Russian Church Tried by Fire

By Steve Little and Gary Lane
CBN News
November 9, 2007

CBNNews.com - Sunday November 11 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church and Christians in thousands of churches around the globe are expected to take part.

In Russia, some Christians aren't allowed to have church buildings.

One congregation in Moscow has been fighting to build a church for 15 years.

Arsonists Torch Moscow Church

In March 2007, fire consumed the Emmanuel Assembly of God in Moscow.

Pastor Alexander Purshaga was not surprised when the firefighters told him arsonists had torched the building.

He said it was the fourth attempt to burn down his church building, which was still under construction.

"Three times we put fire down, but this time enemies did…big explosion, and in a few minutes all this building was burned," Purshaga told CBN news.

Two church members standing guard at the building site barely escaped with their lives that night, and the fire destroyed $150,000 in construction work and materials. It also destroyed thousands of pieces of religious literature, including New Testaments.

When CBN News visited the church, a bomb squad was on site, investigating a new threat that turned out to be a false alarm.

However, for years, the attacks against Purshaga have been all too real.

He's survived two attempts on his life and the American Embassy has even offered him asylum in the United States.

"Since I start to work here in 1991 we always had calls that they would kill us - and my wife would be killed and my son would be killed. For us it's not news," he said.

In 2005, Emmanuel church members held public protests when city officials illegally confiscated their property in downtown Moscow.

Police broke up their rally and sentenced Purshaga and the church leaders to five days in jail.

City courts upheld the confiscation order and the church lost its property.

When Purshaga began building on the new property, city leaders and Orthodox Church officials told him they'd never allow it.

"I think the first problem is that we are Protestant, we are not Orthodox," he said. "Because we are not Orthodox…in their mind we are an American religion and we are enemies of society."

Purshaga is not the only one struggling to find a home. Sergey Rakhuba of U.S.-based Russian Ministries says that trying to build a Protestant church in Moscow today is impossible.

"Churches in Moscow…those who did not manage to get their building, to get their facility for worship in the beginning of '90s, there's no way they can get it now. The situation in Moscow is pretty, pretty, tough. It's pretty strict and none of the churches of any Protestant denomination have a chance to have their own building today," Rakhuba said.

The government and the Russian Orthodox Church regard Protestants as anti-Russian, even agitators.

The Heart of Russia's Identity

The Russian Orthodox Church is more than 1,000 years old and it's the heart of Russian identity.

Protestants are seen as western and alien, and the support they receive from Western organizations makes the government suspicious.

Yuri Sipko is the head of the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, the largest Protestant denomination in Russia. He says government-run media presents a negative view of Protestants.

"Their publications will sometimes accuse religious organizations of serving as agents of western intelligence and will present them therefore as anti-patriotic," Sipko said. "For this reason, the climate that has been created in society regarding religion by the mass media and government officials is quite unpleasant at the present time."

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there aren't enough church buildings for the growing numbers of Protestant believers and they're forced to rent space at very high prices. Even then, government officials pressure landlords to revoke their leases and there is little legal recourse.

Sipko said, "A Russian proverb says, 'The law depends on which way the wind blows.' Unfortunately, we don't really have any rights before the law.Experience has taught us that we can request, beg, and appeal, but to say that we can resolve this problem through legal means is impossible, since the system itself is flawed and there is no respect for the law."

But Russia's Protestant believers are fighting back with faith. A sign on Emmanuel's devastated building says: "This church, burned by the evil-doers, will be restored by the Christians. May God bless you all."

Parshaga says the best way to change their situation, is to ask God for revival.

"Tell to Christians in all the world, at this moment when church in Russia, not only in Moscow, but in all regions in Russia under persecution, pray for us and believe that in these difficulties God will send revival, and that is why we're here."

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