A. Evidence of Proselytism

"Plant churches in Russia" == 60 websites

In fact, our (World Help) first project in 1991 that brought us into existence was to print and distribute Bibles in Russia, right after the fall of Communism. Since that time, World Help has distributed more than 8 million Bibles, New Testaments, and other Christian literature to public schools, churches, hospitals, military bases and orphanages in countries such as Russia, China, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Rwanda, Haiti, the Philippines and Cuba.

The idea came up to send people over from here to teach the students in Russia English, using the bible as a text book. So, now there are regular missions to that city, not just from our church but also lots of others. Participation is voluntary for students. Usually 100-200 sign up from what I heard. This year blew us away, a whopping 1000 signed up.

Our Lady appeared to Sister Lucy at Tuy, Spain, on June 13, 1929, to say that: “The moment has come when God asks the Holy Father to make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means.” The phrase “by this means” is crucial, because it signifies that the consecration is not merely a symbol of the coming conversion of Russia, but the very means by which it will be accomplished. Thus, without the act of consecration there will be no conversion of Russia, and without the conversion of Russia, Russia’s errors will continue to infest the world, producing the persecution of the Church, the martyrdom of the good, the suffering of the Holy Father and ultimately the annihilation of nations forewarned at Fatima.

Again, in 1985, Dr. Lee (of the University Bible Fellowship) gave a prayer topic to send missionaries to Russia within ten years. At that time, it seemed impossible. Most of us could not believe, but we prayed because Dr. Lee gave us the prayer topic. We ate Russian bread, drank Russian tea, performed Russian dances and listened to "Moscow Nights," again and again as our prayer for Russia. In 1990, the first permanent missionaries went to Russia. Since 1991, there has been a summer Bible conference in Russia every year. Later, Dr. Lee asked us to pray that the Russian government might return land to the people. Recently, a new law was passed, and Russian coworkers purchased land and a building as a Bible study center. In addition, UBF was recognized as a church and given freedom to evangelize in Russia. Surely, God answers his people who pray earnestly.

The 1980s offered more freedom, and the Baptists took advantage of them by stepping up evangelical work and making contacts with the authorities. Now, the Ukrainian Baptist Union, led by Komendant since 1994, is the biggest in Europe, boasting 150,000 believers (not including children under 16) and 2,700 religious communities. In 1990, it counted only 930 churches in Ukraine.

'It's POWER time!' screams John Jacobs, the leader of this spectacle known as the Power Team. His smile, projected on four, 4m screens above him, gleams over a mesmerised, standing-room-only crowd - 3,500 people clapping in unison to the beat of the dance music. He spreads his arms, microphone in one hand, Bible in the other. Five bulging hulks canter down the aisles, including a long-haired blond guy who bends horseshoes, and the Strongest Man in the World. 'We are here,' Jacobs enunciates, 'to wage war on the devil!' . . . Finally, Jacobs invites all those who are ready to be born again to step forward. At least 1,000 souls swarm on to the stage. The Power Team claims that in its 20-year history more than a million people have asked to be saved. Its weekly television show, The Power Connection, is broadcast in 55 countries. And in April, the Power Team will arrive in the UK, kicking off an international tour that will take in Australia, India and Russia.

Our church (First United Methodist Church of Colorado Springs) is blessed that God is using the Russia Initiative to establish and support our sister church in Novgorod, Russia. The Novgorod congregation is led by Natalya Chernova, a graduate of Methodist Seminary in Moscow established in 1996. The United Methodist Church's mission is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through the development and support of a Russian Methodist congregation and to reach out to the citizens and organizations of Novgorod with social ministries and humanitarian aid. [As of this writing, the Russia United Methodist Church is made up of 4 annual conferences, 12 districts, 113 churches, and numerous Bible groups scattered from Russia’s European western border to its far eastern border to Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan]. United Methodism is inclusive; it does not condemn other denominations, nor does it demean the Russian Orthodox Church. Methodism also accepts sinners and non-believers!

