Russian Pentecostals Took the Road

Increasingly the word that came to Peter Vashchenko's mind early in the 1960s was Doroga-- "the road." He must find a road out of the atheistic Soviet Union...

Years before, Peter's father, Paul Vashchenko, was converted to Christianity during World War I. Back in Russia, he told others about his faith. When he married and had children, he passed his belief on to them. Peter married Augustina, a non-Christian. They moved to Chernogorsk in Siberia. While visiting Peter's family, Augustina read the Bible. It became her favorite book. She was impressed with her in-laws' loving home. What a contrast it made to the drunken quarrels she had grown up with. In 1953, she gave herself to Jesus and repented of her past sins, which included belonging to atheistic organizations.

The Christians experienced the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. Christ's love caught fire in their hearts. Their teaching and honesty won others to Christ. By 1961, the Chernogorsk community had over two hundred believers.

They were ordered to register their church with the authorities in order to be allowed to continue meeting, and were told they could preach only on approved topics and might not hold special meetings for their children. They refused to register.

Authorities sent Pastor Grigory Vashchenko and his assistant, Andrei Miller, to prison. The atheistic leaders rammed the church with a mine truck while a service was in progress. Through a broken window they sprayed the worshipers with high-pressure water from a fire hose. The Christian men leaped up to the window and took the blast on their backs to protect the women and children.

At school, teachers mocked the Christian children and gave them lower grades than the other pupils, even when they did their work perfectly. So Peter and his brother pulled their children out of school. The authorities threatened to take the children away. For several months the believers hid them, but in the end the youngsters were discovered and taken to juvenile homes that housed unmanageable criminals. Months passed, and the Vashchenkos did not even know where their daughters were. A cook, while drunk, took pity on them and wrote telling where their children were. After that, the family took turns traveling to meet the girls secretly and encourage them in their faith. It was exhausting and expensive.

Some Christians wanted to emigrate. Peter and a few others went to Moscow to make arrangements. When they learned that they would not be allowed to leave the Soviet Union, they formed the desperate idea of entering the American Embassy, hoping the Americans would take them out of the country. Buying tickets at different times, thirty-two slipped off to Moscow without raising the suspicion of the secret police. In Moscow, on this day, January 3rd, 1963, they overwhelmed the policeman at the gates of the American embassy and entered.

The Americans did not offer any hope. Smooth-talking KGB officers promised better treatment. The authorities just hadn't known what was going on, they lied. Some of the Christians believed the KGB. The Americans told the rest that they could do nothing for them because the USSR refused exit visas.

Persecution continued. Peter and other Christians went to prison. After his release, he again tried to emigrate, this time with his daughters, who had run away from their juvenile home. He was unsuccessful and state authorities seized the girls. Their ordeal might seem futile, but the families' repeated attempts to take the road created an international stir. The persecution of Soviet Christians came to world attention. Eventually, this resulted in an easing of the harsh treatment of believers.

See coming thread, "The Pentecostals and Reagan's View of Human Rights [+ SSDI]" on Regans and politics behind this. Also, the UPI states,

Vashchenko, 57, died of cancer in Oct. 1985 in a Seattle hospital...his daughter Liuba Vashchenko said Wednesday.

'He knew that he got what he was fighting for. Unfortunately, he didn't enjoy this life long,' she said.

Augustine Vashchenko said one song had special significance for her husband: 'He loved the song 'God Bless America.''

Vashchenko led his family in a 23-year fight for freedom starting in Siberia, where he worked in the mines, and ending two years ago in nearby Puyallup [Wash], where they finally found a home, she said.

Vashchenko, his wife Augustine and five of their children took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 1978 to 1983, triggering an international tug of war that ended when the Soviet government agreed to let them leave the country.

Liuba, 32, and the rest of the 14 Vashchenko children gathered Tuesday evening at the Puyallup home of their mother. The house was purchased for the family by the World of Pentacost Church of Puyallup, their sponsors.

'Emigration was his victory,' Liuba said.

She said Vaschenko, when he was 6 months old, accompanied his parents on their exile from the Ukraine to Siberia.

