CEE Story From The Mission Field
Religious Persecution in Belarus
November 15, 2002
For the first time since the demise of communism in the former Soviet Republics, a place of worship has been deliberately destroyed in order to prevent worship within its walls. The Autocephalous Orthodox Church in a small village of Western Belarus was surrounded by troops and bulldozed to the ground less than 24 hours before consecration services for their new place of worship. According to a local human rights organization, it was because this church was independent of the Russian Orthodox Church, which the authorities do not want to offend because of their position of dominance in Belarus.
This is not the first attempt to destroy the Autocephalous Church. The parishioners were able to defend their church against earlier attempts. Destruction aside, there has been persecution all along the way. Despite the fact that it has 70 parishes throughout the country, the group has repeatedly been denied legal recognition by officials. When a local newspaper published information about Christmas services last January, it was reprimanded by officials for breaking the law by publishing information about an unregistered organization, and a member of the aforementioned human rights organization was jailed for traveling to the site of the church with the intention of reporting on the destruction.
Interesting situation, but you may be asking what this has to do with us as Southern Baptists. Like the church whose building was destroyed, we are a religious organization that is independent of the Russian Orthodox Church. As an evangelical church that seeks to win Orthodox parishioners to Christ, do we not represent an even greater threat to the State Church than a rogue Orthodox Church?
The Belarusian government has shown such flagrant disregard for the religious rights of the Belarusian people that the future looks bleak for freedom, and this seems to be the trend in many parts of the former Soviet Republic. Two of our own missionary families in that area of the world have been denied re-entry visas and have had to relocate their ministries to other countries. There is no apparent reason except for the fact that their ministries were effective in winning people to Christ.
As we have feared since the wall fell and Perestroika succeeded, the window of opportunity in the former Soviet Union may not be open for long. We are seizing the God given moment while it lasts freely proclaim the name of Jesus. Please join us in praying, giving and going to spread the gospel into this nation before the curtain of darkness falls again.