B. Orthodox Protests Against Western Church Growth in Russia

The presence of Evangelical missionaries in Russia is really quite an insult. In 1988 Russia celebrated it's first millenium of Orthodox Christianity, yet the missionaries come in and seem to say "unless you believe and practice our way, you aren't really Christians at all". As an analogy I pose this question: How would American Evangelicals feel if the US was flooded with Orthodox priests from Russia telling them "You aren't true Christians, come with us and we will "save" you.

Orthodox don't object to Protestant missionaries caring for their own indigenous congregations. Resentment springs up, rather, over attempts to convert people of Orthodox lineage to Protestant faiths. The concept of a faith "lineage" has little weight in America; here we switch easily from one denomination to another, without feeling an obligation to uphold the church of our grandparents. But in some other lands, loyally upholding inherited faith is valued. Russia recently celebrated a thousand years of Orthodox faith, and other formerly communist nations go back centuries more. This spiritual inheritance is alive and important to them, and continuing it is an obligation and honor. Americans may see this as silly, but failure to understand the Orthodox viewpoint makes for unintentional wounding.

Father Ted Stylianopoulos: Quite apart from geography, the problem is proselytism itself, defined as targeting, planning and aggressively seeking to draw members from one Christian community to another. This practice necessarily implies denial of the other community as a locus of grace and salvation. Such denial can only be the unending source of acrimony, hostility and polemics between Christian communities—a betrayal of Christ whom they profess as Lord and a cause of derision on the part of the unbelieving world beholding Christians proselytizing one another!

It seems to Orthodox that Americans have unfair advantages, stirring up more bitterness. American financial resources are huge compared to that of the diminished Orthodox church. While Orthodox churches are still impoverished and in shambles, new Protestant churches can look as nice as new American churches. Also, since anything American is "cool," the church struggles against another frustrating disadvantage: the perception that it's not fashionable, while the incoming churches are.

So what can Protestant missionaries do? Go to formerly communist lands and seek out those who have held the faith through years of great danger. Perhaps we Westerners, who have never been tested by such persecution, can learn something from so heroic a faith. Ask how you can help them rebuild. Prison Fellowship has set a good example by partnering with Orthodox chaplains rather than establishing a separate parachurch ministry. I've heard others talk about working with Orthodox leaders to develop Sunday school materials. There is no doubt that the Orthodox Church can use refreshment and revitalization, which come so naturally to Americans. If Protestant missionaries believe that Orthodox Christians are fellow members of the body of Christ, working together fulfills their mission just as well as working separately.

One Protestant missionary to Russia lectured me that "anybody who prays to icons can't know Jesus as Lord," showing that even after her trip, she still did not know that Orthodox don't pray to icons. . . .The dilemma is summed up by a missionary T-shirt a friend of mine observed. It read, "Bringing the light of the Gospel where it has never shown before." Below this there was an image of a church with onion domes--topped by crosses.

Since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Orthodox Church has accused Catholics of using new-found freedoms to woo converts away from the Orthodox Church. The Vatican has rejected accusations of so-called “soul poaching” as unfounded. Pope John Paul had standing invitations from a string of Russian presidents to visit Moscow but Alexiy [Patriach of Moscow] always vetoed the idea. *The Russian Orthodox Church was extremely angered by the Vatican’s decision last year to upgrade four of its so-called apostolic administrations in Russia to full dioceses. The Catholic Church, in return, insists it is not seeking converts, but simply trying to provide pastoral services to Russia’s estimated 600,000 Catholics. *Pope John Paul plans to return a 16th century icon to Russia in order to try to help thaw frosty relations between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church. *Pope’s Icon Just a Copy, Patriarch Tells Putin. *Alexiy II called for the pontiff’s help in uniting the two Christian Churches which have been split since 1054. “I offer heartfelt congratulations on your election to the ancient Roman office,” Alexiy said in a statement. “I wish you God’s help in the high service of leading the Roman Catholic Church.”

Assignment: (2) What steps have been taken by my denomination (or the WCC) toward addressing/healing ONE of these three wounds?

1. Person-to-person inquiry

2. Library search

3. Internet search