Before the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, the symbol of hope for its people — whether they knew it — was a Volkswagen Beetle.
Famous missionary Anne van der Bijl (known in English-speaking countries as Brother Andrew) used the car to smuggle Bibles and the gospel message behind the Iron Curtain at a time when such actions were illegal. It was a feat not many accomplished.
A lot has changed since then, according to Erich Bridges of the International Mission Board (IMB).
“When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapsed two years later, the world changed,” Bridges wrote. “Southern Baptists responded rapidly, sending hundreds of missionaries and thousands of volunteers to spread the [good news] and help local Baptists.”
Now IMB missionaries are arriving by Beetle, boat, train and plane and on foot — whatever gets them there the fastest.
According to Douglas M. Shaw, an analyst in the IMB’s Global Research Department, there’s no way to measure how many Baptist churches existed in the region before the Iron Curtain fell.
But since then, the number of both evangelical and Baptists churches has doubled, he said. “There are 5,888 Baptist churches, and 12,572 workers in leadership training in the former Soviet Union. Our partners and workers counted 13,947 baptisms last year from a church membership of 354,023.”
According to IMB statistics, Southern Baptist missionaries are only working among 49 of the region’s 387 people groups.
But missionaries like Brad and Lori Stamey are slowly and methodically starting churches and seeing the spread of the gospel message.
The Stameys are working to begin at least one Baptist congregation in each of the 16 sections of Moscow’s Northern Administrative District, home to more than 1 million people.
Three have churches — 13 remain.
“[God’s] doing more than we realize sometimes, working in peoples’ lives and drawing them to Him,” Lori Stamey said. “We hope our presence will result in lots of churches being started, but our job is to be obedient to what He gives us to do. It’s His job to start the churches, and He will in His timing.”
Different parts of Russia present missionaries with different challenges. For the Stameys, winter’s toll on morale is a force to be reckoned with.
For Mel and Nancy Skinner, missionaries serving in central Russia, rumors of cultish behavior — such as Baptists kill and eat their young — sometimes surface.
But mostly Mel Skinner just laughs at the rumors.
“I basically say, ‘You know if that were true, they would have closed all the Baptist churches. They would have thrown all Baptist people in prison … or executed them.’ Generally, when [people in Russia] hear the truth, they know the truth,” he said.
That truth is spreading across the former Soviet Union, Bridges wrote.
But still more challenges are cropping up as some governments are starting to restrict ministries, deny visas and send foreign workers home.
The doors that opened 15 years ago “could close at any moment,” according to Bridges. IMB workers in the former Soviet Union ask for hundreds of new missionaries to move the gospel message as quickly as possible — that’s one of the reasons this year’s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal is a record $165 million.
“Southern Baptist missionaries and their partners are seeing amazing breakthroughs,” Bridges wrote.
But he added that more than 280 million people — more than 90 percent of all people groups in the vast region — “still don’t know Jesus is Lord and Savior of all peoples, including them.” (IMB, TAB)
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