This is my brief report for August 2009.

1. IMMERSIONS. This month I immersed a man from Sochi (the main Black Sea resort of Russia), who had specially come for this sacrament to Krasnodar. The newly immersed man is a public and political figure of that city municipal level.

2. PRISONS. The ministers of DOM ARM 17 times visited prisons, prison camps, detention cells and prison psychiatric hospitals. We spread among the arrested people more, than 200 items of clothes and 50 Bibles, donated by Krasnodar believers.

In August the long-time chief of the Russian prison system Yu. Kalinin was dismissed by President Medvedev. His office was given to the police general A. Reimer, who was ordered to “clean” the system. The reason of this “revolution” was the murder of Oleg Efremov. This man was a colonel of the FSB (the political police) in Nizhniy Novgorod city (Gorkiy city in Soviet era; 2000 km NE from Krasnodar, on the bank of Volga river; the center of Russian secret military industries). At first O. Efremov was arrested in connection with some dark case. Being under the investigation (before any court trial), he disappeared from the city investigation prison. Soon his dead body with the traces of the terrible torments was found in the solitary cell of the prison camp near Nizhniy Novgorod. Legally only the convicts can appear in the prison camp. This man was not convicted, he was not even under the court. But he appeared in the prison camp, he was tormented (somebody wanted to receive the political police secrets) and murdered. Sure, Kalinin was dismissed; 5 guards of the prison camp, where the body had been found, were arrested, etc. The case of O. Efremov shows, that in Russian prisons the murders are possible; the torments are real; the keeping of the unconvicted men is usual, etc., etc. This tragic event confirms the truth of my depiction of the situation in Russian prisons (while many “right defenders” tried to accuse me in saying of the “untruthful stories” about the murders and torments in prisons).

Confirming this situation once more, on 31.08 2009 Vyacheslav Puzikov – the father of the arrested Michael Puzikov – asked me to help: his son without any valid court decision had been sent to the prison camp in Krasnodar Territory. The prison authorities know the illegality of the situation, but do not want to liberate the man, saying, that the Krasnodar Territory police chief general Kucheruk is personally interested to keep Puzikov in prison.

3. MOSLEMS. On 26.08.2008 G. Kasparov (the former world chess champion, one of the co-chairmen of the Russian “Solidarity”, opposition movement) came to the Qirimtatar mejlis in Simferopol (Crimea, Ukraine). He was accepted by Refat-bey Chubarov (M. Jemilev 1-st deputy) and A. Hamzin. The visit of Kasparov was the result of my strong critics of the “Solidarity”, which had rejected to support the nomination of M. Jemilev for the Nobel Peace award. I published this critics in internet; spoke about it broadly at different public events, etc. At last, in 3 months after the nomination, Kasparov came to mejlis.

4. MISSION  TRIPS. Our daughter Nike and some her youth ministry members had 06 – 11.08.2009 a mission expedition to Crimea (Ukraine) to the region of Kerch – Theodosia – Sudak. Near Sudak they found the old protestant kirche and the grave-yard of the Swedish family of the Stevens. Christian Steven (1781 – 1863) was born in the Swedish Finland. After the Russian annexation of Finland he became the Russian civil serviceman. He founded the famous Nikitskiy Botanic Garden (near Yalta, Crimea) and was its’ director in 1812 – 1824. In 1826 – 1853 he was the chief inspector of agriculture for Crimea and Caucasus. His descendants were the leaders of the protestant community of Crimea. In 1866 the manager of the Stevens family land possessions near Sudak and two his servicemen (all 3 – Qirimtatars) were arrested by the czar political police. They were falsely accused in murdering of the hegumen Parpheniy of the Kiziltash monastery. The process was quite illegal; the Tatars refused all accusations; but with the military court they were declared guilty and were hung in 1868. With this case the Russian police pressed on the Moslems (Qirimtatars) and the protestants (the Stevens). The Moscow Patriarchate in 2000 declared hegumen Parpheniy to be a “saint” (as a martyr, killed by Tatars, though his body had never been found at all!); his icon was produced and now is widely being sold in Crimea. On the contrary, the Qirimtatars declared their executed brethren to be the unguilty martyrs and erected a memorial for them. I am sure, the objects, connected with the Stevens (the Nikitskiy Botanic Garden; the Kirche and the grave-yard near Sudak), who also became the victims of the political provocation and the anti-Protestant Religious persecution, can and must be the instruments of the Evangelical preaching in Crimea, the instruments of the cooperation of the Christians with the Qirimtatars. I informed about this the Swedish Embassies in Moscow and in Kiev.

