 609
Markle, IN 46770
Phone: 260.415.2261
Email: info©russianoutreach.net
P.O. Box 609
Markle, IN 46770
Phone: 260.415.2261
Email: info©russianoutreach.net
Planting Churches,
Training Leaders,
Changing Lives
Training Leaders,
Changing Lives
