CBN EXCLUSIVE: When One U.S. Missionary Dared to Share the Gospel in Putin's Russia...

George Thomas : Feb 8, 2017
CBN News

Andrei Desnitsky, a prominent Russian commentator, told CBN News that the "law tells us not to do anything that can be called a "missionary activity," including saying, 'I believe in Jesus' for instance."

(Moscow)—[CBN News] Twenty-five years after the collapse of communism, the fight to defend religious freedom in the Russian Federation still rages. (Screengrab via CBN News)

Seven months ago, Donald Ossewaarde became the first American convicted of breaking a Russian law that bans preaching the Gospel outside a registered church.

Now he's going before Russia's Supreme Court—and the outcome could have huge ramifications for all Christians in the country.

The story of Ossewaarde and his wife, Ruth, began 14 years ago when they moved to the Russian city of Oryol.

"My area is 250 miles south of Moscow and they're very, very communist," Ossewaarde told CBN News in his first American TV interview. "They [people in Oryol] have a very Soviet mentality in that area."

The couple decided Oryol would be a good place to settle down, buy a small home and start evangelizing.

"I'm there to give them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to tell them of the Good News of salvation," Ossewaarde said. (Screengrab via CBN News)

To do that, these Baptist missionaries placed Gospel tracts, with their home address, in every single mailbox of each apartment building in Oryol.

"There are 320,000 people in Oryol, so everybody has received a personal invitation from me with a plan of salvation," Ossewaarde said.

And people responded. CBN News obtained footage of Ossewaarde preaching and worshipping in his living room, and conducting a water baptism of a Russian Believer.

"Everybody knows we are there. We're operating openly. It's no secret what we are doing and why we are doing it," the Baptist missionary said. "We are the only Americans within 250 miles so everybody in town knows that I am the American."

A 'Troubling' Russian Trend

But on Sunday morning, August 14, 2016, their work came to a screeching halt.

"I had been expecting it for three weeks before that, and then when they [police] walked in; I thought, 'Ok, here goes.'"

Let's pause here for a moment.

Twenty-five days before, on July 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed new amendments to a law that govern religious life.

Under the guise of confronting terrorism, Putin gave authorities the power to "ban preaching, praying, proselytizing, and handing out religious materials outside government-sanctioned churches".

The U.S State Department warned the move signaled a "troubling Russian trend of intimidation and harassment".

Sergey Rakhuba's organization works in Russia and 13 other countries of the former Soviet Union.

"This law is known among evangelical Christians in Russia as an "anti-missionary" law because it places harsh restrictions on evangelical churches and foreign missionary organizations," explained Rakhuba, who heads the Illinois-based Mission Eurasia.

Among other things, the law required foreign missionaries to have a permit to evangelize. Also, reading your Bible, singing or simply praying outside a registered church, even in a home, became illegal. (Screengrab via CBN News)

Roman Lunkin is a lawyer with the Slavic Center for Law and Justice, the Russian counterpart of the American Center for Law and Justice, a group that tackles religious freedom cases around the world.

"The law inflicted serious damage because suddenly many Christians feared that just talking about faith or sharing with others about God was a crime," Lunkin told CBN News in Moscow.

Andrei Desnitsky, a prominent Russian commentator, told CBN News that the "law tells us not to do anything that can be called a "missionary activity," including saying, 'I believe in Jesus' for instance."

Supporters insist the law is necessary to confront terrorism, especially acts perpetrated by radical Muslims.

But Rakhuba believes there's a more sinister agenda.

"The Russian authorities are trying to restrict the Protestant and evangelical movements and stop them from spreading their influence and the message of the Gospel"...

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