American pastors injured in Tbilisi

Several dozen renegade Orthodox Christians wielding sticks and brooms attacked a group of visiting United States Protestants March 24 in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, leaving the Americans with minor injuries and taking thousands of dollars in video equipment, said on e of the victims.

The attack, led by excommunicated Georgian Baptist, Pentecostal and Jehovah’s Witness leaders said.

The group of nine Assembly of God pastors from the United States were visiting Tbilisi for a two-day prayer conference with local Pentecostal believers. After the conference March 24 the pastors traveled by bus to a lot where Pentecostals are building a Bible school, partly with U.S. contributions.

“Suddenly, like a whirlwind, Basili pulled up in his car, screaming and hollering,” said the group’s leader, Sam Johnson. “People emerged out of nowhere. Women and children and thugs with their clubs and sticks and brooms”.

“Basili was there, too, with a video camera and he began to tape the whole thing as they beat us,” said Johnson, vice president of the Colorado Springs- based Mission of Mercy humanitarian aid organization which works with the Assemblies of God in 27 countries.

One pastor, B.G. Nevitt of Decatur, Ill., suffered a broken finger, another pastor a cut lip and “several of us are walking around with limps today,” said Johnson. Although Mkalashvishvili’s group has been accused of and have been videotaped attacking Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists and Pentecostals, this is the first time they targeted foreigners. Baptist leader Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili said, “This is not new, this has been happening for the last three years but only to local people and no one paid attention.”

“Now these Americans have been beaten up and now at last the international community is paying attention,” said Songulashvili.

Zurab Rostiashvili, a lawyer retained by the Pentecostals to push the case after the group’s scheduled March 27 departure, said that although Mkalashvishvili’s followers have never been arrested, much less prosecuted, “It is significant that it was Americans. …Now, the (Georgian) diplomats are taking an interest and I will squeeze them so that this gets investigated objectively.” (RNS)