5. MEDITATIONS. Some members of the Krasnodar branch of the “Solidarity” movement gave me a geographical map, published by the known right-defender Vadim Karastelyov (the co-chairman of the Krasnodar Territory “Solidarity” branch; the chief of the so called “Novorossiysk Committee for Human Rights”, a long-time recipient of the Mac-Arthur US foundation grants). The “Karastelyov map” shows Abkhazia, as an independent state, with its special color and special state banner, different from the nearly situated Georgian ones, etc. The US vice-president J.R. Biden has just visited Georgia, where, speaking in front of the Parliament in Tbilisy, he publicly promised, that the USA would never recognize the independence of Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia. And Karastelyov, who received and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of the US believers, donated through the Mac-Arthur foundation, publishes a map, which undermines the American position and throws a shadow on the Mac-Arthurs (as if this foundation is against the US Administration). This is a real treason!  Karastelyov solidarizes with the idolatric Moscow Patriarchate, which, to approve the occupation of the Southern Ossetia, has declared about the “mysterious appearance” of the special “miracle doing icon of the God Mother”, which is called “Alanian – from troubles the guard” (in Rus. “Alanskaya – ot bed strazh”). This icon “must defend Southern Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia”. It was published in the “Orthodox Voice of Kuban” newspaper (2009, # 8 – 225, p. 2). And Karastelelyov invented the provocative geographical map. Now the US vice-president may say: “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me” (Ps., 41:9). And the vice-president should be quite right, indeed!

6. DIVINE  ACTION. On 17.08.2008 with the special order of the Moscow Patriarch Cyrillus his foreign department chief archbishop Illarion with the great triumph accepted in Moscow the “miracle doing icon of the Mtsensk God Mother”. It had been lost during the 2 World War and now was returned to Russia. Sure, the icon-worshippers again declared, that this “wonderful return” meant the beginning of the new era of Russia blooming. This was the pure idolatric blasphemy. And this blasphemy was immediately replied. On 17.08.2009 two Russian military air-plane fighters, led by the best pilots, smashed one another, in the sky over the International Aviation and Space Salon near Moscow (MAKS). The next plane fell and exploded not far from Moscow that day. President Obama signed an order to recall the US delegation from MAKS. During the night from 17 to 18.08.2009 a huge catastrophe took place on the biggest in Russia Sayano-Shushenskaya hydro-electric station, which power plant was totally destroyed and about 100 workers were killed. At last during the early morning of 18.08.2009 a Moslem suicide bomber (they say, it was the famous sheikh Said Buryatskiy) attacked the police building in Nazran (the capital of the Ingush republic – 500 km E from Krasnodar): about 30 policemen were killed, about 100 – wounded.

The God saith: “I am the Lord” (Lev., 26:2), “And I will cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols” (Lev., 26:30). And all the described events were His Divine Action, indeed.

7. YOUTH  MINISTRY. With the “NIKA”-ministry we organized the special event to commemorate the victory over the communist attempt of coup-d’etat (on 19 – 22.08.1991). I told the members of the “NIKA”-ministry about those events and about our participance in them; I spoke about the Religious Freedoms, which had appeared in Russia after that victory; we prayed together and read the New Testament: “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal., 4:31 – 5:1). Then the young people had a special tournament on fris-bee in the central square of the Krasnodar city.

8. PUBLIC  RELATIONS. Bro E. Novozhilov, whom the DOM ARM had helped to escape from Russia to Poland, has, at last, received the official status of the refugee on political and Religious basis in that state. The petition in a favour of him was signed, e.g., by such a prominent figure, as the former Polish prime-minister Thadeush Mazowetsky. One of the biggest Polish newspapers “Gazeta Vyborcha” published an interview with Novozhilov; the material about him was given by “Radio Liberty – Free Europe”.

9. REPRESSIONS. On 28.08.2009 during the period of 20-30 – 20-45 my house was shot over with the pneumatic rifle by the unknown shooter, staying in the open window of the neighboring many-stores building. Not less than 5 shots were done.

10. SUPPORT. We received the ARM July support through “We-Go” system of Max Goins OK. We also received the letters, e-mails and calls of support from E. Novozhilov (Poland), A. Novosyolov (Switzerland), Rod Farthing, Max Goins and N. Plutenko (US). My dearly beloved bro T.W. Hunt (USA) sent to me a letter, in which he wrote, that, in spite of his poor health (he will be 80 in September), he was going to write down a new book “Seeing the Unseen”. He wrote also, he would send a copy of this book to me after the publishing of it. We are waiting for this book eagerly! Both previous books of T. W. Hunt (“The Mind of Christ” and “From Heaven’s View”) were the great Spiritual and moral support for me personally and for all our mission. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb., 11:1). And I believe, that this new book of bro Hunt, shall, for sure, be the Divine instrument to realize the true Christian faith!

Alleluia! 

In Jesus our hope!

Dr. Nicholas E. Alyoshin