Story number 2 for 20 Jul 2000

Meanwhile, foreign Christian missionaries to Russia are seeing an increasing number of expulsions. That, according to a report from Keston News. Russian Ministries’ Andrew Semenchuck says the expulsions are rare and localized, but they’re coming on the recommendation of the Orthodox Church. He explains why. “The reformation never hit Russia. As a result, people in the Russian Orthodox church know nothing about Protestantism. They consider us, along with all the other cults and sects, as heretics or occult in effect. And, therefore they are on the defensive.” Semenchuck says in order to succeed, missionaries must work with the Russian church, which is what Russian Ministries is doing. “Our organization has trained over 3,000 church planters who are all very actively planting new churches. And the national church is taking over the responsibilities of opening up new areas.”