'My grandfather was a Baptist minister who didn't want to get involved with the political system,' she said. 'He didn't want to be a participant. He wanted to worship freely. He asked to emigrate.'

Instead, her grandparents were sent to Siberia, where they started the first Pentacostal church in their region.

Later, her father went to Moscow five times over 18 years to seek visas to leave the Soviet Union. Each time he was refused.

The sixth time he and six other members of the family took refuge in the U.S. http://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/10/31/Head-of-Siberian-Seven-family-dies-of-cancer/2600698824590/

Vashchenko, 57, died of cancer in Oct. 1985 in a Seattle hospital...his daughter Liuba Vashchenko said Wednesday. 'He knew that he got what he was fighting for. Unfortunately, he didn't enjoy this life long,' she said. Augustine Vashchenko said one song had special significance for her husband: 'He loved the song 'God Bless America.'' Vashchenko led his family in a 23-year fight for freedom starting in Siberia, where he worked in the mines, and ending two years ago in nearby Puyallup [Wash], where they finally found a home, she said. Vashchenko, his wife Augustine and five of their children took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 1978 to 1983, triggering an international tug of war that ended when the Soviet government agreed to let them leave the country. Liuba, 32, and the rest of the 14 Vashchenko children gathered Tuesday evening at the Puyallup home of their mother. The house was purchased for the family by the World of Pentacost Church of Puyallup, their sponsors. 'Emigration was his victory,' Liuba said. She said Vaschenko, when he was 6 months old, accompanied his parents on their exile from the Ukraine to Siberia. 'My grandfather was a Baptist minister who didn't want to get involved with the political system,' she said. 'He didn't want to be a participant. He wanted to worship freely. He asked to emigrate.' Instead, her grandparents were sent to Siberia, where they started the first Pentacostal church in their region. Later, her father went to Moscow five times over 18 years to seek visas to leave the Soviet Union. Each time he was refused. The sixth time he and six other members of the family took refuge in the U.S. http://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/10/31/Head-of-Siberian-Seven-family-dies-of-cancer/2600698824590/

Ping

FYI...

Christians in Russia Refuse to Stop Sharing the Gospel Despite Putin’s Ban on Evangelism

By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter
Aug 3, 2016 | 1:32 PM

Christians in Russia have said they are determined to preach the Gospel and fulfill the Great Commission despite tough new laws signed by President Vladimir Putin that ban evangelism outside of churches. ...”

http://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-russia-refuse-stop-sharing-the-gospel-despite-putins-ban-evangelism-167442/
_____________________________________________________

July 2016...

FAITH UNDER FIRE

Russia puts lid on Christians sharing faith

‘Will require any sharing … even a casual conversation, to have prior authorization from state’

http://www.wnd.com/2016/07/russia-puts-lid-on-christians-sharing-faith/#34c1Fo2QT9xudcrR.99

Related...

Putin: Defender of Christian Faith and Morality?

September 2014

(excerpt from a long, detailed article)

First and foremost, in any review of the basics regarding Putin, the most outstanding fact is that he is a creature of the Soviet KGB, a truly diabolical organization nonpareil, which stood for murder, terror, and grand deception.

It was the Soviet Communist Party's tool for the brutal suppression of religion, including the persecution of Christians: denying them jobs and education; spying on and entrapping them; arresting and imprisoning them; torturing them in unspeakable ways; desecrating and demolishing their church buildings; infiltrating their agents into churches to subvert them. The KGB destroyed thousands of Christian churches, monasteries, convents, and schools, and slaughtered millions of Christians.

But it did not destroy the churches utterly. There remained an underground church, whose members were always at risk of discovery, arrest, torture, and martyrdom. Above ground, the KGB took control of the Russian Orthodox Church, which became a very useful organ of the Soviet atheist state.

In January 2009, Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev, better known as Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, was elected, from a short list of three candidates, to be the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the highest position of authority in the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). The election was called to fill the post that had been left vacant by the death of Patriarch Alexy II, who had headed the ROC since 1990.

