URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: "Israeli Forces Continue To Hammer Hamas" - Sunday, November 18, 2012; http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=891
The Israeli military continued its counter-offensive against Palestinian rocket operations on Sunday, while considering its next move.
- That militant rocket attacks against Israel will cease and Israeli defenses will be able to stand down
- That the U.S. and other Western allies will continue standing with Israel
- For the peace of Jerusalem and peaceful coexistence between countries in the Middle East
NOTE: 1) The following story continues the subject of the persecuted church that I focused on in yesterday's post (#362). Please note again that stories such as these that particularly speak of attacks on Christians are very rare in the mainstream news media reporting. Note how they would rather talk about the latest news from Hollywood or some urgent news as the latest methods of toning up your abs! (And they call what they do journalism? Who are they kidding?); and 2) If you live in Central Florida, in case you missed watching it yesterday, please try to check in on the latest broadcast of "Truth That Transforms" that airs on channel 52.2 at 7 pm today. Especially if you have children, they will learn much from the focus on the history of Thanksgiving in America. (You can also view the broadcast on the web at: www.truthinaction.org)
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The followinng story is by George Thomas, CBN News Sr. Reporter, Monday, November 12, 2012 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/November/Church-Demolished-Russias-Fading-Religious-Freedom/
Authorities Raid Church
Sveta Romanyuk finds it difficult to talk about what happened the night of Sept. 6, 2012. "What they did was not right. We didn't even have time to save the Bibles," she said. On a recent morning on the edge of Moscow, 12-year-old Sveta and a handful of her friends held Sunday school on the steps of what used to be the entrance of their church. "I want the people who did this to know I still love Christ and I am going to pray for them and our country," Sveta said.
In the early hours that September morning, about 45 men, backed by local Russian police, descended on Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church. "I got here around 4 a.m. and saw two large excavators tearing through the church building," Zhidkov Maxim, who attends the church, said. "The police just stood and watched the whole thing." As word spread, other church members, like Alena Maltseva and her husband, rushed to try to save the church. "I'll never forget the sound of my church being crushed," Maltseva said. "It was so painful."
Pastor Vasily Romanyuk also tried to stop the men but it was too late. "When I tried to get into the territory I was stopped by drunk tough guys who introduced themselves as a vigilant group acting on behalf of the city district," said Pastor Romanyuk, who leads Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church. "They refused to show their IDs and papers." By 3 a.m., the three-story building was in ruins. "Unfortunately, what we are seeing today is nothing new. For decades evangelical Christians in Russia have experienced similar or worse," Pastor Romanyuk said.
Legal Government Battles
Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church became registered in the late 1970s while Soviets still ruled. In 1995, the church was forced out of its original building and moved to a site some 45 minutes outside Moscow. The church erected a temporary building but battled authorities over building permits. Pastor Romanyuk wanted to build a bigger, more permanent structure. Authorities refused. For 17 years, the city even prevented the church access to water and electricity.
Then in late August 2012, a district official notified Pastor Romanyuk that the church was slated for demolition. "I never imagined they would actually do it," he said. The brazen act stunned the evangelical community. "They chose in front of the entire public, in front of the entire world, in Moscow, in the largest city in Russia, the capital, just to simply level the evangelical church making that statement," Sergey Rakhuba, with Russian Ministries, said.
Pattern of Discrimination
Romanyuk said he sees a pattern emerging. "You talk to any evangelical leader in Russia and they will tell you this is all about ideology. The government and the Russian Orthodox Church view us evangelicals as a threat," he explained. "They see our congregations growing, they see how dynamic our services are, and they are threatened by it," he said. Even though the country's constitution states that all religions are equal before the law, the government is often accused of discriminating against citizens who profess faiths other than Orthodox Christianity.
Anatoly Ryakhovsky, a leading human rights lawyer in Moscow, said Holy Trinity's property and legal challenges are just part of an emerging pattern against Russian evangelicals."Bottom line: this is discrimination," Ryakhovsky, who runs the Slavic Center for Law & Justice, said. "This year alone, the government has given the Russian Orthodox Church 200 building permits and in many cases the government will help fund the new churches."
Cozy Orthodox Church-State Relations
And what evangelicals are most concerned about is the growing influence of the Russian Orthodox Church within the state apparatus. They accuse President Vladimir Putin of tearing down walls between church and state. "Muslims from time to time will face similar challenges in trying to build mosques," Vasily Evchik, a Russian evangelical leader based in Moscow, said. "But you will never hear of an Orthodox church being bulldozed and ransacked in the middle of the night."
Back on the grounds of Holy Trinity Church, Romanyuk and the congregation are pressing forward. They're holding weekly services in a large tent next to the demolished church. There are reports the city wants to turn the land into a large sport complex. "I never imagined in my life that I would go through such an experience," Pastory Romanyuk said. "But to tell you the truth I feel emboldened and full of hope, thanks to the prayers of Christians around the world." Twelve-year-old Sveta is also hopeful."Since this happened I've been asking God to provide us a new place, a place we can continue to meet and share with others about the love of Christ," she said. "I know God will take care of us."
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
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