Belarus (MNN) — Despite lack of religious freedom in Belarus, a church building was dedicated in the last dictatorial nation in Eastern Europe. It was also dedicated in honor of two men, father and son: Peter Deyneka, Sr. — founder of Slavic Gospel Association, and Peter Deyneka, Jr. — founder of Russian Ministries.
President of Russian Ministries Sergey Rakhuba was there. "It was a great opportunity to participate in a dedication service where we were able to travel back in history and remember and honor the lives of those two servants of Christ."
Peter Deyneka, Sr. moved to the United States from Belarus in 1914. He became a dynamic preacher of the Gospel after he came to Christ at Moody Church in Chicago.
While the Soviet Union is no more, Rakhuba says Belarus is not an easy place to be a Christian. He says this celebration was marred by interference. "When we finished our dedication service, police called the pastor and were asking all kinds of questions — 'Who was there? Why did you do this? We did not [permit] you to do this' — although we didn't do anything wrong."
Rakhuba continues, "If there's an evangelistic service [Christians] would like to hold in the community, nobody would have the permission to do it on public ground. You have to do it within your walls [of the church]. You cannot share your faith publicly. That's already a constitutional law there."
Churches have a lot of restrictions, says Rakhuba. "They aren't allowed to visit orphanages. They are not allowed to do any social Christian service to help those who are in need."
Even though there are restrictions, Russian Ministries isn't giving up on the region. "We really hope it will become a center for evangelism in that area, and ministry will continue in spite of all those limitations."
That means Russian Ministries next generation church leader training School Without Walls (SWW) will be a part of this church outreach. Your support is needed for this. "It takes $480 to train one person through the cycle of different seminars. We provide resources for them. We provide resources for practicum [training]. They will be able to, on behalf of their churches, continue reaching [out] to their communities."
If you'd like to help Russian Ministries SWW ministry, click here.
