Glory to Christ, my beloved brother!

This is my report for March 2009.

1. IMMERSIONS. One man (ethnic Ukrainian, Andrew by name) was immersed by the DOM ARM ministers in the prison camp in Apsheronsk district of Krasnodar territory.

2. PRISONS. Our ministers 26 times visited the prisons, prison camps, police detention places, prison psychiatric hospitals in Krasnodar Territory (Russia) and Crimea (Ukraine). I had two very important praying meetings with the mothers of brethren E. Novozhilov and A. Novosyolov (they both had escaped from Russia to the West, and their mothers are under very heavy pressure now).

One of the members of our chaplaincy took part in the picket on 07.03.2009 in front of the Krasnodar Territory prosecutor office to protest against the persecutions and extraditions of the believers.

The Krasnodar Territory prison Directorate published the official data: there are 3 prisons, 4 prison camps of the strong regime, 4 ones of the medium regime, 2 prison settlements, 1 prison camp for the non-adult convicts, 2 prison colonies-hospitals, 1 prison camp for the convicts with the open tuberculosis in Krasnodar Territory; there are 25 000 prisoners and 14 000 convicts, liberated on the parole in our territory; the prison Directorate has 7 000 servicemen.

On 21.03.2009 more than 30 non-adult convicts ran away from the special prison camp in village Pereyaslavskaya of the Bryukhovetsk district of Krasnodar Territory (90 km N E from Krasnodar).

Two convicts cut their blood vessels in the Vladimir area prison (1 500 km N N E from Krasnodar) to protest against the torments.

3. MOSLEMS. Pastor Dr. Gerhard Leiser from Karlsruhe (Baden, Germany) sent to me a parcel with the numerous copies of the St. John Gospel in the Curmanji dialect of the Kurdish language (“Yuhenna Incil”; published in Stambul, Turkey; donated by the Kurdish emigrant community of Germany) to be spread among the Curmanjis of the tribe of the sheikh Hassan-haji Gurji-ogly, living in Krasnodar Territory mountains. The books were accepted with thanks.

4. MISSION  TRIPS. In 2008 the prisoners of the Simferopol prison camp (Crimea, Ukraine), having their own Christian congregation inside the camp, asked me to write down the special letter to reply their questions about the apostle Paul. Sure, I wrote this letter. It was received in the prison camp, multiplied into some copies. It was read during the meetings of the congregation and of the small groups. One copy of my letter was even sent to the Christian congregation in Nikolaev-city (a port at the Black Sea coast; 400 km W from Crimea). There it was also read during the meeting. I have never been to Nikolaev-city myself. But through the correspondence with the prison congregation it became possible for me (in a written form) to preach the Word of God in the area, where I have never been to!

Bro Plutenko asked me to send to him the copies of my books “Leon the Isaurian” (about the iconoclastic Christianity) and “The Overcoming Truth” (with my reports on Christian theology), and the copy of the ARM booklet to the town of Lynnwood (Washington state, USA), where he lives now after the escape from Russia. This month he received those books and began using them in his service to fulfil the Great Commission of Christ.

I sent two conclusions of mine (as the expert on Religious Freedoms) about the persecutions on Religious basis in Russia to bro A. Novosyolov. He is now in Strasbourg (France) and wants to use there conclusions in his process in the French Republic State Council to receive the asylum in France.

5. MEDITATIONS. The official Krasnodar city newspaper (“Krasnodarskie Izvestia”, 2009, № 52 – 4174, p.2) published the report of S. Myshak (the chief of the Krasnodar Governor Administration Directorate on the Religious, Public organizations, political parties and migration). This high official declared, that by the personal decision of the Governor Tkachyov the Krasnodar Territory State budget money had been paid to build 364 orthodox icon-worshipping temples in our territory. The today Russian laws strictly prohibit to use the state budget money to support the Religious organizations. But the officials are not afraid to publish such data, because the icon-worshipping Moscow patriarchate has, in fact, become the state institution in Russia – the branch of the security force machine to control the ideological atmosphere in the society. But those officials are deceived by satan  - they have forgotten the Word of God: “the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands” (Acts, 7:48). All their work is vanity!

6. DIVINE  ACTION. In December 2008 the “Orthodox Voice of Kuban” (the official newspaper of the metropolitan Isidor) tried to accuse me in high treason. I wrote a letter to Isidor, depicting the hell torments for sinners to violate the nineth commandment: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” (Ex., 20:16). The Word of God is the caustic fire – it made Isidor publish (in the same newspaper, 2009, № 2, p.10) a small note in a corner of the newspaper page, saying that in the publication about me the editorial board (i.e. metropolitan Isidor himself, the arch-priest S. Ovchinnikov, the hegumen Herman, and journalists A.Titova and M. Cherkashina) had done an error! This event is the true Divine Action – as the Holy Ghost through the apostle says: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James, 4:7).

7. YOUTH  MINISTRY. “NIKA”-ministry of our daughter Nike took part in the organization (with the American missionaries) of two big evangelization events on 06.03.2009 and 30.03.2009 for students in the Kuban State University (Krasnodar). “NIKA”-ministry also took part in the organization of the big seminar for youth and family ministries on 21.03.2009 in the Kuban Evangelical Christian University.

8. PUBLIC  RELATIONS. In March the Krasnodar issue of the Moscow newspaper (“Moscow komsomolets on Kuban”) published the information about my speech against alcoholism.

The internet-newspaper “Zaporozhskaya Setch”, issued in Strasbourg by bro A. Novosyolov, published the story, how metropolitan Isidor had at first accused me in high treason and then had “corrected the mistake”.

Bro E. Novozhilov, who had with our help escaped to Poland, was invited to the Krakow Jagellon University, where he was the special speaker at the seminar on the war in Chechnya.

On 25.03.2009 I was invited to speak in front of the writers and the University students in the hall of the city library, named after Nekrasov, during the opening ceremony of the so called “The Week of the Literature for the Youth”. I spoke about the Spiritual battle of Christianity and Paganism in the modern Russian literature. The speech was a big success. The aunt of the Russian President D.A. Medvedev – S.A. Medvedeva (the member of the Krasnodar branch of the Union of Writers of Russia) – was present during my speech.

On 26.03.2009 I spoke about the Christian morality and charity at the first Krasnodar-city businessmen conference to fight against the world economic crisis.

9. We received the February ARM support through “We-Go” system of Max Goins OK. We helped Dr. Akulinin (one of the victims of repressions on Religious basis to be in contact with us) to receive the personal computer, donated to him by bro A. Novosyolov. We received the e-mails, telephone calls and letters of support from A. Novosyolov (France), E. Novozhilov (Poland), Dr. G. Leiser (Germany), A. Chernenko (Crimea, Ukraine), Joe Garman, Rod Farthing, N.G. Plutenko and T.W.Hunt (USA). Prof. T.W. Hunt informed us about his heavy illness. We pray for him and ask all brethren and sistren all over the world to do the same.