CEE Story From The Mission Field
Musicians present Gospel in Russia
June 30, 2008
By Lisa Watson
When the Arkansas Master’Singers traveled to Ekaterinburg, Russia, April 11-18, they found a land and a people in physical and spiritual darkness.
Though the Iron Curtain fell years ago, many Russians still live in oppressive circumstances.
Major cities have modern conveniences, but poverty is still rampant. “You get outside the larger cities and it’s like being in the 1930s during the Great Depression with abandoned buildings and dirty conditions,” said Carlos Ichter, Arkansas Baptist State Convention leadership and worship team leader and Master’Singers director.
Born-again Christians are often persecuted and some are ostracized from society.
But 31 Arkansas Baptists brought the Light of Christ to Russians in the area through music. The group presented seven concerts in Ekaterinburg and surrounding areas. Though the group never sang before huge crowds, they did attract a number of non-Christians to the concerts.
The group’s official purpose was to bring exposure to American culture. With that in mind, they sang songs in typical American musical styles like western, southern gospel and jazz. “All the songs we sang had Christian messages but had contrasting styles,” says Ichter. They sought to “legitimize” what they were singing while still “giving a direct presentation of the gospel,” he continued.
Group members also distributed Christian tracts during concerts and as they traveled around the area.
They did have a couple of run-ins with the local police, who checked paperwork and visa information to make sure the group was “really” doing what their visa said they should do.
The Master’Singers worked with Arkansas natives Rusty and Lori Hart, International Mission Board missionaries to the region.
This mission trip was very different for members of the group who traveled to Brazil several years ago, said Phillip Powers, Marshall Road Church of Jacksonville minister of music.
“Brazil was more evangelistic. The work in Russia is so hard,” he continued. The trip was more of a “ministry of encouragement and hope” to the Russian pastors who labor under much difficulty.
Many Russian Baptist pastors fight against a type of spiritual depression, said Johnny Lewis, First Church of Conway worship pastor. “You are dealing with pastors who have five, six, maybe 10 members in their churches,” he continues. “They are oppressed by their surroundings and the Russian Orthodox Church is obsessive about squashing the evangelical movement.”
Ichter said communism was also very effective in wiping out the Christian witness in the area. “Baptists and evangelicals are seen as a cult,” he explained.
Group members wanted to be encouragers to the Russian believers. Following a concert in Kamishlov, which is about two and a half hours east of Ekaterinburg, the Master’Singers were asked to sing the praise song, “Our God is an Awesome God” as an encore. “It was definitely one of those ‘God is here’ moments,” says Ichter. “An audience member commented to me after the concert that she knew that many would repent of their sins after the concert. We will certainly pray to that end,” he continued.
Many of the concerts were held in the town’s local house of culture. During the community era, these auditoriums were used primarily to spread community propaganda to the area, said Ichter.
Group members also visited a number of historic sites. One site that made a huge impression was the Memorial to the Politically Repressed, which lists the names of the 50 million Russians who were slaughtered during the Holocaust. “A large number of those who were killed were Christians,” said Ichter.
The team also visited a local orphanage where they handed out goody bags filled with American candy.
Prayer is a definite need for the Christian pastors and workers in the area they visited.
Partnering with the Harts and other IMB missionaries to go on mission is another great need. Ichter said those who went on the trip were reminded of the importance of being Kingdom believers. “We need to make ourselves available to go to difficult places ... to experience church in a world that’s different from where we live,” he continued.
Many of the Master’Singers also plan to encourage their churches to partner with the Harts and other IMB missionaries, said Ichter. “There were about 15 Arkansas Baptist churches represented on the trip and some will end up partnering with them,” he continued.
Group members were able to minister to one Russian pastor, Alexe, in a very unusual way. On the last day of the trip, they received word that Alexe, a pastor they’d met earlier, had just discovered his sister had died. She had been missing for some time. He had no money for the burial costs. So, the Master’Singers dug deep into their pockets and came up with enough money to cover the costs. “I will never see his face again,” said Lewis, “But I know God put us there at that time to do that for him.”
The group was able to tell him through their actions, “You are half a world away but there are people that love you,” he said. “We want you to keep doing what you are doing.”
To find out more about reaching the lost in Russia, contact Rusty and Lori, visit their website at ahart4russia.com.