Europe: Russia
Mission History
In 1990, shortly after democratic and religious changes arrived to countries of the former Soviet Union, the C.R.C. Synod authorized ministry in the Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.), with some specific ministry in the former Republic of Russia. The ‘Russia Ministries Council,' made up of several CRCNA agencies, developed strategy and in the Fall of 1995, invited Jeff and Natasha Busscher to become Field Directors for Russia/Ukraine. Adrian and Wendy Helleman became partner missionaries with IICS in a teaching assignment at Moscow State University during the period 1995 - 2001.
The desire to enter into partnership with the Orthodox Church rather than antagonize the established church led to partnerships such as one with the Hosanna Community, a youth discipleship program which arose out of reform movements. CRWM has partnered in various ways with Russian-American Christian University. Reformed theological materials, starting with the 1997-1999 publishing project Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, are published in Russia with support from the CRC’s publisher World Literature Ministries. When Gary Timmerman took over for the Busschers in 2000, two public Christian libraries were already pioneered in Moscow and St. Petersburg. A 5-year program of teacher-training initiatives among St. Petersburg Christian schools was supported by WCS and other Christian Education institutions.
Culture
There are 140 million people in Russia. Geographically, Russia takes up 76 percent of the area that was once the Soviet Union. Approximately 80% of citizens are Russians, 5% are other Slavs from Ukraine, Belarus, and Poland, with the remaining 15% a mix of ethnic peoples. ‘Rus’ identity as a people grew hand in hand with the Russian Orthodox Church, which has dominated the religious landscape of Russia for over 1000 years. Today nearly 70% of Russians identify themselves as Orthodox Church believers, but the actual religiosity of Orthodox Russians is rather low, with only 3-5% being practicing believers. Today the average Russian applauds the State’s firm grip on power, and are satisfied with their level of personal freedom. The driving force in Russia today is the reassertion of national pride and economic stability for the citizens. Russia’s history was untouched by the impulses of the Protestant Reformation of Europe. Today there are about 1.5 million Protestants in Russia, similar to the pre-revolutionary period, despite a short-term awakening in the 1990s.
Mission & Vision
Russian Christianity remains comparatively immobilized when reflected against its own history and Christianity’s steady growth around the world. The early 1990s were a boom for the former Soviet people as they threw off forced atheism and began to investigate all forms of religious teaching. CRWM is committed to helping evangelicals in the Orthodox world bring about reformation in their sphere of influence. The main effort of CRWM is to develop evangelistic outreach through multi-confessional Christian libraries. We focus our efforts in partnership with churches who wish to grow and multiply in the northwest region of Russia.
Results
St. Petersburg Christian Media Center and Library serves over 2000 registered readers and unites a number of local denominations in the common goal to educate St. Petersburgers and evangelize unbelievers toward an informed Christian commitment. At the Center we annually direct 15-30 new believers to join the church of their choice. We especially nurture our relations with evangelicals in the Russian Orthodox Church and have developed the Media Center as a hub of inter-confessional dialogue and Christian educational outreach. In addition we are encouraging and equipping Russian missionaries as they make contact with people seeking the Christian faith.
The Christian Reformed World Missions Team in Russia
Gary and Galya Timmerman (Anastasia), Ministry Coordinator
Phone: 011-7-812-273-3467
More Resources
Videos
Video-2003 The Land of Orthodoxy: Renewing Christian Faith in Russia (9 min.)