Documents from the KGB archives have confirmed what sensible observers had long ago deduced from his actions: that Patriarch Alexy II (also spelled Alexi or Alexei) was a long-serving KGB agent (code-named Drozdov, "Blackbird"), in other words, a traitor to his Christian brethren and the God he claimed to serve. Putin's KGB/FSB was taking no chances with his replacement. All three candidates - Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk (code-named Topaz), Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk (code-named Ostrovskii), and Metropolitan Kirill (code-named Mikhailov) - also have been reliably identified as agents of the KGB/FSB.

Russia expert David Satter, a former Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times (of London) and the Wall Street Journal, wrote of the election in 2009 for Forbes:

According to material from the Soviet archives, Kirill was a KGB agent (as was Alexei). This means he was more than just an informer, of whom there were millions in the Soviet Union. He was an active officer of the organization. Neither Kirill nor Alexei ever acknowledged or apologized for their ties with the security agencies.

Because Patriarch Kirill is of central importance to the myth of Putin as the Saul-to-Paul, Christian persecutor-to-Christian champion, it behooves us to more closely examine the man. He has publicly presided over, and provided official benedictions and exhortations for, Putin's cynical and Stalinesque exploitation of Russian nationalism and Russian Orthodoxy. Josef Stalin, who had very nearly consummated the annihilation of the Russian Orthodox Church begun by Vladimir Lenin, reversed course in 1941. The reason? His erstwhile partner in crime, Adolf Hitler, had turned on him and had invaded Russia.

Stalin, needing all the help he could get, cut a deal with ROC Metropolitans Sergius, Nikolay, and Alexy. In exchange for their support in rallying the Russian people, he would cease (temporarily) the persecution and allow the reopening of churches and theological schools. In fact, Stalin's Soviet government paid for the rebuilding of many of the churches. The ROC was thus placed even more firmly under the control of the NKVD, which was later to be reorganized and renamed as the KGB. ..."

much more at link

http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/europe/item/19162-putin-defender-of-christian-faith-and-morality

***********************************************************

"For 16 years Putin was an officer in the KGB, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before he retired to enter politics in his native Saint Petersburg in 1991.

He moved to Moscow in 1996 and joined President Boris Yeltsin's administration where he rose quickly, becoming Acting President on 31 December 1999 when Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned. Putin won the subsequent 2000 presidential election, despite widespread accusations of vote-rigging,[3] and was reelected in 2004."

"On 25 July 1998, Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin head of the FSB (one of the successor agencies to the KGB), the position Putin occupied until August 1999. He became a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation on 1 October 1998 and its Secretary on 29 March 1999."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin

I am always alarmed when I read post after post on this and other sites, praising Putin. Read your Bible. In the end times, which we are surely in, Russia is not a friend to Israel. I understand we need detente, but as Reagan wisely said, “Trust but verify”. I am concerned that PEOTUS DJT is a very trusting person, which, while generally a good trait, must be backed up with cold, hard facts. Only God and Putin know Putin’s heart. He could attend church services til Kingdom come, and still be evil. I don’t think Russia hacked the DNC or Podesta, but that does not mean they can be trusted. Father God, in the Name of Jesus, please give President Trump the wisdom of Solomon, and give him favor with You, and all mankind.
My fellow believers, pray without ceasing, as 2 Chronicles 7:14, instructs. We have won a great victory in the LORD, with the election of DJT, but we must not sit back. We have won a battle, but the war is ongoing. Every day, “...your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 1 Peter 5:8-9. Every day, the enemies in his camp, will be plotting and planning, fighting every single thing he wants to accomplish. Pray without ceasing. Ask for His mercy and forgiveness for the evil deeds our country has committed. I am a proud patriot, but I know that our government, now and in the past, has meddled and fomented conflicts in the middle east. I wish I could say our government has always been on the side of right, but we know that is not the case. We have, with the help of the LORD, spread the Gospel throughout the world, and I believe God has blessed us for this, and is keeping covenants that the Plymouth Rock settlers, and others, have made with Him. I believe he is giving us one last chance to repent, and live according to His Word. I believe the time is short, and that the end time revival His Word promises, is soon coming. May we all be ready, when the Harvest comes.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.